The Philadelphia Eagles have shockingly released CB Cre’Von LeBlanc

The Philadelphia Eagles are down to four CBs on the roster.

In what appears to be a pretty bizarre move, the Philadelphia Eagles have outright released cornerback Cre’Von LeBlanc. The team had to make room on the 53-man roster for recently acquired RB Jason Huntley, but trimming down their already thin CB room was the last thing one would have expected.

The Eagles had already done a considerable amount of subtraction to their secondary of year’s past this offseason, as they allowed former starters Malcom Jenkins and Ronald Darby to depart in free agency, and then just recently cut two former high-round draft picks in Rasul Douglas and Sidney Jones. Howie Roseman had completely rebuilt the CB room around new additions Darius Slay and Nickell Robey-Coleman, and LeBlanc projected to play a significant role as the team’s primary backup slot corner.

Despite battling injuries over the last two seasons, LeBlanc has proved to be an extremely valuable player since being signed by Philadelphia. He played in eight games for the Eagles in 2018, recording 24 tackles and one pass deflection. He then logged an additional four games for the team in 2019 once he returned from injury, playing a crucial role for the team down the stretch.

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LeBlanc has very little versatility in terms of outside-inside coverage, as he really is just a slot corner. However, he’s an above average tackler and has shown a knack for making plays on the ball when lined up in the nickel, as proven by his interception during the 2018 NFC Divisional Round. Considering how poor the Eagles CB play has been the last few seasons, it’s really surprising that they would let someone like “Strap” walk out the door.

LeBlanc isn’t subject to waivers, so the team in theory could just re-sign him as soon as tomorrow, as this could just be a roster move to clear up room for the newly acquired Huntley. Once the Eagles decide who they want to put on IR, they could then re-approach LeBlanc about joining the team. However, this is obviously extremely risky as an opposing general manager could easily come in and outbid Philly for the DB’s services.

The Philadelphia Eagles could also have something in the works in terms of adding a different cornerback to their roster, possibly in the form of a trade or a last-second free agency addition. The idea of heading into Week 1 with just four corners seems unfathomable, especially considering the fact that Avonte Maddox has been battling his own respective injury over the last few days.

This could all be just procedural, and Strap might be back in midnight green with plenty of time to spare before Week 1, but it is still mildly concerning to see how little the Eagles value his services. The team opted to keep guys like Marcus Epps, Rudy Ford, Alex Singleton, and Gernard Avery on the roster over LeBlanc, and it’s really hard to understand why. None of those players are particularly any good, and none of them have contributed to the Eagles success over the last two seasons the way LeBlanc has.