Eagles Release Veteran Defender to Begin Offseason Roster Purge
The 2024 offseason is underway as teams have begun cutting players ahead of free agency. The Philadelphia Eagles are going to make a flurry of moves over the next few months to bolster their roster.
It first starts with self-evaluation and seeing what players fit into the mold going forward. It looks like one player won't be returning to the city of Brotherly Love in 2024.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Philadelphia is releasing safety Kevin Byard.
Eagles are releasing safety Kevin Byard, per source. Eagles acquired Byard from the Titans last October in exchange for a fifth-round pick and a sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft along with safety Terrell Edmunds. pic.twitter.com/uClJ0gOYCc
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 1, 2024
Byard was acquired from the Tennessee Titans last October for Terrell Edmunds and a fifth and sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Byard, who turns 31 in August, was brought in to help fortify the backend of the Eagles secondary but that didn't exactly happen. In 2023, the Eagles were ranked 31st in the league in pass defense (252.7).
Byard himself racked up 75 tackles across 10 games, but he allowed a 75.6% completion rate when targeted in coverage, with QBs posting a 103.3 passer rating on the 41 passes they threw at him.
The Middle Tennessee product earned First-Team All-Pro honros twice with the Titans, but he failed to make nearly that kind of impact for hte Eagles.
Byard is a Philadelphia native but things never really worked out for both sides. The Eagles will save around $13 million in the salary cap space with this move.
With Darius Slay (32) and James Bradberry (30) both aging in the secondary, the Eagles could be looking to add some youth on the backend. GM Howie Roseman is usually aggressive in adding talent and will certainly look to upgrade this unit over the next few months.
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