The Will Parks signing: Inquirer’s Eagles beat team weighs in

Considering the cost, I can’t see much reason to quibble with the Parks signing. I haven’t seen the final numbers on his one-year deal, but he reportedly took less to come to Philly. That could be a bunch of agent malarkey, but I can’t imagine that Howie Roseman dumped significant resources into a part-time player during the second wave of free agency.

Parks is a versatile defensive back. He’s played both safety roles and slot corner. My guess is that the Eagles don’t have him penciled into a starting spot, but they’ll certainly give him the opportunity to compete with either Jalen Mills as the box safety or Avonte Maddox/Cre’Von LeBlanc as the slot.

At the least, he’s a depth addition for the defense and a regular contributor on special teams. Parks could have some upside. He turns 26 in July and returns to his native city. The latter can have negative implications for some players, but Parks appears to have his head screwed on straight. He was reportedly a positive influence in the Denver locker room.

So why did the Broncos allow him to leave? Well, it’s not like Parks did anything spectacular in four seasons there. Denver is also set at safety with Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson and the Broncos have some younger options at corner they likely want to give a chance to play.

This is a low-risk signing. In the bigger picture, the Eagles are probably weaker at safety with Malcolm Jenkins’ departure and the underwhelming re-signings of Rodney McLeod and Mills. But I also think the Eagles aren’t quite finished at the position. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them select a safety in either the second or early third day of the draft next month.

There is no reason I can imagine to be against signing Will Parks, given the Eagles’ lack of depth at safety. At worst, he’s a good special teams guy and a decent, experienced fill-in on defense. At best, he might be able to give the team some of the versatility Malcolm Jenkins provided -- Parks has played the nickel, as well as box safety. And being a local guy is a good thing, in that he isn’t likely to shrivel up and blow away if he gets booed.

I would caution not to make too big a deal of this, just because Parks is from Philly. Despite all that talk of better offers elsewhere, etc., he signed here on a one-year deal. I don’t think the entire NFL was beating down his door, and the contract would indicate that the Eagles don’t see him as the answer to their prayers.

If I were the Eagles, I would still be looking for a safety pretty early in the draft, maybe even second round.

This wasn’t a great safety free-agent class, particularly after the Broncos’ Justin Simmons and the Vikings’ Anthony Harris both were tagged and others, including Devin McCourty (Patriots), Jimmie Ward (49ers), Tre Boston (Panthers) and Eddie Jackson (Bears), re-signed with their old teams.

My preference, once they decided to part ways with Malcolm Jenkins, would’ve been former Packer/Redskin/Bear Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. But he ended up signing a one-year deal with the Cowboys.

How you view Will Parks’ signing largely depends on what you think the Eagles expect and are likely to get from him.

With Rodney McLeod returning and the Eagles apparently planning to move Jalen Mills from corner to safety, it seems likely that they’re not bringing Parks in with expectations of him becoming a starter. Then again, the jury still is very much out on the Jalen position switch. Personally, I think Avonte Maddox could be a helluva safety.

Parks, a hometown guy from Germantown, agreed to a one-year deal, so the Eagles haven’t made a major investment in him. He’s young – he doesn’t turn 26 until July. He has that can-play-multiple-positions versatility that Jim Schwartz loves.

He can play Cover 2. He can drop down and cover the slot – 211 of his 537 snaps last season were at nickel – and he can be the third safety in dime packages. He also is a productive special teams player. So he also should be an asset to Dave Fipp there.

I’m not big on signing or drafting hometown guys. Too many potential off-field distractions that can ultimately impact on-field performance. We’ll see how that goes.

All in all, I guess I’m OK with this signing but not overwhelmed.