After acquiring cornerback Darius Slay and safety Will Parks this week, it appears Howie Roseman is still actively working on his defensive backfield.
According to a report from Pro Football Talk, the Eagles are shopping cornerback Rasul Douglas on the trade market. This should not come as a surprise. Rumors about a possible trade involving Douglas or Sidney Jones have circulated since the start of the offseason.
A fourth-round pick in 2017, Douglas will be entering a contract year in 2020. He showed flashes of solid cornerback play during his first two seasons as a pro, leading some to believe he had a good chance to start on the outside entering the 2019 campaign. With an injury riddled cornerback group, Douglas got his shot to impress the coaching staff last season.
He fell flat in the starting lineup, having his worst season in the NFL. He was benched after a week 7 loss to the Cowboys, and played sparingly throughout the rest of the season.
Standing at 6-foot-2, Douglas has nice size for a corner, but he’s always lacked the speed required to keep up with the better receivers in the league. He routinely found himself trailing receivers on deep routes, allowing 16.8 yards per reception in 2019.
To put it bluntly, Douglas was terrible in coverage last season. He allowed a passer rating of 112 when targeted and finsihed the season with a 49.7 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus.
Although Jones didn’t inspire much confidence last season, he did make some plays down the stretch, which likely afforded him at least one more season with the team. Douglas on the other hand, squandered his opportunity to cement his spot in the defensive backfield, and now he’ll probably be gone before the start of next season.
He’ll finish his Eagles career with five interceptions and 25 pass deflections while starting in 18 games.