NFL free agency rumors: Eagles eye A.J. Bouye
By John Buhler
Despite having very little cap space, the Philadelphia Eagles are actively pursuing high-priced free agent cornerback A.J. Bouye this offseason.
The Philadelphia Eagles had a dominant front seven under first-year defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz in 2016. However, their secondary got burnt to the crisp about once every game. After releasing Leodis McKelvin, the Eagles have adjusted their focus on landing a top-tier cornerback in free agency in A.J. Bouye.
According to Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com, “the Eagles have interest in Houston Texans cornerback A.J. Bouye.” Shorr-Parks expresses that both Bouye’s party and the Eagles have begun discussions during this legal tampering period.
Bouye had a breakout season with the Texans last year. He was asked to do a ton once young franchise cornerback Kevin Johnson succumbed to injury. At times, Houston had the best defense in football and Bouye was the best player in the Texans’ secondary for most of it.
While Houston could have used the franchise tag on him, the Texans didn’t want to spend the $16 million to bring him back on a one-year deal. Bouye could go to Philadelphia and be an immediate impact player in the back end, but where are the Eagles going to get the necessary capital to sign him?
Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman has roughly $8,057,476 worth of cap space heading into free agency. However, many of the guys under contract with the Eagles were signed by the old regime with Chip Kelly as their head coach. Doug Pederson and his staff don’t have a ton of attachment to those players.
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Roseman will have to be pragmatic to create enough space to sign a player of Bouye’s caliber. However, should Philadelphia be overspending of yet another cornerback in free agency? Nnamdi Asomugha is still a very painful name to say in the Greater Philadelphia area.