Eagles' Coach Points To Competition After Trade For Young CB

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles acquired a young cornerback on Monday night with some upside in Jakorian Bennett.

From the outside looking in, that may not seem like the best development for either Adoree’ Jackson or Kelee Ringo, who have been competing for the open job opposite ascending second-year star Quinyon Mitchell.

The Eagles acquired Bennett in a player-for-player trade from Las Vegas for defensive tackle Thomas Booker.

On paper, it looks like a win-win because the Raiders need some interior help after moving on from Christian Wilkins, and Philadelphia accumulated another body with upside to add to Ringo and third-year player Eli Ricks, with the veteran Jackson still serving as the Lloyd’s of London policy.

More so, under Pete Carroll, the Raiders would prefer lengthier CBs than the 5-foot-10 Bennett, while the Eagles like Booker but have rookie Ty Robinson, Byron Young, and Gabe Hall as reserves at DT, they are comfortable with.

It’s the kind of deal that magnifies the relationship GM Howie Rosman has with three of the Raiders’ top executives, including  GM John Spytek, VP of Player Personnel Brandon Hunt, and senior personnel executive Anthony Patch, who are former Eagles’ employees.

That said, it does seem to send a message to Jackson and Ringo, so Eagles On SI skipped the tap dancing and asked Nick Sirianni what the deal says about the two in-house candidates for the job.

“Just adding depth to that position,” the head coach claimed. “I think both [Jackson and Ringo] have done an outstanding job and I know [Defensive Coordinator] Vic [Fangio] talked about that yesterday. That's a battle.

“You love having battles and I think you can look out there and see Adoree' make a play and you see Kelee make a play, and you guys have seen it. They're doing a really nice job and [we're] excited about how they worked and how they worked all offseason, how they worked all summer and came in here ready to compete.”

That battle seemed to be on the verge of opening another front with Eli Ricks, a sense was correct, but now shifts to Bennett, who has started 11 NFL games over his first two seasons.

To soften the blow for the two incumbants, Sirianni used a competition angle.

“Competition brings out the best in all our guys, and we're looking forward to continuing those battles with those guys,” said Sirianni. 

“I think what's really obvious to me with this football team is how much they like to compete,” the coach continued. “That's part of toughness is your competitive drive. I can't tell you how many times [RB] Saquon [Barkley], [QB] Jalen Hurts, [DT] Jalen Carter have come up to me and said, 'Hey, what's the competition today?' 'Hey, what are we doing for the competition today?' 'Hey, why haven't we done one of these yet?' And it's making me think about different ways we can compete against each other. … I love the competitive drive of this team.

"Again, like I said, competition brings out the best in everybody. … I also firmly believe that competition brings teams closer together. We say this all the time, if you think back to all the guys that you're closest with, I bet in this sport, you’ve competed against a lot of them. So yeah, it's been good competition, and I like what's going on.”