The Philadelphia Eagles are aggressively pursuing New England Patriots free agent safety Devin McCourty and he is their top target.
Chip Kelly has already been very busy this offseason for the Philadelphia Eagles, and the biggest move was trading away star running back LeSean McCoy. Philadelphia also cut pass rushing specialist Trent Cole on the same day.
Devin McCourty was a huge piece of the New England Patriots’ defense last year, and the Eagles have made him their top target in free agency and are aggressively pursuing him.
Needless to say, these are the type of moves that the Eagles can do now that they have cleared all the cap space that they did. McCourty would be a huge pickup for the Eagles’ weak defensive secondary, and he would likely be interested in a deal with the Eagles at the right price. At 27 years old, he still has quite a few years of top-notch football left in him.
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During the 2014 season with the Patriots, McCourty ended up recording 68 tackles, two interceptions, a forced fumble, and six defensed passes. They aren’t huge numbers, but he still has room to grow and improve his game.
There aren’t a ton of dominant safety’s that hit the market, and that is exactly the opportunity that the Eagles are seeing. The safety position is one area that they have desperately needed help, and signing McCourty is a 100 percent sure way to fill that need. Philadelphia could try to draft a safety, but that is far from a guarantee at the NFL level.
It is going to be very intriguing to see what Kelly’s offseason plan is. There has to be quite a few plans being made after the trade of their star running back, and this could be one of those moves. He has made it clear that he doesn’t mess around with his players when he doesn’t like them, and he is trying to build a team that will buy into his system.
All of that being said, McCourty is going to have plenty of different teams show interest in him this offseason. He is one of the best defensive players on the market, and there are plenty of teams that need an upgrade at the safety position. Philadelphia will be a player in the negotiations, but they might not end up winning them.
Expect plenty of rumors to surround McCourty over the next few days with free agency opening up on Tuesday.
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