Philadelphia Eagles Trade for Tennessee Titans Safety Kevin Byard: Details
PHILADELPHIA – Kevin Byard is coming home. Born in Philadelphia, where he spent the first 14 years of his life before moving to Atlanta after his parents divorced, the longtime safety of the Tennessee Titans is being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.
In exchange for Byard, the Eagles are expected to send safety Terrell Edmunds to Tennessee along with a 2024 fifth, and sixth-round picks.
The deal was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Titans are expected to pay $7 million of the $11M compensation for 2023 to Byard in a signing bonus as part of a revised deal back in July, per NFL Media, which means there isn't much cash involved in the transaction for Philly.
Kevin Byard
USA Today
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni didn’t quite confirm it when asked on Monday afternoon, but he didn’t deny it, either.
“Not being able to talk to our players, yet,” said Sirianni. “I’m going to hold (on to any information). I’ll be happy to answer any questions about the scenario on Wednesday, but out of respect for our team, I’ll wait until we talk to our guys.”
With Byard in the fold, the Eagles will start two safeties from Middle Tennessee State, with Reed Blankenship the other. That may be an NFL first that two starting safeties on the same team both hail from Middle Tennessee State.
Blankenship missed Sunday’s win over the Miami Dolphins with a rib injury, allowing third-round rookie Sydney Brown to make his first start.
Byard is a veteran of eight NFL seasons, a third-round pick in the 2016 NFL draft of the Titans. He had played 99 percent of Tennessee’s defensive snaps this season and had 47 tackles in the Titans’ six games. Now 30, he has 27 career interceptions, though none yet this season.
Byard is also a two-time first-team All-Pro player.
Edmunds was signed to a one-year deal during the offseason. He had made two starts, including on Sunday as the Eagles had to use two backups to start at the position due to injury.
Byard has been healthy throughout his career, rarely missing a game. He is signed through next season, though has a salary cap charge of $19.5 million.
