Philadelphia Eagles Likely Facing Huge Hole at Safety in 2015

The Philadelphia Eagles invested heavily at cornerback during free agency with the signings of Byron Maxwell and Walter Thurmond III. Provided Maxwell lives up to the hype and Thurmond is healthy, the additions should go a long way toward improving a pass defense that ranked 32nd and 31st the past two seasons.

That being said, it’s difficult to declare the secondary is suddenly better, let alone fixed. The corners come with concerns of their own, but most of all, the Eagles haven’t even begun to address the safety position yet. Many observers will view Nate Allen’s departure as a positive, only the team hasn’t replaced him with anybody.

PLAYER	GMS	TKL	PD	INT
N. Allen	16	62	5	4
M. Jenkins	16	80	15	3
C. Maragos	16	13	0	0
C. Prosinski	8	7	0	0
E. Wolff	7	7	1	0

The worst part is Philadelphia will likely struggle to replace Allen at this stage of the offseason. The in-house options are something between not promising and nonexistent. Free agency has little left to offer beyond stopgap measures. The draft appears to be promoting a weak class of ill-prepared safeties to the next level.

How exactly do the Eagles intend to go about filling this enormous crater in their defensive backfield in time for 2015?

Chances are good that they can’t.

Sure, the Birds have Malcolm Jenkins, who performed quite capably last season, his first in midnight green. Last we checked, however, NFL defenses traditionally start two safeties.

The offseason blueprint appears to have involved gunning hard for New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty in free agency. Eliot Shorr-Parks for NJ Advance Media went so far as to report Philly actually offered more money, but ultimately McCourty chose to stay with the reigning Super Bowl champions and team that drafted him.

That’s understandable. Losing out on free agents happens to everybody.

However, the Eagles apparently didn’t have much of a plan B, as just about every recognizable name on the market has since been scooped up. Rahim Moore, Da’Norris Searcy, Darian Stewart—all gone. Even Allen signed a long-term, surprisingly big-money deal with the Oakland Raiders.

Those weren't necessarily palatable, either. And yet any would be better than nothing.

About the only veteran safeties worth a look at this point are the likes of Dwight Lowery, Dawan Landry and Stevie Brown. All three players are journeymen who have spent time on no fewer than three different NFL teams. All three are probably short-term solutions at best. The fact that they’re still available two weeks into free agency is telling in itself.

The rub is the Eagles can hardly afford to go into the season with only their current crop of safeties.

Michael Perez/Associated Press

2013 fifth-round pick Earl Wolff may be best suited for the role after starting six games—competently—as a rookie. However, a knee injury essentially cost him the entirety of his sophomore campaign, so it remains unclear precisely how much talent the team really has to work with.

The roster lacks many alternatives. Chris Prosinski—a midseason signing from the Jacksonville Jaguars—is the only other safety in the locker room who’s started a game as a professional.

Freak athlete Jerome Couplin was added off the Detroit Lions practice squad, but he is raw and unproven. 2014 fifth-round pick Ed Reynolds spent all of last season on Philadelphia’s scout team. Chris Maragos is perhaps the best of the rest, but the veteran of five seasons is a career special teamer.

PLAYER	YRS	STARTS	TEAMS	DRAFT
J. Couplin	1	0	3	UFA
M. Jenkins	6	79	2	Rd 1 Pk 14
C. Maragos	5	0	3	UFA
C. Prosinski	4	9	2	Rd 4 Pk 121
E. Reynolds	0	0	1	Rd 5 Pk 162
E. Wolff	2	6	1	Rd 5 Pk 136

No doubt, the Eagles will look to the draft to help fill the void. Yet aside from the usual difficulties inherent to that process—the draft is a crapshoot, and even quality selections aren’t necessarily prepared to step on the field as rookies—2015 is said to feature a weak group.

NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock described the class as “poor.” Colleague Daniel Jeremiah said of the position, “There is really only one safety in this draft class.”

Jeremiah was referring to unanimous All-American Landon Collins out of Alabama, who might be long gone before the Eagles are on the clock with the 20th overall selection. Even if Collins does last, there is some question as to whether the hard-hitter is a fit in Philadelphia’s scheme, which deploys its safeties in quite a bit of man-to-man coverage.

Beyond Collins, there may be some talent in the middle of the draft—just not necessarily anybody the team can count on to come in and start from day one.

The Eagles may be forced to get creative to solve their problem.

In his first season with full control of personnel decisions, we’ve already seen head coach Chip Kelly pull off not one, but two stunning player-for-player trades. Such swaps are rare in the NFL, and impossible to forecast, but Kelly has proven very aggressive thus far.

The Eagles could also sign one of the remaining restricted free agents on the market, although to do so would cost the team a draft pick in most cases. Tashaun Gipson of the Cleveland Browns and Rodney McLeod of the St. Louis Rams were tendered at the second-round level, for instance.

Will Hill for the Baltimore Ravens was tendered at the lowest level, which means Philly would surrender nothing in compensation. However, Hill has his share of off-field troubles that are likely to turn Kelly off.

If the Eagles sign a restricted free agent to an offer sheet, the club that owns the player’s rights can choose to match the deal, possibly rendering any such discussion moot. Between this and the draft compensation, that’s why you rarely see movement this way.

The Eagles could also move cornerback Jaylen Watkins to safety, a position the 2014 fourth-round pick played at Florida. Of course, seeing as that area isn't exactly settled, either—Watkins and Maxwell are the only corners under contract beyond this season—that may hurt depth elsewhere.

Simply put, the options are not plentiful or strong for the Eagles. There’s a lot of time between now and opening day in September, but this is one hole that is difficult to envision being effectively filled before the regular season gets underway. The harsh truth of the matter is safety is once again likely to be an area of concern for Philadelphia in 2015.