July 04, 2017
According to Tim McManus of ESPN, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham will avoid jail time for his alleged assault of a "cabana boy" last summer.
Bradham has accepted a deferred prosecution program in relation to his felony battery charge from last summer, court documents show, which diverts the case out of the courts and could result in no jail time if the conditions of the program are met.
While Bradham may have avoided more serious consequences from the courts, he may still face discipline under the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy.
That is only one of two off-field incidents that Bradham was involved in last year. McManus' report also notes that Bradham is scheduled for a July 24th hearing stemming from his October 2016 arrest for carrying a loaded gun in his carry-on bag at the airport.
In 2016, Bradham played more snaps than any other Eagles linebacker.
| Eagles LBs | Snaps | Percentage of snaps |
| Nigel Bradham | 990 | 97.1% |
| Jordan Hicks | 971 | 95.2% |
| Mychal Kendricks | 273 | 26.8% |
He was a quality free agent signing, although his play on the field was overshadowed by his missteps off of it.
The Eagles did not add any linebackers to their stable during free agency. In the draft, they added a college safety in Nathan Gerry that they have converted to linebacker. The Eagles depth at linebacker looks something like this:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| OLB | Nigel Bradham | Nathan Gerry (R) | |
| MLB | Jordan Hicks | Joe Walker | Don Cherry |
| OLB | Mychal Kendricks | Najee Goode | Kamu Grugier-Hill |
This offseason, the Eagles tried to trade Mychal Kendricks, coming close with the San Francisco 49ers in February.
If indeed the Eagles move on from Kendricks before the start of the 2017 season, they won't have much in the way of experience behind Jordan Hicks and Bradham. Najee Goode and Kamu Grugier-Hill combined for three defensive snaps last season, while Joe Walker and Gerry have never stepped on an NFL football field for a regular season game.
The Eagles' decision to continue to pursue a trade of Kendricks could depend on when the league intends on investigating Bradham's cases, as well as the Eagles' projected outcome, and subsequent discipline, of those investigations.
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