By Max Harper
The Eagles were leaking defense in free agency — they’d already lost defensive tackle Javon Hargrave to the San Francisco 49ers, linebacker T.J. Edwards to the Chicago Bears, linebacker Kyzir White to the Arizona Cardinals, and safety Marcus Epps to the Las Vegas Raiders.
But cornerback James Bradberry now has a new three-year, $38 million contract with $20 million guaranteed.
Bradberry’s defensive holding penalty with 1:54 left in Super Bowl LVII set the Chiefs up to beat the Eagles, 38-35, on Harrison Butler’s last-second field goal, but he shouldn’t be remembered for the last thing he did in the 2022 season.
Bradberry was terrific for the Eagles on a one-year, $7.25 million deal. The former Giants salary cap casualty allowed just 46 catches on 98 targets in the 2022 season for 489 yards, 159 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, four interceptions, 12 pass breakups… and for the record, just three penalties all season long.
Bradberry’s old team really felt the sting in Week 18 and the divisional round, as he was targeted nine times, allowing three catches for 41 yards, 13 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, one interception and a slew of pass breakups. If Bradberry is on you in press coverage, good luck disengaging.
Bradberry showed a ton of improvement in Jonathan Gannon’s defense last season, and now that Sean Desai has taken Gannon’s former role, it was very smart for the Eagles to take advantage of that as they look to fill holes in other parts of that defense.
The duos on @PFF_Sam's top-32 CB rankings pic.twitter.com/EZ5vqyCBMH
— PFF (@PFF) June 3, 2023
