Another Eagles safety is leaving Philadelphia

Jalen Mills isn’t the only Eagles safety leaving Philadelphia in free agency this year. Rudy Ford is joining the Jacksonville Jaguars on a two-year contract worth $4.2 million, according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero.

Even without seeing the guaranteed money, those terms are bewildering. It was an obvious decision for the Eagles not to pay Ford:

REVIEW: Ford missed a good chunk of training camp due to injury but the Eagles kept him around anyway. He justified their faith by making some nice special teams tackles as a gunner on punt coverage. But then injuries plagued him for the rest of the season.

OUTLOOK: Ford is a free agent this offseason. He’s a good special teams player when healthy ... but he hasn’t proved to be very durable. He’s missed 24 career games, including 15 over the past two seasons. If the Eagles want to re-sign him to a minimum contract and have him compete for a roster spot, fine. Shouldn’t be giving him any kind of guaranteed money, though.

With Mills and Ford signing elsewhere, perhaps the Eagles will pick up a compensatory pick in the 2022 NFL Draft after all. Depends on who Philly ends up signing. A John Johnson addition, for example, would wipe out one of those potential comp picks.

And the Eagles could afford to add someone like Johnson because they’re currently looking pretty thin at safety. They’ll also need to find a new gunner to replace Ford’s role on special teams coverage.