Philadelphia Eagles sign Kenny Phillips, Cary Williams to shore up secondary

The Eagles made two relatively surprising moves today to shore up major holes in their secondary. They signed former Giants S Kenny Phillips to a one year deal and inked former Ravens CB Cary Williams to a 3 year deal. Williams' deal is reportedly worth $17 million with $10.5 million guaranteed. It's pretty much the going rate for corners this offseason.

[Note by JasonB, 03/14/13 5:10 PM EDT ] The second year of Williams' deal is guaranteed for injury only. So the real amount of guarantees is less than the headline $10.5 million number.

Phillips is the most intriguing move here because when healthy he's arguably one of the most promising young safeties in football. Problem is, he hasn't been healthy nearly enough. Last season Phillips played only 7 games. He also missed all but 2 games of his sophomore season in the league.

He did manage 15 games in 2011 and all 16 in 2010. But with knees, which are where his problems are, you really never know. But on a one year deal, obviously the Eagles have their downside protected. I think this qualifies as that old "low risk, high reward" move.

Cary Williams (28) has started all 16 games for the Ravens the past two seasons. He picked off 4 passes last year, which were surprisingly the first 4 picks of his career. He also has 35 passes defensed over the last 2 seasons as a starter.

Williams isn't likely to make a pro bowl anytime soon, but be qualifies as a solid starting corner in this league. Something the Eagles lacked even one of last year. Also a pretty big hot head. You'll remember that he shoved a ref in the Super Bowl.

Williams was also rated as the 2nd best tackling CB in the league last year by PFF. That's a dramatic departure from Asomugha and DRC, who were among the league's worst.