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I scream, you scream, we all scream for new players in the Philadelphia Eagles secondary. To say the unit has greatly underperformed would be an understatement. Now is the time to do our homework on potential replacements and upgrades to the safety and cornerback spots. In case you just joined the dance, these are two potential members of the Funk-E-Bunch (George Wilson, Matt Elam).
Related: More possible solutions in DB watch 2013
We started with two safeties, so now it is time to jump into the cornerback pool. Our latest guy is Steelers cornerback free agent, Keenan Lewis.
Keenan Lewis is an interesting free agent. During his first three seasons, he served as mostly depth and a special teamer, only starting one game during that time. The 26-year-old then emerged as a starter this past season and he really delivered. Even with fellow CB Ike Taylor, in and out of the lineup with injuries, Lewis played at a very high level. The 2009 third round pick out of Oregon State led the league this year in passes defended and started all 16 games this season.
Here is a look at his career stats:
Lewis is entering his prime and looks to be the type of guy who can play against top talent, having covered the likes of A.J. Green, Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin. He is not much of a ballhawk (only one interception in his career) and history shows he is not a guy to make a huge splash play, but coverage and tackling are among his strengths. Essentially, Lewis’s strengths have been the Eagles’ biggest weaknesses.
There are some issues with signing Lewis. While he played well this season, as mentioned before, he has only really started 17 career games. Also, he has not been exactly injury-prone, but did only play 13 games in his first two seasons (played in all 32 games since), meaning Lewis is probably not as experienced as you would like for a guy you are going to give a solid long-term deal to.
The Steelers are over the cap and have their issues with heavy salaries, but they can easily cut a bunch of aging guys to get under and sign Lewis to a fair deal. This could mean that outside teams may have to overpay for Lewis’s services. That is something to keep in mind, especially if the Eagles resign Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie or fail to dump Nnamdi Asomaugha (both of which have been reported unlikely).
Knowing what we know now about Lewis, would you want the Eagles to add him to the secondary?
You can follow Mike Kaye on Twitter (@mike_e_kaye).