Philadelphia Eagles: 5 offseason needs in 2020

3. Firm up the secondary

Even the season that the Eagles emerged as Super Bowl champions, the team had its shortcoming in the defensive backfield, in particular at the cornerback position. It can’t be overlooked that in the eight-point win over the Patriots at Minneapolis, Tom Brady threw for a postseason record 505 yards in his team’s loss. One year later, only two teams in the league allowed more passing yards than Philadelphia.

This past season, Doug Pederson’s club improved to 19th in the NFL in aerial yards surrendered. But Jim Schwartz’s defense also allowed 27 touchdown passes and on several occasions the secondary was riddled by opposing quarterbacks who made it look far too easy.

Cornerback Ronald Darby has struggled to stay healthy throughout his three-year stay in Philadelphia. But when he’s been on the field, he’s been highly productive. The former Buffalo Bills’ second-round pick has played in only 28 regular-season games for Pederson’s club but there have been seven interceptions and 32 passes defensed.

Darby is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in March and it will be intriguing to see if the 26-year-old talent returns in 2020. Four-year pro Jalen Mills, who can also the test the open market, has also struggled with injuries the past two years.

Perhaps the real question is whether the team will bring back safety Rodney McLeod? Limited to only three games in 2018, he was back this past year and was in the opening lineup for every game. He has amassed 10 takeaways (8 interceptions) in four seasons with the Birds but like Darby and Mills could also be available on March 18.

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