Eagles Winning Outside The Margins With Spring Star

Isaiah Rodgers has been the star of the spring and the Eagles got him by being proactive.

Eagles CB Isaiah Rodgers / Isaiah Rodgers/X.com

PHILADELPHIA – You don’t win too many NFL games in May, but that’s where the foundation for positive moments begins.

If the spring in Philadelphia is a precursor for anything, it might be the league kicking itself for not buying low on Isaiah Rodgers’ stock. 

The fourth-year cornerback is only 26 but coming off a year of inactivity due to a gambling suspension. 

The Indianapolis Colts, despite overseeing the 2020 undersized but speedy sixth-round pick’s development from Day 3 lottery ticket to solid outside coverage option over a somewhat significant sample size (649 coverage snaps over the 2021 and 2022 seasons), decided the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze and simply moved on from Rodgers after the punishment.

In the typically slow-moving world of the NFL, 30 of the 31 other teams sat on their hands with the belief that the Rodgers question would be answered somewhere down the road after reinstatement.

One saw the market inefficiency and signed Rodgers to a one-year deal worth $1.01 million on August 28 of last year, two months after the UMass product was suspended.

The contract tolled, meaning the Eagles saw the vision of adding a talented CB with no competition for a signature and some patience.

Rodgers confirmed that fact after highlighting an OTA practice this week by jumping a Jalen Hurts slant pass to A.J. Brown for a pick-six, saying that the Eagles were the only ones to call about signing him.

“They just called,” Rodgers said. “They jumped the gun. I jumped the gun. This was definitely someplace I wanted to be.”

Rodgers was also accountable for his actions that earned the suspension and has already proven a strong work ethic that resulted in little to no rust despite being on the sidelines for over 500 days.

“[The rules are] there for a reason,” Rodgers said. “If you break them, you get your consequences. If you don’t, you continue to be great. I think that’s one thing that everyone should learn.

“... I understand [the rules now]. If I gotta be that guy to let everybody know, people around the league know you might want to understand those rules or you’ll be in my shoes.”

Rodgers visualized his future while waiting for his second chance.

“I think it’s a mindset. Every time I worked out, I envisioned the A.J. Browns and the DeVonta Smiths in front of me,” he said. “I just kind of locked in during my training, knowing that when I do actually get back, there are going to be great receivers in front of me.”

At 5-foot-10 and 176 pounds with a sub 4.3 40 time, Rodgers is the type of athlete who’s going to excel in a glorified passing camp environment.

Despite having the size of a slot CB, he played almost exclusively outside in Indianapolis because of the presence of Kenny Moore and that has continued early in his Eagles’ tenure with veteran James Bradberry skipping voluntary OTAs and Darius Slay popping in and out.

Rodgers was with the first-team defense during both on-field OTAs open to reporters and was the best player over the duration of 140 practice minutes.

Things will get more difficult when the pads eventually come on this summer and Rodgers did have an 11.2 percent missed tackle rate during his time in Indianapolis. Still, buying this kind of upside fueled by motivation and loyalty all for the price of being proactive is the definition of winning outside the margins.

“[It’s humbling] just knowing that they were a team that wanted me despite the whole entire suspension,” Rodgers said. “Just knowing that I had a place I could call home when the time came, and it’s now. 

“So just knowing a team was willing to sacrifice holding me out and trusting and believing that I’d continue to work through the offseason, and know that I’d come back and be a better player.” 

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