After last night’s beatdown of the Miami Dolphins, the Eagles are adding an All-Pro in the secondary.
Longtime Titans starting free safety Kevin Byard has been sent to Philly for fellow safety Terrell Edmunds and 2024 fifth-round and sixth-round picks.
For the Eagles, they add one of the most consistent safeties since 2016. The former third-round pick out of Middle Tennessee is a two-time All-Pro and Pro Bowler in 2017 and 2021, the former in which he co-led the NFL in interceptions. Byard hasn’t played less than 96% of defensive snaps since his rookie season, and has started every game.
Byard is the eighth-highest paid safety in 2023, and his salary was a big storyline this offseason after the team approached him about a pay cut back in March. He ended up restructuring his deal in July.
Edmunds is a former first-round pick of the Steelers in 2018, and was their starting safety for five seasons before signing a one-year deal with Philadelphia this past March. His role hadn’t been clearly defined in the early parts of the season, having played 100% of the snaps three of the last four games, but zero in that one game. He had entered the season as a backup to Reed Blankenship and Justin Evans, but had been filling in with Blankenship out a few weeks and Evans on injured reserve since Week 5. Rookie Sydney Brown had been starting alongside Edmunds, but with Blankenship likely coming back soon, Philly saw they could afford to give up their veteran depth and get a veteran starter.
It has really been a downward spiral for the Titans since their loss in the divisional round in 2021. The 2022 offseason saw the front office trade away star receiver A.J. Brown to these same Eagles, and it led to a 7-10 losing season. Currently sitting at 2-4 at the bottom of one of the worst divisions in football, Tennessee may be looking at a complete teardown. They have a lot of veterans with big contracts that they may be trying to offload and hope to start rebuilding for next season, because 2023 ain’t their year.
The trade deadline is Tuesday 10/31 at 4:00pm EST. Expect more moves to come around the NFL.
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