Eagles work out veteran safety

In addition to working out two free agent wide receivers (and reportedly signing one of them), the Philadelphia Eagles also hosted veteran safety/special teams ace DeAndre Houston-Carson at the NovaCore Complex on Tuesday. This much according to a report from the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs.

This is not the first time the Eagles have shown interest in DHC. The Birds actually tried to sign him off the Bears’ practice squad in 2017 but Chicago opted to promote him to their roster to prevent his departure.

Originally a 2016 sixth-round pick out of William & Mary, DHC has played his entire NFL career with the Bears. He most played on special teams over the first five seasons of his career, logging 1,276 snaps in that capacity compared to just 164 defensive snaps.

DHC started seeing more playing time on defense in 2021, which was notably new Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai’s sole season as Chicago’s DC. He played 50% of the Bears’ defensive snaps that year and then 38% in 2022.

For what it’s worth, DHC ranked 80th out of 96 safeties graded by Pro Football Focus last year. But paired with Desai in 2021? Well, somehow only eight safeties finished with a higher grade.

We’ll see if the Eagles actually end up signing DHC. If they do, he projects to battle for a roster spot as a special teams contributor who also adds more depth at a relatively unsettled safety position. Kind of like a new Chris Maragos? Wouldn’t be the worst player to add to a special teams coverage unit that had issues last year under Michael Clay. Consider DHC’s track record:

• Special teams tackles rank on the Bears: tied for 3rd in 2022, tied for 4th in 2021, 3rd in 2020, tied for 7th in 2019, tied for 2nd in 2018, 1st in 2017 ... plus 3 career forced fumbles
• PFF’s 8th-highest graded ST player in the entire NFL in 2022