July 28, 2024
Through the first three practices of Philadelphia Eagles training camp, James Bradberry has mostly been at safety instead of his usual spot at cornerback. On Saturday, Bradberry said that the switch was his idea.
"Honestly, it was my thought after the season," he said. "I went to them. We had a meeting, and I just wanted to try it out.
"Vic [Fangio] was open-minded when I came to him. And really, Vic doesn’t talk a whole lot. We had a conversation. He took what I said into account, and he said sure you can go out there and give it a try."
Bradberry asked to move to safety because he felt the team had good depth at cornerback, but not as much at safety. He was also candid about his poor play in 2023.
"After the season – of course, I didn’t have the best season – going into my ninth year, I know they signed Isaiah Rodgers… we had a lot of young guys in the room at cornerback already," he said. "I feel like we were a little lighter at safety. And I can still play corner. It’s not like I’m not going to play corner. My thought process was to just try to be a valuable piece to the team, and I feel like picking up safety, learning new roles – also at the end of the season I was playing a little bit of dime, already playing inside a little bit – safeties do that, they play dime from time to time, and I was also playing some nickel. So I was like, why not?
"And then the draft came. I kinda figured they were going to draft corners because I didn’t play too well, so that was kind of my thought process. And now, I’m learning safety, and [the younger corners] are getting a lot more reps. And if the time comes and I’m still on the team and they still want me to play corner I’m going to be ready."
Bradberry felt that the switch would be a realistic transition for him because he's a bigger corner at 6'1, 210. And once again, he was self-aware about his flaws as a player last season.
"I have a bigger body," he said. "I have the size of a safety. I feel like I can cover tight ends. I covered tight ends last year. I covered tight ends when I was with the Giants. I feel like I’m smart enough to learn the role. Of course, I didn’t always show that I was physical last year, but I feel like I can be physical."
While Fangio has allowed Bradberry to give safety a try, he also said on Thursday that he hasn't seen many corners become good safeties.
"The list of guys successfully transitioning from corner to safety is very small, with success," Fangio said. "There are guys that have done it, but it really wasn't what you want. We'll see if he can do that. James has got a good feel for football. Very knowledgeable. So that will help him in that transition. He's still going to play some corner for us, too."
Bradberry is the most obvious trade candidate on the team, and he is well aware that there's a good chance he'll be playing elsewhere in 2024.
"I’m still under contract for two years. I got one year guaranteed, so I try not to put too much thought into it," Bradberry said. "I’m just going to let Howie handle that. We had a conversation, and right now I’m still on the team and while I’m still on the team I’m going to try to find my role. If they want to get rid of me, they’re gonna get rid of me."
The Rams lost starting CB Derion Kendrick for the season with a torn ACL, and the Vikings have expressed the need to add corners after they suffered a few injuries there as well. As more teams lose players, it will be interesting to see if a market develops for Bradberry.
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