February 19, 2024
Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports
Colts safety Julian Blackmon celebrating an interception against the Steelers back on December 16 of last season.
NFL free agency is just around the corner, and while the Philadelphia Eagles may not be strong candidates to go on a splashy shopping spree, they'll have more ability to spend than they did a year ago, when players left in droves. Here are three free agents who make sense.
In college at Utah, Blackmon played his first three seasons at corner, and he moved to safety for his senior season. When he has been able to stay on the field in the NFL he has been a very good player. He is an aggressive run defender with instincts in the passing game.
In 2023, Blackmon had 88 tackles, 4 INTs, and 8 pass breakups. An INT shown here:
We'll take that one.
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) October 22, 2023
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/aY500lY6I4
And a game-sealer here:
JULIAN BLACKMON CALLED GAME!!
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) October 18, 2020
📺 FOX | #CINvsIND pic.twitter.com/7Vsx5flQ3r
Blackmon has a significant injury history:
• The Colts drafted him in the third round in 2020 even though he suffered an ACL tear during his senior season in 2019.
• He tore his Achilles close to midway through 2021 and missed the rest of that season.
• He missed three games in 2022 with an ankle injury.
• He missed two games in 2023 with a shoulder injury, and was placed on IR. While he was out, the Colts got lit up by C.J. Stroud and the Texans, and missed the playoffs.
While Blackmon's durability concerns might seem like a detriment, they are also going to prevent him from breaking the bank, and for the Eagles' purposes at safety, affordable is good.
The Eagles have a pair of young safeties in Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown who they hope will be good long-term answers at safety. Unfortunately, Brown tore an ACL in the Eagles' Week 18 loss to the Giants, and his availability for the start of 2024 is in question. Meanwhile, Blankenship had good moments and bad ones during the 2023 season, and it might be too early to definitively say that he's a player the team can have full faith in as a long-term starter.
One route the Eagles could go at safety is to sign some Band-Aid veteran, like the recently released Eddie Jackson, who excelled under Vic Fangio a half decade ago, but who is probably on the downside of his career. If the money is similar, taking a shot on a young, ascending player with some medical concerns like Blackmon has more upside.
Cashman spent his first three years in the NFL with the Jets, but only appeared in 14 games with seven starts. The Jets traded him to the Texans in 2022, where he played in 16 games, but still only started one. He re-signed with the Texans for the 2023 season for under $2 million and heading into the season was set to play a sub-package role for them, with Christian Harris and Denzel Perryman projected to play starting roles.
He did not play any defensive snaps in Houston's first two games, but got an opportunity to play a bigger role in the defense when Perryman and rookie Henry To’oTo’o faltered in coverage. He would eventually earn a starting role next to Harris (Harris played the MIKE spot), and he made an impact, finishing with an impressive 106 tackles (9 for loss), 2 sacks, and 5 pass breakups, despite only playing about 57 percent of the Texans' defensive snaps.
Cashman is a little undersized at 6'1, 237 with short arms and small hands, but he's an outstanding athlete with 4.5 speed.
The risk with signing a guy like Cashman is that he'll turn 28 in May and he's never been a three-down linebacker for the entirety of a season during his five-year career. However, he's better in coverage than anyone the Eagles have on the roster at linebacker, and like Blackmon above, he is an ascending player with some upside, as opposed to the long line of washed linebackers the Eagles tried in 2023.
Mooney had a strong first two seasons in Chicago, but his production has stalled over the last two:
| Darnell Mooney | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| 2020 | 61 | 631 | 10.3 | 4 |
| 2021 | 81 | 1055 | 13.0 | 4 |
| 2022 | 40 | 493 | 12.3 | 2 |
| 2023 | 31 | 414 | 13.4 | 1 |
The Eagles were willing to give Quez Watkins a prolonged chance to emerge as a playmaker because of his blazing speed, and what he could theoretically do to stretch the field and open up easier opportunities in the intermediate parts of the field for A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert. However, bad things happened whenever the ball went Watkins' way, and he simply didn't pan out like the team had hoped he might.
Mooney is a better version of Watkins. He has 4.38 speed and he found a way to make his share of big plays in a bad Bears offense.
ONE-HAND MOONEY.
— NFL (@NFL) October 9, 2022
📺: #CHIvsMIN on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/78MQfPqpl1 pic.twitter.com/TDuP4mPsb6
He also has inside-outside versatility, having played 919 career snaps (45.5%) in the slot, and 1075 snaps (53.3%) out wide.
With only 31 catches for 414 yards and 1 TD in 2023, Mooney could be an affordable option for the Eagles. He turns 27 in October.
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