Philadelphia Eagles: What in tarnation is going on with Cordy Glenn?

Don’t mess this one up, Philadelphia Eagles.

When news broke that the Philadelphia Eagles planned to bring in veteran tackle Cordy Glenn for a workout with intent to sign a contract, it felt like a dream come true.

At the time, the team was in the unadvantageous position of having to find a replacement for second-year left tackle Andre Dillard on the fly, all the while being shaken down by their once-and-future left tackle, Jason Peters, for more money to switch positions. The Eagles tried out Matt Pryor, they tried out 2020 fourth-round pick Jack Driscoll, and even former rugby player Jordan Mailata and all that led to was a string of monster training camp performances by Josh Sweat.

In Glenn, the Eagles found a near-perfect solution to their problems.

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A former second-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft out of Georgia, Glenn has 6,056 offensive snaps to his name over an eight-year career split between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals. While he’s predominantly played left tackle and is more of a pass protector than run blocker (check out Tra Turner‘s Trench Talk on Glenn here), Glenn moonlighted at guard for the Bengals during 2019’s training camp, and at worst, could serve as a top reserve at four positions across the line.

But here we are, on the official kickoff day of the 2020 NFL season, and Glenn remains unsigned.

What gives?

Granted, when news broke that Glenn would be traveling to South Philly for a tryout, it was never going to be a one day process. Due to the current conditions of the league post-COVID, the first two days of Glenn’s visit would consist of testing and physicals, with the third day serving as his on-field tryout, but that news broke on September 5th, five days ago as of the time of posting.

What gives?

When Howie Roseman talked about the state of the Eagles’ offensive line, he explicitly pointed to Glenn as an option to replace Dillard at left tackle. Could Peters’ decision to go return to his Hall of Fame-bound position have given Glenn pause about signing for a borderline backup role? Lane Johnson has been dealing with a nagging lower-body injury, and while he was able to practice on Wednesday, he’s still listed as day-to-day in the lead up to Sunday’s Week 1 bout against the Washington Football Team.

I don’t know about you, but I’d feel really uneasy knowing we’re a play away from Pryor, Driscoll, or Mailata having to go one-on-one against Ryan Kerrigan, Montez Sweat, and Chase Young.

Assuming Glenn is still in the building, which no one has reported he isn’t, locking the 30-year-old on a one-year contract, even if they have to pay a premium for his services, has to be priority number one if for no other reason than to allow Carson Wentz to sleep soundly at night – or, at least how soundly one can sleep with a newborn daughter at home.

If Pryor faulters at right guard, Glenn’s experience could be invaluable. If Johnson’s naggingly unspecific injury rears its ugly head once more down the line, Glenn could theoretically kick it to the right side and stop the bleeding.

Heck, if Glenn just plays a half dozen or so snaps a game as a swing sixth tackle on super-sized run plays, paying him, say, $4 million is totally worth the price of admission.

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Who knows, maybe a deal is getting done as we speak and this article will look gosh darn goofy when a deal is reached between the two parties over lunch. But if that doesn’t happen and Cordy Glenn ultimately leaves our fair city on the next flight out of PHL, it will unequivocally go down as one of the bigger botched moves of Howie Roseman’s second tenure as the Philadelphia Eagles’ top personnel man. Because remember, if the one-two-three turnstile of Matt Pryor, Jack Driscoll, and Jordan Mailata can make Josh Sweat look like a star, they’ll make Chase Young look like a Hall of Famer.

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