Getty Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport named Philadelphia Eagles cornerback James Bradberry a potential preseason cut candidate.
Veteran cornerback James Bradberry led the Philadelphia Eagles in defensive snaps during the 2023 season. But on June 28, Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport proposed the possibility of Bradberry playing zero snaps for the Eagles defense this fall.
Davenport included Bradberry on a list of NFL veterans “who could find themselves on the roster bubble” during training camp.
“The bottom fell out of the Eagles secondary down the stretch last season, and Bradberry’s play was a big part of that collapse. His passer rating against more than doubled, and his completion percentage against ballooned by over 14 points,” wrote Davenport.
“The Eagles spent their first two draft picks this year on cornerbacks in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Bradberry is already banged up and has been taking reps at safety.
“Philadelphia won’t get any salary-cap relief from releasing the 2016 second-rounder—just $4.3 million in dead cap money.
“This would be strictly performance-based. And it may well happen.”
Bradberry posted 54 combined tackles, 13 pass defenses and 1 interception in 16 regular season games last season. He also had 3 combined tackles during one playoff contest.
The Pro Football Focus player grades ranked Bradberry 21st out of 22 cornerbacks who played at least 80% of his team’s defensive snaps last season.
Eagles CB James Bradberry Struggled During 2023
Not everyone loves the analytics PFF produces. But it’s hard to deny a second-to-last ranking among players with a large sample (80% of a team’s snaps).
As Davenport noted, Bradberry struggled more as the 2023 season went according to the PFF player grades. He posted a grade of below 60 seven times in the final 12 regular season games. He had a grade above 70 just once during the same stretch of contests.
According to PFF, Bradberry performed the worst in coverage. Turning 31 in August, that doesn’t bode well for the veteran bouncing back in 2024.
Bradberry made second-team All-Pro with 17 pass defenses, 3 interceptions and a 71.7 PFF player grade in 2022. In 2020, Bradberry recorded one of the best PFF cornerback player grades and made the Pro Bowl.
But he had the worst PFF grade of his career in coverage and overall last season. If the Eagles don’t see signs this summer that Bradberry could return to his 2020-22 form, then it’s conceivable to believe Philadelphia could depart with the veteran before the start of the 2024 season.
How the Eagles Could Replace Bradberry
Departing with Bradberry could absolutely make sense. But it’s still easier said than done.
Bradberry played 1,052 defensive snaps last season. While the Eagles have rookies in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean who could replace him, the question is whether Philadelphia is ready to trust those inexperienced cornerbacks with a large amount of snaps.
That could be a risky move with the Eagles hoping to contend for the NFC East and Super Bowl during 2024. Replacing more than 1,000 snaps is no small feat let along with rookies.
Bradberry performing much better with a smaller amount of snaps — with the rookies taking some, but not all, of his opportunities — is definitely a possibility. But that would mean the Eagles keeping Bradberry on the roster.
As Davenport mentioned, the Eagles wouldn’t benefit from a salary cap standpoint by releasing Bradberry. So, Philadelphia is only going to move on from the veteran cornerback if it becomes obvious the team’s other secondary options are far superior.
Training camp and the preseason will determine whether that’s true or not.