Philadelphia Eagles: Aqib Talib is still unsigned… just saying
The Philadelphia Eagles don’t need Aqib Talib, right?
The Philadelphia Eagles are set at outside cornerback, right?
I mean why wouldn’t they be? Darius Slay is easily a top-5 cornerback. Nickell Robey-Coleman, K’von Wallace, and Will Parks should be able to push Crevon LeBlanc in a four-man death match for a starting spot in the slot. Between Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas, and Avonte Maddox, the Eagles have to have someone capable of manning the CB2 spot, right?
Granted, the Eagles didn’t have a single cornerback on their roster in 2019 with a PPF overall rating over 70 but that has to be a fluke, right? Barring injury, of course, it’s safe to say the Birds are pretty much set at cornerback going into 2020.
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That being said, did you know Aqib Talib is still a free agent? Yes, that Aqib Talib, the five-time Pro Bowler who was actually having a pretty good season with the Los Angeles Rams before an October rib injury landed him on IR days prior to being traded to the Miami Dolphins along with a fifth-round pick for a seventh-round pick and… cap relief?
That’s… probably a topic for another article.
Talib is an aggressive, hard-hitting man press cornerback who has historically had success in man press defensive schemes. While he probably doesn’t still run a 4.44 40 like he did coming out of Kansas State in 2008, the 34-year-old veteran can clearly still go, especially when paired up with a more athletic foil on the opposite side of the field like Marcus Peters, Chris Harris or Devin McCourty, who actually started out his career at cornerback.
Despite making $8 million in 2019 to play five games, it’s clear being flipped from a legit contender to one of the league’s least competitive teams just to free up money isn’t the way Talib wants to finish out his career. From a pride standpoint alone, that can’t be how a former first round pick turned All-Pro wants to go out, right?
Assuming his rib is healthy, I can’t imagine a team in the NFL who wouldn’t at least mildly benefit from having Talib on their roster, as even now, in his soon-to-be-13th NFL season, he’s still a solid secondary starter who could slot right in and play in pretty much any defensive scheme right away.
I mean, it’s not like Raheem Morris’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots, Jack Del Rio’s Denver Broncos, and Wade Phillips’ Los Angeles Rams really played similar defensive schemes.
Boy, hopefully, Talib doesn’t end up in the NFC East on a team like the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants, or the Washington… TBDs I guess. All three of those teams could use help at cornerback and even after addressing the position in the draft – with the three teams combining to draft six defensive backs – there is great value-for-the-money to be found in a plug-‘n-play veteran cornerback who doesn’t need an offseason with the organization to get up to speed. Even if Talib has lost a step, he’s the kind of corner who can give opposing receivers fits by punching them in the jaw over and over and over again.
Boy, it must stink to be in that position. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have four decent enough young cornerbacks pushing each other iron-sharpens-iron-style for the honor of playing across from Darius Slay than some old guy who averaged a higher PPF rating over the last five seasons (74.8) than any cornerback on the Eagles’ roster last season, including Jones, Douglas, and Maddox. Signing Talib would only be admitting that maybe none of those cornerbacks are fitting long-term options on the outside across from Slay and admitting you are wrong is the worst.
Next. The 2020 Philadelphia Eagles’ offense is (probably) going to look different. dark
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather the Philadelphia Eagles have three young cornerbacks who are rapidly approaching free agency in a committee than a solid veteran stopgap anyway… right?