Philadelphia Eagles Preparing Bold Move for James Bradberry

Philadelphia Eagles veteran cornerback James Bradberry had a very difficult 2023 campaign. After an incredible first season in the City of Brotherly Love in 2022, he was rewarded with a multi-year contract.

The two sides agreed to a three-year, $38 million deal that included $20 million in guarantees. He has a base salary of about $1.2 million each season, which seemed like a fair deal at the time.

But, with his production falling off a cliff, there has been speculation that the Philadelphia Eagles could look to move on from him. How they handled the early part of the 2024 NFL Draft certainly didn’t paint a positive picture of his future outlook.

In the first and second rounds, cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean were selected. That seemingly made James Bradberry expendable, as he was mentioned in some trade rumors.

It turns out, a change was on the horizon for James Bradberry. But, it wasn’t a new team that he would be playing for. Instead, he is going to be playing a new position in 2024; safety. Head coach Nick Sirianni hinted at the change during a press conference this week at a mandatory minicamp.

“You’ve seen a lot of good corners in this league — the first guy that comes to my mind is Charles Woodson. He went from being an elite corner to an elite nickel to an elite safety. So I’m excited about that for James — that he’s able to do more,” Sirianni said.

After finishing second to last in passing yards and touchdowns allowed last season, it made sense for the Philadelphia Eagles to make some changes in the secondary. Moving James Bradberry to safety could rejuvenate him after a tough season, as it is a transition we have seen before.

Sirianni mentioned Charles Woodson, but just last season we saw Patrick Peterson do it with the Pittsburgh Steelers. It makes sense for the Eagles to try and find a new way to deploy Bradberry to see if he can produce instead of just releasing an established veteran who has proved helpful in the past.