Eagles sign veteran CB Bradley Roby to the practice squad

The Eagles are signing veteran cornerback Bradley Roby to the practice squad, according to a league source.

Roby, 31, last played for the New Orleans Saints last season, starting 13 games primarily as a slot cornerback. The 5-foot-11 defensive back started his career with the Broncos, playing five seasons in Denver before spending two years apiece with the Houston Texans and Saints.

According to a league source, Roby is expected to join the practice squad while he gets into playing shape and gets acclimated to the Eagles’ system, but the intention is for him to join the active roster at some point. The Eagles can elevate him for game days three times before needing to make a move.

The move will give the Eagles a much-needed reinforcement in the secondary. With starting nickel cornerback Avonte Maddox and backup Zech McPhearson both on injured reserve and likely to miss the entire season, the team has used James Bradberry in the slot for most of the last two games, with backup outside corner Josh Jobe taking Bradberry’s usual spot in nickel packages.

Maddox suffered a torn pectoral muscle that required surgery in the Eagles’ Week 2 win against the Minnesota Vikings and will miss the season barring a speedy recovery. McPhearson is out with a torn Achilles tendon.

Roby has experience in both spots but should give the Eagles a chance to put Bradberry back to his normal spot opposite Darius Slay. It’s possible that Bradberry could still see some slot duty depending on matchups, but Roby’s versatility should be able to give defensive coordinator Sean Desai options on how to deploy the trio.

“[Bradberry] did a really good job,” Desai said Tuesday. “And it really shows kind of his veteran prowess and his veteran ability to go into that role after such a long career at corner and do that. We’re going to continue to have plans for him to get into multiple spots for us and he’s just been such a tremendous asset for us as a veteran and a leader in that room.”

Roby has started 60 games in his career and has played in 126 altogether. The last time he played 15 games or more was in 2018 for the Broncos. He was suspended for six games in 2020 for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

The former first-round pick out of Ohio State has 11 interceptions, 85 pass breakups, and eight forced fumbles in his career. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed a 56.5 quarterback rating when targeted as a slot receiver last year, which ranks fifth in the NFL among qualifying cornerbacks.

To make room on the practice squad, the Eagles released edge rusher Kyron Johnson on Tuesday. The 2022 sixth-round pick was on the active roster last season but has been released and signed back to the taxi squad on numerous occasions this year.