The Philadelphia Eagles made a major investment on the cornerback position during the 2024 NFL Draft, and that future may come much sooner than expected.
General manager Howie Roseman and the Eagles selected two of the best players in a loaded draft class at cornerback, selecting Quinyon Mitchell of Toledo in the first round and Cooper DeJean of Iowa by moving up in the second round.
The decision to aggressively upgrade at cornerback was probably intentional given the struggles of Darius Slay and James Bradberry over the last stretch of the 2023 campaign, which ended in abject disappointment. Before losing to the Tampa Bay Bucs in the NFC Wild Card round, Philadelphia dropped five of its final six games of the regular season. The secondary was plagued by poor tackling and frequent coverage breakdowns.
Bradberry may be one of the forthcoming “surprise” cuts made throughout the league, according to NFL source Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team.
According to Meirov, “the Philadelphia Eagles made it clear they needed to improve the secondary in the draft.” “And they did, trading up for Iowa’s Cooper DeJean in the second round after choosing Quinyon Mitchell of Toledo in the first.
“It’s reasonable to wonder what James Bradberry’s role will be if Mitchell and/or DeJean prove they deserve to be on the pitch right away alongside Darius Slay. He was a disappointment last season.”
Bradberry experienced a sharp decline in 2023 after being selected as a Second-Team All-Pro following a fantastic 2022 season.
According to Pro Football Focus, Bradberry, who inked a three-year contract worth $38 million in 2022, was regularly singled out by rival quarterbacks who had an incredible 108.6 passer rating when tossing passes to him. Receivers averaged 12.3 yards per reception during that season.
Bradberry experienced a sharp decline in 2023 after being selected as a Second-Team All-Pro following a fantastic 2022 season.
According to Pro Football Focus, Bradberry, who inked a three-year contract worth $38 million in 2022, was regularly singled out by rival quarterbacks who had an incredible 108.6 passer rating when tossing passes to him. Receivers averaged 12.3 yards per reception during that season.
Given the cap implications of making such a risky move, the Eagles’ decision to even consider dismissing Bradberry probably depends on Mitchell or DeJean demonstrating this spring and during training camp that they belong in the starting lineup.
According to Spotrac, releasing Bradberry before June 1 would cost $10.813 million against the cap for the next season and result in a $15.118 million dead-money charge.
Little help is offered even by possibly classifying Bradberry as a June 1 release, which usually gives clubs more cap space.
The Eagles would incur a $4.3 million dead-money charge, $10.813 million in dead-money against the cap in 2025, and no cap room would be created if Bradberry were to be released after June 1.
Bradberry’s release after June 1st, 2025, would free up $4.724 million in cap space for the following season, but it would also result in dead money charges of $3.09 million in 2025 and $7.718 in 2026.
The Eagles are unlikely to let go of veteran cornerback Bradberry until he has an extremely poor preseason and training camp performance, given the significant cap implications of doing so.
