3 Ex-Philadelphia Eagles negatively affected by the 2022 NFL Draft
If there’s one player who suffered the most damage to their potential role this fall, it’s one-time Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Sidney Jones.
A second-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Jones had an up-and-down run with the Eagles that saw him largely man the slot before being waived alongside fellow draft classmates Rasul Douglas in favor of the ill-conceived Avonte Maddox-on-the-outside strategy that worked out very poorly in 2020.
Unlike Douglas, who was claimed off of waivers by the Carolina Panthers, Jones landed on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad and parlayed a Week 2 callup into a full-on NFL contract, and then was traded to Seattle, where Pete Carroll’s squad hoped to recapture some of that Washington magic from the former Huskie.
The results were mixed but more positive than negative. Jones appeared in 16 games with 11 starts, logged 66 combined tackles, and even defensed 10 passes, even if he didn’t record a single takeaway, interception or otherwise. If Seattle struck out at defensive back in the 2022 NFL Draft, Jones might still be in the running for a starting spot in the defensive backfield, as the team only added a pair of (presumably) slot cornerbacks, Justin Coleman and Artie Burns, in free agency, but alas, that isn’t how the board fell. The Seahawks added two perimeter cornerbacks in Coby Bryant and Tariq Woolen, and the chances of Jones sticking around long-term in the city that made him just took a massive hit as a result.