Breaking Tweets! Various Eagles reporters are revealing the team has agreed to a two-year contract with former Indianapolis defensive back and 2005 first round pick Marlin Jackson. Some expect him to compete for the opening at free safety. The bulk of Jackson's experience is at cornerback, though he made several starts at free safety for the Colts in '06 while filling in for Bob Sanders.
The Colts had the right to tender Jackson as a restricted free agent, but opted to let the DB walk away for nothing. The main concerns are his back-to-back ACL injuries the past two seasons, one on each knee, which caused him to miss a total of 22 games. Even if he's able to recover, it's questionable that he could still perform at a high level.
What's also questionable is whether he ever performed at a high level to begin with. Jackson only started one full season for the Colts, playing corner in their Cover-2 defense. He has a meager four interceptions in five NFL seasons. While this addition may make for good depth at the back end of their secondary, no one has made a strong case for what positives he brings to the Eagles. Considering his health, and the transition to a new system, what makes anybody believe he's a better option than Quintin Demps or Macho Harris?
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This doesn't smell like the solution at free safety, rather it has the appearance of adding competition for the young guys in the secondary, including quite possibly a safety to be selected in this year's draft. The Eagles make their share of questionable decisions, but I just don't believe their plan is to convert an injury-prone corner from a completely different system and start him at a new position in a new scheme, and I would be very disappointed if it were.
The terms of the contract do not reflect his standing as a potential starter either. The deal will pay him $1.5 million in 2010, with the base salary in '11 based on the amount of playing time this season. Basically, it has the appearance of a minor signing that some fans and persons in the media are jumping to conclusions over.