Exploding CB Market Helps Explain Eagles' Offseason

If you want the best explanation of the Eagles’ “maintenance offseason,” you can find it on the NFL cornerback market, where the high-water mark was reset twice in a week.

First, an extension for Carolina’s Jaycee Horn, a player Philadelphia had significant interest in during the 2021 draft process, set the new bar with a four-year, $100 deal with the Panthers.

That $25M average annual value the talented Horn, 25, received held up for a week before Houston extended its star CB1, Derek Stingley, on a three-year, $90M extension, raising the AAV measure $5M in seven days.

Free agency is never just about the moment and the Eagles understand the potential unveiled by Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean at CB as rookies during the 2024-25 Super Bowl-winning campaign.

If Mitchell plays up to his rookie standard through the next two seasons he will be first eligible for an extension after the 2026 season with a salary cap that has conservatively grown by $40M over that span, something that will make an AAV of $30M seem quaint for the top players at outside corner position.

DeJean’s potential is also astronomical with perhaps a more difficult negotiation looming because of his versatility.

In between those projections, the Eagles will have to set the market for second-team All-Pro Jalen Carter at the defensive tackle position, and Pro Bowl center Can Jurgens. Big money could also be in line for edge rusher Nolan Smith and safety Reed Blankenship.

All of that is why the Eagles are letting bigger-money players out the door for potential compensatory picks this offseason and staying disciplined with one-year, cost-effective deals to the incoming so that the formula is not affected.

The difficult decisions were paying Milton Williams and Josh Sweat now vs. Carter and Smith down the road, not the upside of Moro Ojomo or the clearance aisle potential of Joshua Uche.