Eagles' Big Free Agency Failure Highlighted Once Again in Week 5

The Philadelphia Eagles are in a bye week, meaning that it is an excellent opportunity for the fans to watch some football without feeling frustrated and enraged with Nick Sirianni's play-calling. It's also a great chance to evaluate the rest of the NFL and see how the Eagles stack up against the competition.

Watching other teams, however, can be a painful reminder of "what could have been". That is how Eagles fans who tuned into the Green Bay Packers' Week 5 win over the Rams must have felt like.

One of the reported top targets in free agency for the Eagles was safety Xavier McKinney. The former Giants defender was on the verge of joining Philly along with Saquon Barkley but decided to sign with the Packers on a four-year, $67 million deal instead. Since then, McKinney has been playing like the best safety in the league and made history with his Week 5 performance.

According to Packers insider Wes Hodkiewicz, with his third-quarter interception, McKinney became the first NFL player since the 1970 merger to have five interceptions in their first five games with a team.

NFL News: Xavier McKinney Makes History in Week 5

McKinney started his streak in Brazil against the Eagles when he picked off Jalen Hurts early in the first quarter. He has been a force to be reckoned with since then.

After striking out with McKinney, the Eagles brought back C.J. Gardner-Johnson. After one year in Detroit, Gardner-Johnson returned to Philadelphia on a three-year contract but has failed to live up to expectations so far. While McKinney has the highest overall PFF grade among safeties, CJGJ ranks 67th out of 77 qualified safeties. He has allowed eight catches in 11 targets and three touchdowns in coverage with eight missed tackles and zero interceptions through four games.

One has to wonder where the Eagles' defense would be if they had McKinney instead of Gardner-Johnson right now.

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