When it comes to the cornerback position, the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles are cleaning house.
For the second day in a row, news broke that the Eagles were releasing a veteran NFL All-Pro at cornerback, with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reporting on March 4 that Philadelphia was parting ways with cornerback James Bradberry.
“The #Eagles have informed cornerback James Bradberry he will be released when the new league year starts, per league sources,” Fowler wrote on his official X account. “His agent can speak to other teams in advance. The former All-Pro will be a post-June-1 cut, saving $2.1M on the cap.”
On March 3, news broke the Eagles were parting ways with another cornerback in veteran NFL All-Pro Darius Slay. Bradberry had just one season remaining on the 3-year, $38 million contract he signed with the Eagles in March 2023.
While the Eagles soared to a dominant regular season in 2024 followed by a blowout win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, Bradberry watched it all unfold from the sideline after he tore both his Achilles tendon and soleus muscle in the preseason and missed the entire year.
Bradberry One of NFL’s Best Cornerbacks Last 5 Years
It’s hard to argue Bradberry hasn’t been one of the NFL’s elite cornerbacks over the last 5 seasons. He made a Pro Bowl with the New York Giants in 2020 and was an NFL All-Pro pick for the Eagles in 2022 with 44 tackles, 3 interceptions and 17 pass deflections while also returning an interception for a touchdown.
Bradberry has been a plug-and-play starter from the moment the Carolina Panthers drafted him in the second round (No. 62 overall) out of Samford in the 2016 NFL draft.
Over his first 8 seasons with 3 different teams, Bradberry has started 124 out of a possible 125 career games with 19 interceptions. He has also been durable, only missing 6 games due to injury and never more than 3 in a single season.
Both Bradberry and Slay are being designated as post-June 1 releases. The 2 moves have freed up an additional $6.4 million in salary cap space for the Eagles, who could be working their way toward a massive move — a possible trade for Cleveland Browns edge rusher and 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.
Bradberry has $62.1 million in career earnings through the 2024 season.
Eagles Have NFL’s Best Pair of Young Cornerbacks
The Eagles pulled off a brilliant move in the 2024 NFL draft when they used their first 2 picks on cornerbacks — Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell in the first round and Iowa’s Cooper DeJean in the second round. The duo went on to become not just 2 of the NFL’s best rookies in 2024 but 2 of the NFL’s best cornerbacks by the end of the season.
Mitchell started 16 games for the Eagles — only sitting out the meaningless regular season finale against the Giants — and was brilliant in the postseason with 14 tackles, 4 pass deflections and 2 interceptions in 4 games.
DeJean had one of the signature defensive moments in recent Super Bowl history when he returned an interception of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes for a 32-yard touchdown in the first half.
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