The Philadelphia Eagles are getting creative with veteran defensive back James Bradberry this offseason, seeing if the long-time cornerback could make the transition to safety in Vic Fangio's system, and the defensive coordinator said that he has a “good feel” for the position, according to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk.

However, Vic Fangio did note that “the list of guys making the transition from corner to safety, successfully, is very small,” according to Alper.

It is early in training camp for the Eagles, and Fangio did say that James Bradberry would continue to get some snaps at cornerback as well. Bradberry's role in the Eagles' defense will be perhaps the most interesting storyline in training camp for Philadelphia. There is a lot of time left, and maybe he eventually just can't make the transition and sticks at corner, but it is certainly something to monitor.

The Eagles brought back Bradberry on a three-year, $38 million deal last offseason. However, his play did drop off in 2023, which is likely part of why Fangio could be trying him out in the safety role. The Eagles need to fine a role that works for Bradberry this season, whether that be at corner or at safety, because the secondary is one of the biggest question marks on the team.

James Bradberry's role in question with Eagles

It is smart for the Eagles to be open to any possibility when it comes to Bradberry's role, but there is a world where he has a very diminished one this season. As mentioned before, arguably Philadelphia's biggest question mark is the secondary. General manager Howie Roseman did a great job to land Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft to address that.

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Of course, Mitchell and DeJean are rookies and it is not guaranteed that they will be ready to perform right away in year one, especially given the injury that DeJean is currently dealing with at the start of training camp. However, that means that if Bradberry is not fit for safety and is struggling at cornerback again in 2024, the two rookies could begin to earn snaps over him.

Darius Slay is a veteran corner who should take up one of the starting spots, and the return of Chauncey Gardner-Johnson should help at safety in theory, but there are a lot of questions that Fangio needs to answer before Week 1 arrives in the Eagles secondary.