Nickell Robey-Coleman signing: What Inquirer Eagles beat team thinks of team’s latest cornerback addition

The Eagles continued to rebuild their defensive backfield this week by signing former Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman.

The Inquirer’s Eagles coverage team analyzes the move.

This is Howie Roseman’s wheelhouse, a solid veteran ready to take a low-cost one-year deal because free agency didn’t pan out the way he’s hoped, and he wants a solid stage to mount a better bid for the next offseason.

Robey-Coleman won’t transform the Eagles’ secondary, but he is the most experienced corner on the roster. He is small (5-foot-8, 180) but he has been healthy and productive through a seven-year career.

I talked to him after his most infamous moment, the uncalled pass interference against Tommylee Lewis in the NFC Championship Game that probably kept the Saints from going to the Super Bowl after the 2018 season. He said his phone was going crazy. I asked him if he thought it was friends congratulating him on going to the Super Bowl or, objecting to what he did.

“I think it might be both,” he said.

I like a guy who can be that honest.

The Eagles appear to be collecting defensive backs with previous connections to Jim Schwartz. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Darius Slay played for Schwartz as a rookie in 2013 when Schwartz was the Lions’ head coach. Nickell Robey-Coleman played for him in Buffalo a year later when he was the Bills’ defensive coordinator.

It’s hard to knock this deal because of the tiny one-year, no-harm-no-foul investment the Eagles are making in the guy. At 5-8, he’s strictly a slot guy. But he’s been one of the league’s better ones. He’s got seven years of NFL experience and has been a durable player, which is something the Eagles value.

Is he an upgrade over Cre’Von LeBlanc and/or Avonte Maddox? Would they have been better served signing Logan Ryan? Both are good questions. If you’re asking me, the answers are no and yes.

I don’t know what their plans are for the 5-9 Maddox at the moment. With Jalen Mills apparently moving back to safety, it appears they’re going to put Maddox on the outside. Personally, I think Avonte’s best position is safety. But that’s me. I don’t like undersized guys on the outside, even if they do have a 37-inch vertical jump and have a fearless 6-foot-3 mentality.

Getting back to Robey-Coleman, I guess he gives them depth in the slot. But the odd man out inside – LeBlanc or Robey-Coleman – really isn’t going to be able to help them much on the outside. But until we get to training camp – whenever that will be – we’re not going to know exactly how Schwartz plans to deploy his DBs.

Not all of the Eagles’ free agent signings will pan out. In fact, the hit rate can be less than 50 percent. In some cases, the player won’t work out because of ability. In others, scheme fit. And often there is a failure because of injury. The Eagles have dealt with the latter more than most teams because general manager Howie Roseman has liked to use a free agent’s questionable health as a way to get a good deal on an otherwise talented player.

He has taken a different approach this offseason -- understandable, considering the Eagles’ issues with injuries over the last two seasons. Robey-Coleman, for instance, has missed only one game in seven NFL seasons because of injury. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave has missed only one in four seasons. Safety Will Parks two games in four seasons. Linebacker Jatavis Brown four games in four seasons. And the most injury-prone of the new additions -- cornerback Darius Slay -- has missed only nine games over seven seasons.

On the surface, there isn’t much to quibble with the Robey-Coleman signing. The Eagles got an accomplished slot corner on a one-year, $1 million contract. But they already had several slot options -- Avonte Maddox, Cre’Von LeBlanc and Parks. The Eagles, though, want flexibility to move Maddox outside. They had him ahead of Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas on the depth chart last season and it appears they project him to stay there this coming season. I can’t say I disagree with that assessment, but that’s an indictment of the Jones and Douglas draft picks.

Like Domo above, I don’t love Maddox on the outside. He doesn’t have great length and has been susceptible to double moves. I like him more in the middle of the field, whether in the slot or at safety. The Eagles may still believe that Jones has a chance to win that job. He’s still young and doesn’t turn 24 until May. But it’s hard to overlook what has so far been a poor draft pick. The same could be said of Douglas, although to a lesser degree. I’d imagine both are available to be traded. I can’t imagine how much the Eagles may get in return, but a new environment could benefit Jones, who has some ability.

In a vacuum, the Robey-Coleman addition makes some sense. But there’s also a reason why the Rams declined the option on his contract, a reason why he came so cheap, and reasons why the Eagles had to acquire him in the first place (read: poor drafting).