Eagles roster: Are the Birds finished addressing their holes on defense? That seems unlikely.

While Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has made a number of changes to the roster this offseason, the defense has been impacted the most at the top of the depth chart.

With the retirement of defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, releases of nickel cornerback Avonte Maddox and safety Kevin Byard, the trade of edge rusher Haason Reddick, and the departures of inside linebacker Nicholas Morrow and Zach Cunningham in free agency, the Eagles have plenty of holes to address on their starting defense.

Let’s take a look at the post-free agency, pre-draft depth chart projection for the defensive position groups and the specialists. This is the final installment of a two-part series, with the first part focusing on the offense:

Following Cox’s retirement, all eyes are on Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter to step up and account for the loss of production on the interior defensive line. Last season, the former Georgia Bulldogs struggled to perform consistently, particularly Davis in the second half of the year. That’s not surprising for young players getting acclimated to the NFL, but the Eagles need their 2022 No. 13 overall pick in Davis and 2023 No. 9 overall pick in Carter to live up to lofty expectations as first-round selections.

» READ MORE: Vic Fangio’s job: Make sure Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and Nolan Smith aren’t the latest Eagles DL busts

Vic Fangio’s defensive scheme operates out of a 3-4 base, so Milton Williams figures to be the third starting down lineman. Williams, the Eagles’ third-round pick in the 2021 draft out of Louisiana Tech, took on a bigger role in 2023, playing a career-high 46% of the defensive snaps in 16 games (career-high 10 starts). He was particularly solid against the run (24 stops, according to Pro Football Focus), but he struggled occasionally with missed tackles (11.9%).

Moro Ojomo and Marlon Tuipulotu will continue to serve in depth roles. The Eagles also added former Penn State defensive tackle PJ Mustipher in free agency. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Roseman added a defensive tackle in the draft, seeing as he’s selected at least one in 10 of his 13 drafts in his current role with the Eagles.

The Eagles are living on the edge (pun intended) at edge rusher following Reddick’s trade to the New York Jets. Reddick, 29, had been one of their best players on defense over the last two seasons, finishing each year with double-digit sacks. He is a proven commodity in his prime, but the Eagles evidently weren’t willing to sign him to the specific deal that he sought, leading to his trade.

» READ MORE: Thumbs up or down: Eagles beat reporters weigh in on the Haason Reddick trade

Now, the Eagles are set to turn to recent free-agent signee Bryce Huff to take over Reddick’s starting role. Huff, 25, was one of the league’s most efficient pass rushers last season with the Jets, posting a team-high 10 sacks on just 42% of the defensive snaps. It was a breakout season, preceded by three years in which he collected a total of 7½ sacks in 37 games.

Can Huff take on an increased workload and continue to be productive? Meanwhile, Josh Sweat also faces questions about his performance going into a contract year. Last year, while playing a career-high 71% of the defensive snaps, Sweat’s production tailed off and he finished with 6½ sacks, his worst showing in three years.

The Eagles need Sweat to play better and they need Huff to shoulder a more substantial workload, but they also must use their mostly unproven depth. In his rookie season, first-round pick Nolan Smith played just 16% of the defensive snaps, and he’s slated to take on an increased role in the rotation. They’re also going to look to develop Zack Baun, who’s capable of playing both on the edge and off the ball. Brandon Graham, back for his 15th season, can contribute in spot duty.

Nakobe Dean and Devin White took vastly different journeys to the top of the Eagles’ inside linebackers depth chart, but they both have a lot to prove in 2024. Drafted by the Eagles in the third round, No. 83 overall out of Georgia in 2022, Dean only played 34 defensive snaps (3%) in his rookie season, buried behind starters T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White. The 23-year-old Dean was poised to assume a starting role in 2023, but he played just five games total while dealing with two foot injuries.

Dean will have an opportunity to prove that he can stay healthy and perform consistently at the level of an NFL-caliber starter. At the Eagles’ end-of-season press conference, Roseman reiterated his belief that Dean can be a reliable starter, and his actions are backing up that belief.

The only starting addition in free agency that Roseman made to the inside linebacking corps was Devin White, signing him to a one-year, $4 million deal ($3.5 million guaranteed). It’s far less than the “up to” $7.5 million that was initially reported, but it’s still more of an investment at the position than Roseman has made in the past.

White, 26, has draft pedigree as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2019 draft out of LSU by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’s a Super Bowl champion, Pro Bowler, and second-team All-Pro selection. But he’s coming off a down season with the Bucs in which he dealt with a knee injury and eventually lost his starting role.

