Report: Philadelphia Eagles Re-Sign Rodney McLeod, Jalen Mills
(CBS Philly)- The Philadelphia Eagles had a busy day in their secondary on Tuesday, agreeing to bring back two members of last year's group while saying goodbye to another. The team announced on its Twitter account that it would be bringing back safety Rodney McLeod on a two-year deal.
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport says the deal is worth $12 million over the course of those two seasons.
Now official. It's 2 years, $12M for the veteran in the secondary. https://t.co/2HDnd73pe4
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 17, 2020
And, according to multiple media reports, the team has agreed to a one-year deal with corner Jalen Mills, though it looks like he'll be playing a new position.
I'm told Jalen Mills intends to sign a one-year deal to return to the #Eagles and is moving to safety, per source.
— IG: JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 17, 2020
#Eagles are re-signing Jalen Mills, as @JosinaAnderson said. He'll be a hybrid player - corner and safety.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 17, 2020
The reports of Mills moving to safety would seem to coincide with the team's statement today that they would not be exercising the 2020 option on Malcolm Jenkins' contract. Add in the fact that McLeod is being brought back into the fold and the starting safety combination of Mills and McLeod now appears to be locked in.
The 25-year-old Mills was the team's 7th round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft out of LSU. Since then, he has worked his way up to becoming a starting corner, though injury issues have caused him to miss games in each of the last two seasons.
Mills started in nine games for the team in 2019 recording 41 tackles and one interception. He was limited to eight games in 2018 due to a foot injury, but had similar output in terms of tackles with 42.
A veteran of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz's system, Mills was arguably the team's most sure-tackling corner. He received a 56.1 overall grade from Pro Football Focus for his play in 2019.
As for McLeod, the 29-year-old started all 16 games in 2019, racking up 76 tackles, two interceptions and six passes defensed. The performance came one year after McLeod missed most of the 2018 season due to an injury.