The Philadelphia Eagles are well equipped for any Jalen Mills fallout

While Jalen Mills’ future is very much up in the air following an April 13th arrest, the Philadelphia Eagles’ depth chart is well equipped for any fallout.

As the Philadelphia 76ers prepared to face off against the Brooklyn Nets in a South Philly Saturday afternoon brawl, it was a member of the team’s cross complex neighbors, the Philadelphia Eagles, who was receiving a slew of unexpected headlines.

That’s right, while still working his way back from a Week 8 foot injury that cost him the back half of the 2018 campaign, Jalen Mills reportedly got into a street brawl with Washington Wizards two-way forward Devin Robinson outside of a D.C. night club that resulted in a pair of arrests, and the latter ending up in the hospital.

According to ESPN’s Tim McManus, the dispute began when Robinson noticed Mills taking in the D.C. nightlife and confronted him for doing so because he “doesn’t play for a local team”.  Robinson then initialed the brawl that resulted in the duo being incarcerated and Mills ultimately being released for $35.

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Boy, talk about an unforeseen offseason development.

While the news just broke this afternoon of the altercation and “The Philadelphia Eagles are aware of the situation involving defensive back Jalen Mills and are continuing to gather more information. No further comment will be provided at this time” (as per NJ.com), this certainly isn’t a good look for an embattled former starter attempting to reclaim his spot in a crowded position group.

However, this news shouldn’t be too damaging for the Eagles, as they’ve built their defensive backfield to perfectly weather this sort of situation.

Sure, if Mills were to go to jail, receive an extended suspension, or have participated in conduct detrimental to the organization and was deemed no longer worthy of a roster spot, it wouldn’t be great for the team, as iron sharpens iron, but the Eagles have so many options at cornerback that such a loss wouldn’t be detrimental.

After surprising fans in the 215, and the rest of the football world by re-signing Ronald Darby to a one-year,  $8.5 million deal, the Eagles have four other corners who have started at least one game in Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas, Avonte Maddox, and obviously Mills. While one could argue which player is the best and which is the worst, none have particularly elevated themselves above the rest to become an unquestioned starter, as highlighted by the need to retain Darby despite his own Week 10 torn ACL.

While this isn’t an ideal situation, especially when you consider the treasure trove of assets Howie Roseman has spent on the position, it’s a good problem to have. Sure none of these players are top-10 cornerbacks right now, but all five are 25 or younger with the potential to get even better with extended playing time.

Worst case scenario, one of these players has to step up and become a starter, most likely Jones, the 43rd pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, and hope he can live up to his lofty potential. Best case, Mills is good to go and can compete with Jones, Douglas, Maddox, and even Darby in a battle royale for the top spot on Jim Schwartz‘s depth chart. Fortunately for the Philadelphia Eagles, that optimality pays off.