Early Birds: Eagles consider carrying a fullback; Doug Pederson on the cornerbacks; Pederson's first league meetings

1) For the past three years, fullbacks have been extinct in Philadelphia. Doug Pederson might bring them back to life.

The Eagles were part of a trend in the NFL to move away from the fullback position. When Chip Kelly took over for Andy Reid, the team traded Stanley Havili and moved Emil Igwenagu to tight end. They operated mostly out of the shotgun in a single-back formation.

Reid's offense, which Pederson runs, has used a fullback. That player must be more than a lead blocker, and Pederson is considering using one of the 53 spots on a fullback again.

"There's a chance," Pederson said. "That's something I want to consider this offseason. We carried one in Kansas City, Anthony Sherman. I also want to see how our tight ends can hold up - if we can utilize that to do the same thing, frees up a roster spot. I'm going to look at that hard this offseason."

Pederson said he is on an "assignment to find one." He's considering players who are on the roster for that role. The top role for that player must be as a "four-core special teams guy," meaning someone who plays on punt, punt return, kickoff and kickoff return teams. One player to watch is Trey Burton, the team's No. 3 tight end and one of the top special teams players on the roster during the past two seasons. Burton is not known for his blocking, but he could work on it in the spring. In that case, the Eagles wouldn't need to carry a natural fullback on the roster and could save a roster spot.

"He's someone I want to look at there," Pederson said. "I want to see if he can handle that. I don't know that answer yet without actually physically putting him in that position. The other thing, too, is there's no blocking and protection stuff in the spring. You really have to wait until training camp to know if he can hold up back there."

2) The Eagles have added depth to the cornerback spot, but they don't have elite talent at that position. They traded top cornerback Byron Maxwell, re-signed Nolan Carroll, and added Leodis McKelvin and Ron Brooks. The Eagles could further address the position in the draft – an instant starting-caliber cornerback could be on the board at No. 8 – but if they add only a developmental cornerback in the draft, then the top options would be Eric Rowe, Carroll, and McKelvin.

That position remains a question mark – although Pederson seemed pleased with what's on the roster.

"I actually feel really good about our corner position," Pederson said. "There's some youth out there with some experience, and that's key. I'm excited to watch these guys actually get out there against our receivers and work this spring - I know we can only do certain things. I like where we're at with that position. We still probably need to add some depth over there at that position, but who we have I like."

The other cornerbacks on the roster are Jaylen Watkins, JaCorey Shepherd, Denzel Rice, Randall Evans, and Aaron Grymes.

3) Doug Pederson took part in his first league meetings last week. The annual event is a gathering spot for owners, general managers, and coaches – putting Pederson in high-profile company.

What did he think of the experience?

"It's been great to have one-on-one with the coaches and get a chance to meet them and talk to them and bounce some ideas off each other," Pederson said. "And the other, the interaction of the whole process, from the commissioner's messages to us as a league to the breakouts to listening to the rules proposals and bylaws proposals, sitting in on some of these meetings, there's a lot of information – a lot, a lot of information. It's good information. It's all about making our game better. We're all in this to…make our game better. That's been the biggest thing."