Eagles get more talented with addition of former Super Bowl winner

Already rostering two 30-something cornerbacks, the Eagles spent Tuesday looking into another one. They brought in Bradley Roby for an audition, per Field Yates of ESPN.com. It looks to have gone well, with The Score’s Jordan Schultz reporting Roby is signing with the team. It is unclear just yet if this is an active-roster or practice squad agreement.

The Saints released Roby on roster-cutdown day in August. The former first-round pick had been a free agent since. Roby, 31, has made 60 career starts but was an off-the-bench regular for much of his career, working as a Broncos sub-package corner for years. The Eagles have their top nickel corner, Avonte Maddox, out with a torn pectoral muscle.

Philadelphia made a substantial commitment to its 2022 starting duo — Darius Slay–James Bradberry — by extending Slay and re-signing Bradberry. Both are over 30, with Slay 32 and Bradberry turning 30 this offseason. This is the NFL’s only team to have two 30-something corners installed as regular starters.

New Orleans rostered Roby for two seasons, acquiring him from the Texans before the 2021 campaign. The Saints pivoted to younger options, in Paulson Adebo and Alontae Taylor, alongside ace Marshon Lattimore. Roby worked as both a New Orleans starter and a backup during his tenure with the team.

The Eagles placed Maddox on IR last month; he suffered the torn pec in Week 2. Maddox, who has operated as Philly’s primary slot corner for years, missed time due to separate injuries last season but was back in the playoffs. That timeline may not recur this year, and the Eagles are adding a veteran to the equation. Roby has mostly worked as an outside cover man. His CB3 role in Denver’s former "No Fly Zone" secondary involved Chris Harris shifting from an outside spot to the slot in sub-packages. Roby worked alongside All-Pros Harris and Aqib Talib for four seasons in Denver, where he won a Super Bowl, but was not deemed a priority after his 2018 fifth-year option season.

While Bradberry has lined up outside for nearly his entire career, the Eagles shifted the former Panthers and Giants mainstay into the slot recently. This setup has helped cover for Maddox. The less experienced Mario Goodrich had filled in for Maddox after he went down, and the Eagles have also used rookie safety Sydney Brown inside. But Brown missed the NFC champions’ Week 4 game due to a hamstring injury. Bradberry, who re-signed on a three-year deal worth $38M in March, had also taken slot reps during the Eagles’ training camp.

Roby would stand to provide the Eagles with veteran insurance. He signed two contracts with the Texans, the second a three-year, $31.5M deal. The Ohio State product played on that contract for two Saints seasons, but the team cut bait ahead of the third. A foot injury sent Roby to IR last season, but he returned to finish out the year with New Orleans. Pro Football Focus viewed Roby as a middling corner in 2021 but graded him as a bottom-10 corner during his injury-abbreviated 2022 slate.