Philadelphia Eagles: Craig James’ extension signals a massive shakeup at CB
The Philadelphia Eagles Thunderdome is upon us.
For the better part of the offseason, the Philadelphia Eagles‘ cornerbacks group felt more or less set.
With Avonte Maddox and Darius Slay locked in on the outside, the slot god Nickell Robey-Coleman penciled into, well, the slot, and the Neapolitan trio of Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas, and Cre’von LeBlanc filling reserve roles, there really wasn’t a lot of wiggle room for a surprise name to make the roster.
Welp, apparently no one told that to Howie Roseman, as he just pulled off a contract extension with a 2019 practice squad elevatee that could seriously shake up the Eagles’ secondary in time for Week 1.
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If you had Craig James on your mock 53 man roster then you, my friend, look really wise right about now.
After initially signing with the Minnesota Vikings as a UDFA out of Southern Illinois in 2018, James joined the Eagles’ practice squad in September of 2019 and was promptly elevated into a starting role a few weeks later, when he took over for Ronald Darby in the team’s Week 5 win over the New York Jets.
Though he only earned meaningful defensive snaps in five games last season, with 56 of said 68 snaps coming against the Jets, James found a home on Dave Fipp‘s special teams unit, averaging a touch under 17 snaps per game as an open field ace.
While some may argue that committing a roster spot to a borderline special teams-only player probably isn’t the best decision asset allocation wise, it’s practically the norm for the Eagles.
From Chris Maragos to Kamu Grugier-Hill, Mack Hollins, and most recently Rudy Ford, the Eagles have invested more than most on players who can contribute to the third facet of the game, even if they are less than NFL ready at their listed position. For the low, low price of a one-year $1.52 million extension with $300,000 guaranteed, James has effectively cashed his ticket to the opening day roster 10 days early.
However, unless the Eagles plan on keeping seven cornerbacks coming out of camp, James’ addition to the depth chart will all but surely correspond with a surprise subtraction, maybe even two.
As you probably already know if you’re reading about a special teams player’s contract extension, the Eagles aren’t exactly high on fourth-year cornerbacks Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas. Despite being a favorite of Howie Roseman, Jones has never quite clicked with Jim Schwartz over their shared tenure in South Philly, going from a slot-starter in 2018 to a deep bench reserve in 2019. Conversely, Douglas seemingly has a fan in Schwartz due to his ball-hawking tendencies and aggressive attitude, but his lack of even average deep speed has haunted his career to this point and unless he can somehow shave two-tenths of a second off his 40 time, that’s not going to change any time soon.
A composite of Douglas and Jones is practically a perfect, prototypical NFL cornerback, see Slay as an example, but individually, neither player is really a good fit for the press coverage looks Schwartz likes to run.
If Jones was a willing special teams player, I could see him sticking around for this final year but with only 42 special teams snaps to his name in 2019, it’s entirely possible Douglas gets one last look just based on versatility alone. Heck, if Slay’s previous comments are correct, and Douglas looks better than he ever has, maybe Schwartz can find a creative way to use him defensively in a sort of hybrid corner-slot-safety role? Eric Rowe is set to start at strong safety for the Miami Dolphins this season and he too began his career as an outside cornerback for the Eagles.
Next. Philadelphia Eagles hit yet another roadblock in Zach Ertz extension talks. dark
Anytime a professional sports team has to cut 27 players there going to be some unhappy campers among the media, the fans, and the campers themselves. These players spent the last month-plus practicing together, competing together, and hopefully eating lunch together, as opposed to in their cars alone Nnamdi Asomugha-style. With that in kind, expect the final showdown between Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas to be one of the more contested ones in recent Philadelphia Eagles’ memory. In a way, it’s a lot like the Thunderdome, in that two men enter, one man leaves… unless, of course, Howie Roseman opts to move on from both, in which case two men enter, no man leaves.