Eagles GM Howie Roseman says James Bradberry is still in their future plans

Despite having a pretty awful 2023 season, Eagles cornerback James Bradberry is still in the good graces of GM Howie Roseman. At least for now.

With the scouting combine officially getting underway down in Indianapolis, Howie Roseman spoke to the media for the first time since his end of season presser about a month ago.

He didn’t reveal much in terms of offseason strategy, but he did give us an interesting little tidbit towards the end of his press conference. When asked about James Bradberry possibly switching positions to safety or nickel, Howie gave a pretty long winded answer as to why it’s not really plausible at Bradberry’s age. The reporter then asked if Bradberry was in the Eagles future plans.

Howie on the Eagles plans for James Bradberry

Howie Roseman on James Bradberry#Eagles pic.twitter.com/9U3AcgIRd3

— Chris Franklin (@cfranklinnews) February 27, 2024

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Bradberry was ass in 2023, and that’s putting it lightly. After signing a three-year, $38 million deal last offseason, Bradberry proceeded to have the worst season of his NFL career. He allowed a 58% completion percentage on 56 targets, while surrendering 12.3 yards per reception and a whopping nine touchdowns to just one interception.

Obviously, moving off Bradberry this offseason would be in the best interest of the team. Howie isn’t going to say that at a press conference. Saying, “he’s under contract so he’s in our plans,” doesn’t really hold any merit either. If the Eagles can find a trade partner or another corner to replace him with, he’ll be gone.

The only issue with it is the contract. Cutting Bradberry before June 1 would incur a dead cap hit of $17.2M for 2024. Trading him pre June 1 isn’t much better – the team would take on a $16M dead cap hit in that case. Post June 1 provides some cap relief for 2024, but the dead cap essentially just gets pushed back until 2025. A post June 1 release would see the Eagles take on $4M in dead money for 2024, with the remaining $12M being due next offseason.

Sadly, there’s no easy way out of this mess of a contract. I could see it going either way, but I’m leaning towards a departure – especially if the rumors about L’Jarius Sneed turn out to be true.