Corner Avonte Maddox, who has missed 29 games in the past four years, has been released by the Eagles, a league source said, confirming a report by ESPN's Adam Schefter.
This step was not surprising.
Maddox, 27, was a very good player when he was healthy, but those healthy games have become less frequent.
He missed six games in 2020 with an ankle injury, played just nine games in 2022 thanks to ankle, knee and toe injuries, then was limited to four games last year after undergoing surgery to repair a torn pectoral injury in September. He returned for the final few games of the season but was nowhere near 100 percent.
With Maddox out for most of the year, the Eagles found themselves in big trouble trying to settle in at inside linebacker, and they never did.
Maddox signed a three-year, $22.5 million extension in November 2021 with $13.3 million guaranteed. He had one year remaining on that deal with a base salary of $6.85 million and a cap number of $9.676913 million, according to OverTheCap.
If the Eagles release Maddox with a designation after June 1st — and it's not yet clear if they do — he would count about $1.96 million against the 2024 cap and then about $5.76 million against the 2025 cap. If they don't designate him after the first of June, it will count about $7.72 million in dead money this year. That would be a saving of about $2 million with no dead money after this season.
Maddox was foury– Round pick in the Eagles' outstanding 2018 draft class, which even without picks in the first, third or fifth rounds brought them Dallas Goedert, Maddox, Josh Sweat and Jordan Mailata.
He became an immediate contributor as a rookie, starting nine games and racking up two assists. He had only two more interceptions over the next five years. He played 64 games in an Eagles uniform, starting 38. Maddox and Jalen Mills are the only cornerbacks drafted by the Eagles in the last 20 years to start at least 30 games for the Eagles.
But even with the Eagles having question marks heading into the offseason, his high salary and frequent injuries make him a potential roster candidate.
With Jason Kelce retiring, Maddox being released, Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham not signing and facing an uncertain future, and Boston Scott not signing either, the only players who were under contract and were here in 2018 were Lane Johnson, Jake Elliott, Rick Lovato, and Goedert, And I settled. Mailata and Greg Ward.
What's the plan in the hatch?
Eli Ricks played 144 of 301 defensive snaps in the slot last year and for an undrafted rookie he showed some promise. Zeke McPherson, who started the summer as Maddox's backup, will be healthy after missing all of last year with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Sidney Brown played 141 of 335 defensive snaps in the slot, but could miss several weeks of the regular season after tearing his ACL on the final day of the regular season.
Midyear acquisition Bradley Roby played 316 snaps but had not played much by the end of the season and is an impending free agent. Mario Goodrich got some runs in the slot early but it didn't go well.
“We gave some guys opportunities to do that,” Howie Roseman said at the combine. “I have to do a better job of bringing in more players so I can play in this position.”
And that's likely the plan, to target the inside cornerback in either the draft or free agency, though it's possible the Eagles could re-sign Maddox to a much smaller contract packed with playing time incentives if he gets hurt again. Shifter tweeted that the two sides will continue negotiations.
But even if they bring him back, the Eagles would still have to devote some resources to what has essentially become a starting position due to Maddox's injury history.
Maddox is the second defensive back with whom the Eagles have cut ties in the past week. They released starting safety Kevin Byard on Friday.
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