Breaking down James Bradberry’s contract situation and Howie Roseman’s comments on the Eagles corner

INDIANAPOLIS — Before exiting the podium on Tuesday, Howie Roseman offered a brief answer to a lingering question.

Discussing cornerback James Bradberry, one year removed from signing a three-year contract with $20 million in guarantees with the Eagles, the general manager said the 30-year-old was still part of the team’s plans despite his sharp regression last season.

“Yes, he’s under contract,” Roseman said. “Part of our plans.”

Roseman’s comments require some qualification considering how quickly “plans” can change throughout the offseason, but his answer is illustrative of Bradberry’s complicated contract situation. He signed long term with the Eagles last offseason after having a career year and testing free agency, but wasn’t the same player in 2023.

According to Pro Football Focus, Bradberry gave up 61 catches and a career-worst 10 touchdowns last season with opposing quarterbacks averaging a passer rating of 114.2 when targeting him. By comparison, he gave up 46 catches on nearly identical targets the year prior with only two touchdowns allowed and an opponent passer rating of 51.8 when targeted.

With a deep group ofcornerback prospects and four picks in the first three rounds, the Eagles could find a starting-caliber corner at some point in the draft to play opposite Darius Slay. There are also several potential free agents or trade targets, including Kansas City’s L’Jarius Sneed, who the Chiefs reportedly gave permission to seek a trade on Tuesday.

Releasing Bradberry would have significant salary-cap implications for multiple years, though. According to overthecap.com, the Eagles would take on just over $15 million in dead cap money by releasing Bradberry this league year. If they release him with a post-June 1 designation, they can spread that dead money hit over two seasons instead with about $4.3 million counting against next season’s cap and the rest in 2025.

» READ MORE: Three personnel needs for rebuilding the Eagles defense under Vic Fangio

The unexpected $30 million increase to next year’s salary cap could make releasing Bradberry more palatable than before, although Roseman was measured when explaining how the increase in cap dollars would impact his offseason approach.

“I think you’ve still got to be cognizant of how you want to build a team,” Roseman said. “You’ve still got to be aware of guys coming up for contracts that you want to keep that you don’t anticipate losing. And I think it also gives you some flexibility to not force things, to have the ability to walk away from a deal and understand that it may come about at another time. I don’t think you want — it’s still the same amount of money. It’s like, if you win $5, it’s still your $5. You don’t want to just throw that $5 out and pretend like it’s not yours.”

Although he played out of the slot for a brief stretch early in the season to help the team compensate for Avonte Maddox suffering a season-ending injury, Roseman said he doesn’t view Bradberry as a potential option on the inside going into the offseason.

The Eagles eventually signed Bradley Roby to start in Maddox’s place and also used rookie safety Sydney Brown and undrafted rookie cornerback Eli Ricks in that role to facilitate Bradberry moving back outside.

“I think he’s an outside guy,” Roseman said. “I think when you look at the skill set there, that was one of the positions that, as we got into the summer, we kind of knew we needed some depth there. We gave some guys opportunities to do it. I’ve got to do a better job of bringing in more guys to be able to play that position. I think that’s one area that kind of you felt like in August maybe we needed to add, so we tried some guys. But when you look at J.B. and his history and his success as an outside corner, to ask him to do something, which is really a different position, is hard.”

It’s worth noting Bradberry, who will turn 31 before the start of the regular season, has had some year-over-year volatility to his play the last few seasons. He faced a similar situation after the 2021 season, when a down year with the New York Giants precipitated him getting released late in the offseason to give the Giants cap relief.

He excelled in former defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon’s zone-heavy scheme in 2022, allowing him to play off coverage with his eyes on the quarterback. His struggles last year were exacerbated by the team’s midseason switch to Matt Patricia, who put Bradberry in more man-coverage situations that left him overmatched at times.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ James Bradberry fails Seahawks’ testing of him on final drive: ‘He just ran past me’

Eagles new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has a track record of using primarily match-zone coverages with two high safeties, although he has shown flexibility around his personnel during his career.

Given Fangio’s decades of experience in the league and the evident sway he had on the defensive assistants the Eagles brought in for him, it’s also fair to wonder if he’ll have meaningful influence on the team’s personnel decisions this offseason.

“When we talk about how we build a team overall, obviously that’s something that’s important to us,” Roseman said when asked about Fangio’s potential input. “But by the same token, knowing what’s important to the coordinator and the system so that it can be successful is important as well.”