» READ MORE: Super Bowl champion LB Devin White welcomes a ‘clean start’ with the Eagles after a tough finish in Tampa

Come Week 1, White will look to show that 2023 was an anomaly and that he can still be the player he was when he earned the bulk of his accolades. It will be particularly interesting to see how White, who has established himself as a strong blitzing linebacker, fits into Fangio’s scheme, which doesn’t feature much blitzing.

With White on a one-year deal and Dean still a relative unknown coupled with the lack of depth at the position, it seems like the stage has been set for the Eagles to select an inside linebacker on Day 2 or 3 who can develop into a future starter. Oren Burks, Roseman’s other addition this offseason, has mostly been a special-teams fixture throughout his six-year career.

Out of all the defensive position groups, the cornerback depth chart is the most tentative. For now, James Bradberry remains the starter on the outside opposite Darius Slay. When Roseman was asked about the current corps at the NFL annual meetings last month, he started his response by stating that it was “March 25″ — the date at the time — an acknowledgment that the group is not finalized.

He said that it wasn’t a secret that Bradberry didn’t have the year that the team was expecting in 2023, but he added that the 30-year-old is “driven to show that he’s the player that he was in 2022.” Will he have the opportunity to do so with the Eagles? Or do they believe that it’s time to move on, which means taking on $4.3 million in dead money this year to make it happen?

If they cut Bradberry, the Eagles could select a starting-caliber corner at the top of the draft, or they could turn to their young depth at the position. Kelee Ringo, the Eagles’ fourth-round pick out of Georgia in the 2023 draft, earned four starts at the end of his rookie year in place of the injured Slay. Isaiah Rodgers, who still must be reinstated following his season-long suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy while on the Indianapolis Colts, figures to be a candidate, too.

The nickel cornerback spot is arguably more unsettled. The Eagles cut Maddox at the start of the new league year, leaving the starting role up for grabs. At the moment, their replacement options come with asterisks. Zech McPhearson was in line to be Maddox’s backup going into training camp last season, but he suffered a season-ending torn Achilles in the preseason. The 26-year-old McPhearson has primarily been a special teams ace, playing just 278 defensive snaps over the course of two seasons mostly on the perimeter.

The Eagles signed 25-year-old slot cornerback Tyler Hall to a one-year deal, giving them depth at the position. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s taken 301 snaps in the slot throughout his four-year career with the Falcons, Rams, and Raiders, with 129 of those snaps occurring last season in 11 games (three starts). Hall, a 2020 undrafted free agent out of Wyoming, has only started in six career games and has played 31 total. Eli Ricks took about half of his snaps in the slot last season while Maddox was out, but he’s best suited as an outside corner in a depth role.

The situation at safety is pretty cut-and-dried. The Eagles brought back C.J. Gardner-Johnson after letting him walk in free agency last offseason to fill a hole at starter alongside Reed Blankenship. Last season, the team could have used his energetic presence and his play-making ability while he spent the year with the Detroit Lions.

In 2022, Gardner-Johnson tied for the league high with six interceptions in just 12 games. Last season, Eagles safeties combined for five interceptions total. The Eagles had a minus-10 turnover differential last year (the fourth-worst performance in the league), and they’ll look to improve in 2024.

Blankenship solidified himself as a reliable starter last season, starting 15 games and missing two due to injury. On an Eagles defense that ranked second-to-last in the league in passing yards and touchdowns, Blankenship was one of their best players in coverage, posting six pass breakups and a team-high three interceptions.

» READ MORE: Reed Blankenship still has a chip on his shoulder after the Eagles reward him with a contract extension

While Gardner-Johnson and Blankenship are in line to start at safety, the former is capable of moving into the slot in sub packages, allowing Sydney Brown to eventually get on the field at the same time. Brown, who is going into his second season, is recovering from a torn ACL sustained in the season finale against the New York Giants. Regardless of Brown’s status for Week 1, the Eagles could use another safety or two as added depth going into training camp.

If the cornerbacks depth chart is written in pencil, the specialists are written in permanent marker. The Eagles extended all three of them this offseason, keeping kicker Jake Elliott under contract through 2028, punter Braden Mann through 2025, and long snapper Rick Lovato through 2024.

» READ MORE: Eagles and kicker Jake Elliott agree to terms on a 4-year contract extension after his All-Pro season

Only when there is instability at the positions in years past have the Eagles brought in challengers to the incumbents (for example, the Eagles had punter Arryn Siposs compete with Ty Zentner in training camp last year). Each of the current specialists is coming off a strong, consistent season with the team.