Jatavis Brown and Will Parks are really the same guy.
OK, maybe not literally, but there are certainly an awful lot of parallels between the Eagles’ two latest additions.
Brown is an inside linebacker and Parks is a safety, but they’re very similar acquisitions. And not just because both came from the AFC West.
Let’s take a look!
1. The most important thing Parks and Brown have in common is that they give the Eagles potential depth at positions where they have virtually none. The only other safeties under contract are Rodney McLeod and Jalen Mills, who just re-signed here, and Marcus Epps. The only other linebackers under contract are Nate Gerry, Duke Riley, T.J. Edwards and Alex Singleton.
2. Both are young. Parks is 25, Brown just turned 26 a few weeks ago. But both are four-year veterans who hit free agency at a young age. Howie Roseman will tell you his sweet spot for free agents is mid-20s finding guys who have played out their rookie deals and are still only 25 or 26. You’ll rarely find stars hitting free agency at that age because most teams are able to re-sign those guys. But you can find pieces.
3. Both have a decent amount of starting experience. Parks started 15 games with the Broncos over the last four years, and Brown started 23 games with the Chargers. Parks played 1,978 defensive snaps in 62 games, or about 32 per game, and Brown played 1,834 snaps, or 33 per game. Neither ever established himself as a full-time starter, but both have a considerable amount of experience.
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4. Both were fairly productive when they did get to play. Brown had 265 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, seven QB hits and 4 ½ sacks in San Diego and L.A. Parks had 149 tackles, four INTs, 13 pass breakups, four tackles for loss and five QB hits.
5. Both played a lot of special teams. Parks played 932 special teams snaps the last four years [15 per game] and Brown played 417 snaps [8 per game].
6. Both could potentially carve out roles on defense. Presumably, T.J. Edwards will get the first crack at inside linebacker, but Brown has shown some game in the past and is a bit more athletic than Edwards and could find a role in some two-linebacker sub-packages. McLeod and Mills are penciled in as the starting safeties, but we know Jim Schwartz likes to mix and match in the secondary, and Mills’ ability to play corner gives him some flexibility if he’s using a three-safety look or wants to use Parks and McLeod at safety and Mills at corner, perhaps in the red zone.
7. We don’t have the exact contract numbers yet, but these are both low-risk moves. Parks and Brown both signed one-year deals with presumably small bonuses, and if they don’t work out – which is certainly possible – the Eagles wouldn’t be absorbing much dead money.
8. These are typical Roseman moves a week into free agency. These aren’t stars and neither will probably ever be a full-time starter here, although you never know. Heck, neither is a lock to even make the final 53.
But they’re both guys who have a chance to fill specific roles on defense, contribute on special teams, continue Roseman’s youth movement and help fill that crucial middle of the roster.
These aren’t Javon Hargrave or Darius Slay moves. But they’re potentially imporant additions at positions of need that bring with them very little risk.
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