The Eagles are signing versatile safety Will Parks to a one-year deal, a league source confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.
Parks, a 25-year-old Philadelphia native who went to Germantown High School, spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Broncos.
While the Eagles already made significant moves in the secondary this offseason when they re-signed Rodney McLeod and Jalen Mills and traded for Darius Slay, the Eagles valued Parks’ versatility and were interested throughout this free agency process. Mills is expected to play safety along with McLeod after the Eagles let Malcolm Jenkins walk as a free agent.
Even after the Eagles’ flurry of moves, they were still interested in Parks because there’s an opportunity in their three-safety package, which they have utilized a lot over the last few years.
So Parks will likely figure into that three-safety package and will play a big role on special teams.
Parks played college ball at Arizona and in the last four seasons in Denver played safety and nickel cornerback. The Eagles always value versatility in the secondary.
This move will also be a chance for Parks to come home to Philadelphia, something that was a motivating factor for him.
In four years with the Broncos, Parks played in 62 games with 15 starts; seven of his 15 starts came in 2019. Last season, Parks played just over 50 percent of the Broncos' defensive snaps.
Parks has had exactly one interception in each of his first four seasons in the league. He also had 13 pass breakups and 149 combined tackles.
It’s possible that Parks will end up as simply a special teams piece for the Eagles but he’ll have a chance to carve out a roll on defense too. Beyond McLeod and Mills, the only safeties on the current roster are Marcus Epps and Rudy Ford.
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