In a somewhat surprising turn of events the Eagles have dealt starting slot CB Brandon Boykin to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a 5th round pick in next years draft.
While the move itself was expected, Boykin’s days were numbered given that this was his contract year and the fact he never really fit Chip Kelly’s mold for defensive backs, its the timing of the trade that comes a bit by surprise. The trade seemed to come almost out of the blue considering there were no rumors of the Steelers showing interest in Boykin. Chip Kelly made it known today that the Steelers had actively been pursing Boykin since the draft in May.
I’d like to think that Brandon Boykin is worth more than a 5th round pick, considering he’s one of the league’s premiere nickel corner, but this was probably the best deal the birds were gonna get. Bryce Brown can fetch a 4th round pick while Boykin is only worth a 5th, trades in the NFL are weird.
Now I’m usually all for trading players in their contract year, especially if that player is not expected to resign, but this move, I’m a little bit curious about. You have to question how much chemistry this team’s secondary is going to have with new starters at four of the five positions. Whats even more concerning is that fact their may be two rookie starters in an already suspect secondary, Eric Rowe is the favorite to win the starting a job opposite Byron Maxwell and JaCorey Shepherd is already taking first team reps at nickel. With cornerback being one of the hardest positions to adapt to from college to the NFL, you have to question how much improvement this unit can make from last season.
With all that said, JaCorey Shepherd isn’t completely lost at the corner position, he was a sleeper pick in this years draft but saw his draft stock plummet thanks to a torn hamstring. Of all the corners taking in last May’s draft, Shepherd led the way in deflected passes. The talent is there it may just take some time to smooth some of the rough edges, unfortunately for Chip I’m not sure how much time he has.
You have to think Chip will take a lot of scrutiny if Boykin can earn a starting job on the outside and actually produce for the Steelers, seeing as how he refused to give Boykin starting minutes over the walking charcoal Bradley Fletcher due mostly to his short stature.
Personally, I’d feel a little bit more comfortable with someone like Jaylen Watkins starting in the slot. He already has a year of experience under his belt and he did show some nice things in the season finale against the Giants, not many but still some.
While I was never really overly confident about this unit as a whole, it just got a even more shakey in my eyes. I doubt it could be any worse than the polished turd that trotted out every week last season, but I expect the improvements to be marginal at best. I think this unit will go from being well done to just medium rare.
Expect burnt toast jokes people. And more racist Chip Kelly comments…
Snowballs & Batteries 