Avonte Maddox could be out for the season. How might the Eagles replace him?

The Eagles find themselves in a bind just a couple of weeks into the 2023 season. The team has dealt with injuries to a handful of starters; perhaps the most significant occurred during the Thursday night victory over the Minnesota Vikings, when cornerback Avonte Maddox sustained a pectoral injury.

Maddox underwent an MRI on Friday, according to league sources, and he is expected to receive a second opinion. If his pec is confirmed to be torn, Maddox likely would be out for the season.

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Maddox is a key contributor to the defense, but he’s struggled to stay on the field in recent years. He’s coming off a 2022 campaign in which he missed seven regular-season games due to injury. The Eagles already are without Zech McPhearson, their primary reserve at slot cornerback, who sustained a torn Achilles tendon during the preseason.

With Maddox expected to miss a significant amount of time, what’s next for a team with Super Bowl aspirations?

Below are several contingency options, listed in order of likelihood based on what we’re hearing.

All-Pro cornerback James Bradberry leads the NFL with 79 passes defensed since 2018. He’s appeared exclusively at outside cornerback over his eight-year career, with previous stints playing for the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants before he joined the Eagles in 2022.

Bradberry has thrived on the outside, and the Eagles rewarded him with a three-year contract extension worth $38 million in free agency.

However, if the Eagles don’t feel entirely comfortable entrusting second-year player Mario Goodrich with responsibilities at the nickel, then slotting Bradberry inside (no pun intended) might make sense. That would leave second-year player Josh Jobe to man the outside opposite Darius Slay.

Bradberry missed Week 2 with a concussion, but, according to league sources, he remains on track to return next Monday at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bradberry, who collided with teammate Terrell Edmunds in the regular-season opener at New England, has developed his reputation as an ironman, appearing in 97 of 100 potential regular-season games dating back to 2017.

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Defensive coordinator Sean Desai actually experimented with Bradberry at the slot throughout training camp. That thought process with Bradberry moving inside, according to league sources, was initially intended to be matchup-based this season. The expectation was Bradberry would line up against specific tight ends, such as the Vikings’ T.J. Hockenson, the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, and the Giants’ Darren Waller, with coaches favoring Bradberry’s size (6-foot-1), lengthy frame, and his physicality enforced at the line of scrimmage.

But with McPhearson and Maddox sidelined, Bradberry’s move to the inside could come sooner than expected — and on a full-time basis, at least for this season.

Goodrich, 23, handled a majority of snaps at the nickel following Maddox’s departure. The Clemson product spent the 2022 season on the practice squad and made the team’s 53-man roster this past month.

On Thursday night, Goodrich appeared in 39 defensive snaps, including 35 coverage snaps. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins went his way often as Goodrich allowed six receptions, including one touchdown, on six targets.

With Maddox and McPhearson out, the Eagles don’t have any obvious candidates at the slot beyond Goodrich. Backup cornerbacks Kelee Ringo and Eli Ricks are viewed primarily as outside cornerbacks. Desai also could experiment with other personnel in the slot, such as athletic rookie safety Sydney Brown.

General manager Howie Roseman and his staff are always scouring for external talent. While this seems like a long shot, adding a free-agent cornerback could provide depth to a depleted group, although it would be difficult to expect an external addition to immediately contribute at a high level.

Current free agents include:

Casey Hayward, age: 34, years pro: 11

The two-time All-Pro signed a two-year deal worth $11 million with the Falcons in 2022. He started the first six games of the season before he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury last October. The Falcons released Hayward in April. Over 152 career games, Hayward has 448 tackles, 112 passes defensed, and 25 interceptions.

Grant Haley, 27, years pro: 5

Haley, a Penn State alumnus, appeared at slot cornerback with the Giants after he made the team as an undrafted rookie in 2018. He spent the first two years of his career with New York before stints with the New Orleans Saints (2020) and Los Angeles Rams (2021-22). Last season, the 5-foot-9, 190-pound cornerback logged 129 defensive snaps over four games before he suffered an ACL sprain that prematurely ended his season.

Anthony Brown, 29, years pro: 7

A familiar face, Brown has appeared in 94 games (69 starts), all with the Dallas Cowboys. He has 324 career tackles and 59 passes defensed, including 24 pass breakups over the past two seasons. Brown has nine career interceptions. He suffered a torn Achilles tendon in Week 13 last season. This summer, he was signed to the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad before being released on Sept. 14.

Cameron Dantzler, 25, years pro: 3

Dantzler, a 2020 third-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings, was limited in 2022 with an ankle injury. Over three seasons, he appeared in 36 games (26 starts) with 149 tackles, 17 passes defensed, three interceptions, and three forced fumbles. Dantzler, a close friend of wide receiver DeVonta Smith, signed a one-year deal in free agency with the Buffalo Bills, but he was released at the start of training camp because of a hamstring injury.