The Eagles are shoring up their defensive backfield by adding a player with All-Pro and Pro Bowl pedigree, with a history of leadership, and someone who is coming home to help the defense in the second half of this season, at the very least. The team added veteran safety Kevin Byard on Monday, agreeing to a trade to acquire him from the Tennessee Titans for fifth- and sixth-round draft picks in 2024, along with safety Terrell Edmunds. Byard, a two-time first-team All-Pro selection and two-time Pro Bowl player, is at the top of his game and he has a chance to add immediately to Sean Desai's group.
The Eagles will send safety Terrell Edmunds -- a former first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers -- along with 2024 fifth- and sixth-round selections to Tennessee in exchange for Byard, per Rapoport. The Titans subsequently announced the trade Monday evening.
It's a coup for the Eagles, who have been banged up in the secondary this season and needed safety help. Philly swooped in, adding a two-time first-team All-Pro and former interceptions leader to a defense that shut down the high-flying Miami Dolphins on Sunday night.
The Philadelphia Eagles arguably had one major weakness on their roster, and they just filled it with one of the league's best players at the position. After seeing both of their starting safeties from last season's team walk in free agency, Philly was trying to patch things over with multiple players on the back end. Now, the Eagles have Byard, one of the best center-field safeties in the league who has also been quite good flying down from the top against the run. He immediately improves what was already one of the best rosters in football.
Coach Mike Vrabel added a statement as well, thanking Byard for how he's helped establish the culture of the Vrabel-era Titans.
"I want to thank Kevin for what he means to me personally and to this team," Vrabel said. "When I arrived, he helped carry a new message into the locker room and establish the mindset and work ethic we were trying to instill throughout the team. His play on the field speaks for itself. An intelligent and athletic player, he has led the secondary and helped us win a lot of games. Kevin and Clarke and the kids mean a great deal to me, and I wish them success in all that is in front of them.”
This is a trade that the Eagles expect will upgrade a safety group that has been plagued by injuries all season and has still played at a high level despite those bumps and bruises.
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