Why Eagles should trade for NFL's top safety after Avonte Maddox injury. It'll cost a lot

PHILADELPHIA − Mario Goodrich didn't have time to think.

Eagles nickel corner Avonte Maddox had just left the game with an injury as the Vikings were driving inside the Eagles 20-yard line early in the second quarter Thursday night, and Goodrich came right in to replace him.

It didn't matter that this was Goodrich's first time playing defense in an NFL regular-season game after he signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022. And it didn't matter that the Vikings would make sure they had star wide receiver Justin Jefferson matched up on him as often as possible.

Sure enough, on the very first play, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins threw over the middle to Jefferson, who caught the pass ahead of Goodrich at the 5-yard line. Soon after, the Vikings scored their first touchdown.

On the next series, Jefferson was lined up in the slot at the Eagles' 31, with Goodrich on him. Jefferson caught the ball over Goodrich at about the 5-yard line. The Eagles caught a break when Jefferson fumbled the ball while stretching for the end zone. The play was ruled a touchback and the Eagles took over at their 20.

It was like this most of the game as the Vikings tried keeping Jefferson away from star cornerback Darius Slay. Jefferson finished with 11 catches for 159 yards, most of that coming with Goodrich on him, but the Eagles won 34-28.

"I started off slow, but I feel like my teammates helped pick me up, and they rallied around me," Goodrich said. "Coaches just staying in my ear telling me, ‘You’re built for this; you’re here.’ That just helped me out throughout the second half, and really, just having my eyes disciplined in the second half.

"In the first half, I was very undisciplined with my eyes and my leverage. (Jefferson) ended up getting that corner route. I had to be better."

The Eagles were already short-handed in the secondary even before Maddox reportedly suffered a pectoral muscle tear. He's expected to have surgery and potentially miss the rest of the season, although Eagles coach Nick Sirianni wouldn't confirm that other than to say Maddox "is going to be out for a little bit."

Cornerback James Bradberry sat out with a concussion, replaced by another 2022 undrafted free agent in Josh Jobe, and safety Reed Blankenship was out with a rib injury.

Either way, Goodrich could find himself matched up often against Bucs wide receiver Chris Godwin, the Middletown High School star in Delaware. Like Jefferson, Godwin often lines up in the slot. Godwin, who also starred at Penn State, has had at least 1,000 yards receiving in three of the past four seasons. He has also had more than 100 receptions twice.

The Eagles will also have to contend with star receiver Mike Evans, and Slay will probably draw that assignment whether Bradberry is back or not.

"We feel like we have good options in-house to be able to move forward," Sirianni said. "Listen, are we going to miss Avonte? Of course we are. He’s a great football player who has made a lot of plays here."

That's why in the long term, the Eagles' best option could be trading for Cardinals star Budda Baker, considered one of the top safeties in the NFL. Baker has also played the nickel spot, so it's easy to see Baker playing safety in base packages, then going to nickel in passing downs.

Trading for Baker won't be easy, even though the Cardinals placed him on injured reserve Tuesday afternoon with a hamstring injury. That means Baker can't return until Oct. 22 at the earliest, just 9 days before the NFL's trade deadline.

It's still a risk worth taking.

Baker did ask for a trade in April, two months after the Cardinals hired former Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon as their head coach. The Cardinals then reworked Baker's contract just before training camp. Baker said that he's "all in" with the Cardinals' rebuilding plans.

But the Cardinals did not add more years to Baker's contract, which expires after the 2024 season. So that calls into question Baker's commitment to a long-term rebuilding process.

Baker, who's 27, counts $17 million against the salary cap this season and more than $18 million next season, according to overthecap.com. The Eagles have about $6 million in salary cap space for this season.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman could trade for Baker, then sign him to a long-term extension, thus fitting him under the salary cap this season. But the Cardinals will no doubt want a hefty package in return. The Eagles have a first-round pick and two second-round picks in 2024, and it could easily cost two of those three picks, and then some, to get Baker.

The Eagles, however, should have as many as 10 picks overall once compensatory picks are factored in. So if the Eagles are in fact going for a return trip to the Super Bowl this season, then Roseman might find that a price worth paying.

That doesn't help the Eagles much in the short term.

If Bradberry and Blankenship are back against Tampa Bay, then the Eagles could have Bradberry move into the nickel spot on passing downs with Jobe playing on the outside. The Eagles tried Bradberry there at times during training camp, but Bradberry has not done it often, if at all, in the regular season.

On the other hand, the Eagles kept three undrafted free agents in their secondary because they believe in them. Blankenship has already become a full-time starter, and Jobe worked his way up to being the top backup to Slay and Bradberry.

Still, Goodrich will face a huge test against two of the NFL's top slot receivers in Jefferson and Godwin in back-to-back games. That's tough enough for any nickel corner, let alone one playing in an NFL game for the first time.

"It is what it is," Slay said about the injuries. "We trust each other, trust each and every one of us in that group. We all got the next-man-up mentality. It doesn’t matter who goes down, who’s playing, who’s not. Coaches do a great job adjusting on the sideline, figuring stuff out."

Goodrich said he'll be ready if that's the case. He got his first NFL snaps, and he learned a lot going against Jefferson, just as he has going against Eagles receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in practice.

"Slay was like, ‘I believe in you. Next man up. You got this,'" Goodrich said. "Just settle in and take a deep breath each play."

If that doesn't work, then the Eagles might have to pay the price for Baker.

Eagles release punter Arryn Siposs, sign another to practice squad

The Eagles released punter Arryn Siposs from their practice squad Monday. They replaced Siposs by signing punter Braden Mann to their practice squad. Mann spent the past three seasons with the Jets, who made him their sixth-round pick in 2020. The Jets released Mann last spring, and he spent the summer with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who released him before the start of the season.

Siposs was in his third season with the Eagles. But he struggled late in the 2021 season, then again in the Super Bowl last February. Siposs averaged only 37.5 yards on his four punts last Thursday against the Vikings.

"We thought that Arryn did a good job in training camp, and was growing," Sirianni said. "So we felt like we were ready to go into the season with Arryn in there. And after two weeks, we decided that we wanted to make a change."

The Eagles can make Mann a game-day practice-squad elevation for three games before they have to decide whether to add him to the 53-man roster or release him.

Contact Martin Frank @mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Why Eagles should trade for Budda Baker after Avonte Maddox injury