Top 25 Eagles Ranked: Mission Accomplished for CB James Bradberry

Cornerback James Bradberry turned a one-year deal into three years after a strong debut and is now ranked No. 12 on our list of top current Philadelphia Eagles.

PHILADELPHIA – He rolled the dice, betting on himself.

There were some other options, he said. None of them included the New York Giants, who cut one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks in a salary cap move.

The Philadelphia Eagles were only too happy to go fishing, reeling him with a one-year deal worth $10 million. Other teams offered more years, but one year was what he wanted and, along with it, a chance to prove he could earn a long-term deal.

Mission accomplished.

After a strong one year in Philly, he returned on a three-year contract that can be worth $38M, $20M of which is guaranteed, and now checks in as our 12th-ranked player on the Eagles’ current roster.

CB JAMES BRADBERRY

The process behind the top-25 list started with Eagles beat writers Ed Kracz and John McMullen putting together their own top 25 players independent of each other’s rankings and then assigning point values, with 25 points awarded to the player ranked first on each list, 24 to the player ranked second, and so on, with one point going to the player that was put 25th.

The highest ranking from either reporter breaks any ties in the ballot.

Here' how the rankings shake out so far:

No. 25 – Running back Kenny Gainwell

No. 24 – Linebacker Nicholas Morrow

No. 23 – Safety Reed Blankenship

No. 22 – Safety Terrell Edmunds

No. 21 – Kicker Jake Elliott

No. 20 – Linebacker Nakobe Dean

No. 19 – Defensive tackle Jordan Davis

No. 18 – Defensive tackle Jalen Carter

No. 17 – Running back D’Andre Swift

No. 16 – Defensive tackle Milton Williams

No. 15 – Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox

No. 14 – Cornerback Avonte Maddox

No. 13 – Defensive end Brandon Graham

Bradberry had a consistently strong season, earning second-team All-Pro.

Of course, his holding penalty on Kansas City Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was untimely, and something officials opted to call in the final two minutes of the Super Bowl, which allowed KC to run out the clock and win the game, 38-35.

Bradberry did not duck accountability. He patiently answered questions in the postgame locker room in Arizona and admitted to committing the infraction, but had hoped it wouldn’t get called since both teams were getting away with holds at various times throughout the game.

That shouldn’t be all that is remembered from his first season in an Eagles uniform.

He wasted little time showing the impact he would have, making a second-quarter interception in the opener against the Detroit Lions that he returned 27 yards for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead in what would become a 38-35 win for the Eagles.

It was the first of three interceptions during the season, and he will enter this year with 18 in his career.

His pairing with Darius Slay on the other corner gives the Eagles one of the NFL’s top cornerback groupings.

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Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.

Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.

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