Philadelphia Eagles: 3 cheap and easy additions to make at cornerback
By David Esser
Even with the addition of Anthony Harris at safety, the Philadelphia Eagles still have some major work to do when it comes to their secondary. They only have one true outside corner on the roster at the moment (Darius Slay), and the overall depth behind him is fairly abysmal.
Despite struggling quite severely in 2020, the expected departures of Nickell Robey-Coleman and Cre’Von LeBlanc in free agency also leave the team without any depth at slot corner moving forward.
Most mock drafts have the Eagles selecting 1-2 corners during this year’s NFL Draft, but adding at least one established veteran to the group still feels like a necessity. Howie Roseman and Co. were interested in Adoree’ Jackson over the weekend, ultimately getting priced out by the spend-happy New York Giants.
Other free agents who were routinely connected to the Eagles like Xavier Rhodes and Kevin King have also signed elsewhere.
The Philadelphia Eagles still need to add a veteran corner.
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With that in mind, here are three far more affordable options the team should be turning its attention toward:
Darqueze Dennard
2020 Team: Atlanta Falcons
A seven-year veteran, Darqueze Dennard has battled a variety of different injuries over the last two seasons. He missed seven games with the Bengals in 2019, and then missed an additional eight this past season with the Falcons. However, when healthy, Dennard has proven to be an above average corner.
Dennard recorded an allowed completion percentage of 48.6% and an allowed passer rating when targeted of 74.5 in 2019 with Cincinnati, and then recorded an allowed completion percentage of 62.7% and an allowed passer rating when targeted of 86.1 the following season in 2020.
Dennard’s interception numbers have always been on the lower side (just four in his career), but his ability to force incompletions and stick to wideouts is better than a majority of the Philadelphia Eagles’ DBs at the moment.
Dennard’s extensive injury history is obviously reason for concern, but it also might be the only thing keeping him in the Eagles’ price range. Howie has been getting outbid for corners left and right, biting the bullet and taking a chance on someone coming off injuries might be the only realistic play here.