Eagles Have Serious ‘Cornerback Issue’ After Preseason Opener

It was somewhat of a surprise to see the Philadelphia Eagles make a trade this week with the Las Vegas Raiders that brought them up-and-coming cornerback Jakorian Bennett.

After watching the Eagles secondary get torched by the Cincinnati Bengals in the preseason opener on August 7, maybe it shouldn’t have been so surprising.

Specifically, neither Kelee Ringo or Adoree Jackson looked like they were ready to take on the starting outside cornerback role opposite second year cornerback and returning starter Quinyon Mitchell on the other side.

“The Eagles have a cornerback issue,” Sheil Kapadia said on The Ringer’s Philly Special podcast on August 8. “I’m not saying panic’s at a 10 or it’s Code Red, bu tthis is going about as poorly, injuries aide, as you could have kind of not hoped for going into training camp … you go into training camp saying, all right, let’s see what Kelee Ringo’s got. If he doesn’t look good, well at least you have Adoree Jackson. And it just seems like neither guy is ready for the opportunity again.”

Bengals Made Unique Decision in Playing Stars

Even though the Eagles came away with a 34-17 win over the Bengals, it was hard not to look at the game as a setback for the Eagles on defense.

That’s because of a unique decision to play superstar quarterback Joe Burrow for the first 2 drives of the game, where he went 9-of-10 passing for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns, including 4 receptions for 77 yards and 1 touchdown by reigning NFL Triple Crown winner Ja’Marr Chase.

If anything, Cincinnati’s decision to play those 2 could end up helping Philadelphia in the long run. They were able to see a weakness that might not have been so evident if only backups were playing. It probably also reinforced the decision to trade for Bennett.

“It’s not like (the Eagles) are saying ‘Hey, Jakorian Bennett is definitely starting,’ ” Kapadia said. “It’s more like we kind of need to see someone else to throw in the mix (at cornerback) since we’re not really loving what we’re seeing here.”

Eagles Let Veteran CB Leave in Free Agency

Right now, the worst decision of Philadelphia’s offseason seems to be letting veteran cornerback Darius Slay leave in free agency after he was one of the standouts on last season’s Super Bowl winning defense.

Slay, 34 years old, started 14 games during the regular season with 49 tackles, 13 pass deflections and 1 forced fumble. He was at his best in the postseason with 14 tackles, 5 pass deflections and 1 interception in 4 games.

If the Eagles are in a tough situation at cornerback with Ringo and Jackson both seeming like non-solutions, they only have themselves to blame after Slay left for a paltry 1-year, $10 million free agent contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Right now, it appears as if the Eagles have gone all in on a pair of second year cornerbacks. That’s Mitchell, a 2024 first round pick who is looked at as possibly the NFL’s next great cover cornerback, and slot cornerback Cooper DeJean, who might already be the best player at his position in the NFL.