The Eagles entered this offseason with plenty of needs, including a gigantic question mark hanging over their entire secondary.
Jim Schwartz's defense allowed the 12th-most passing touchdowns in the NFL in 2019, finished 22nd in total interceptions, and was exactly average in yards per attempt allowed. And then Howie Roseman let Malcolm Jenkins walk.
Thankfully, Roseman had a plan for the secondary, and he made a number of upgrades - some big, some small - including a pair of moves that ESPN's NFL insider Field Yates feels are the most underrated moves of the entire NFL offseason.
Yates extolled the virtues of Roseman's savvy moves on Tuesday for signing veteran nickel cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman and safety Will Parks to team-friendly one-year deals.
Here's the full appraisal from Yates:
The Philadelphia Eagles added two players to their secondary -- slot cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman and safety Will Parks -- for less than $3 million combined for this year. Even though neither projects to start, the Eagles know the importance of depth in the secondary after theirs was tested so severely last season, and each player adds pedigree to this position group.
Parks signed a one-year deal on March 21, after spending his first four years with Broncos. A versatile defender, Parks won't be a starter but he's a valuable depth addition to a secondary that has been paper-thin for the last few years.
NFL
Robey-Coleman signed a one-year deal on March 25, after a three-year stint with the Rams.
It'll be interesting to see how playing time in the Eagles' secondary shakes out this year. Darius Slay is the team's obvious CB1, and Rodney McLeod is the team's obvious starting free safety, but after that it gets interesting.
There's been lots of chatter about Jalen Mills playing some sort of hybrid safety position in 2020. His number change has been updated on the Eagles' website, but he's still listed as a cornerback, so we'll wait and see what that role looks like. Parks likely represents the third option at safety.
Robey-Coleman will likely be in a slot corner role, with guys like Avonte Maddox, Sidney Jones, and Rasul Douglas competing for playing time at the No. 2 outside corner position opposite Slay.
Then we also have players like rookie K'Von Wallace and momentary 2019 hero Craig James waiting in the wings in case their numbers are called.
The exact secondary picture is still rounding into focus, but it feels like the Eagles shored up the defense's backend heading into 2020.
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