Eagles Lose Veteran CB Steve Nelson to Texans

Nelson got the multiple years he was looking for in Houston and the Eagles have talked up their younger CBs in the offseason

Steve Nelson showed up a few days before training camp last summer and was quickly inserted as the starter opposite Darius Slay at outside cornerback by the Eagles.

The veteran never looked back from there, offering defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon competency as a complement to one of the best CB1s in the NFL.

The Eagles got Nelson at a bargain-basement price on a one-year deal for just over $3 million with the selling point being playing time and the ability to hit the free-agent market again.

While Nelson, 29, wasn’t able to break the bank or reach the $8.5M he topped out at previously with Pittsburgh, the six-year NFL starter was able to get multiple years from the Houston Texans after visiting earlier this week

Aaron Wilson of The Pro Football Network was the first to report the deal and an NFL source confirmed to SI.com’s Eagles Today that Nelson got two years and $10 million with the structure of the deal still to come.

“Our play at the cornerback position last year was not good enough, simple as that,” first-year Texans head coach Lovie Smith on Monday, the day Nelson visited Houston. “We can’t play the type of football that we want to play until we get better at the cornerback position, I will say that.”

The Eagles had not completely shut the door on Nelson returning but were letting things play out when it comes to the draft later this month. If Nelson remained on the market and a significant upgrade did not unveil itself, Philadelphia would have been more than comfortable bringing Nelson back.

That safety net is now out the window.

Nick Sirianni did talk up the Eagles’ young, unproven talent at CB this spring, a group that includes 2021 fourth-round pick Zech McPhearson and a couple of trade pickups from last season in the lengthy Tay Gowen and Kary Vincent Jr.

For now, McPhearson would be penciled in as the CB2 opposite Slay while Avonte Maddox handles the slot work. Gowan would presumable be pushing McPhearson. The Eagles also have Josiah Scott, who is primarily a slot CB, and Mac McCain.

"I think we have a lot of good young corners that showed us a lot in practice but didn’t get the time to go on the field last year to play," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said at the NFL's spring meetings. "… You have Zech McPhearson, obviously. You have Tay Gowan. You have Mac McClain, Kary Vincent, all those different guys that are young first-year players.

"We have a great secondary group of coaches … I can’t wait to see how those guys continue to develop their game because we have some great coaches."

That said, a cornerback at the top of the draft could be in play for the Eagles now with Ahmad Gardner of Cincinnati and LSU’s Derek Stingley likely out of range without a trade-up for Philadelphia, which has picks 15 and 18 in the first round. Washington’s Trent McDuffie and Clemson’s Andrew Booth could be available, however.

Potential second-round options for the Eagles at No. 51 overall are Auburn’s Roger McCreary and McDuffie’s teammate at UW, Kyler Gordon.

Nelson proved to be a solid zone CB in Gannon’s scheme, grading out as No. 57 out of 116 cornerbacks graded by Pro Football Focus. The good news is Nelson allowed just 46 receptions for 544 yards. The bad is that opposing quarterbacks completed 68.7% of their passes when going his way for a 117.8 passer rating, a microcosm of Gannon’s bend but don’t break defense.

Nelson was also durable starting the first 16 games and the playoff loss in Tampa, missing only the meaningless regular-season finale when he was rested against Dallas. All told, the Oregon State product played in 983 of the Eagles' defensive snaps (87%) while amssing 50 tackles, an interception, and seven passes defended.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen