Ex-Eagles Pro Bowl DB says that position switch was his idea

The Philadelphia Eagles are absolutely loaded at cornerback.

And with playing time likely being scarce, cornerback James Bradberry took it upon himself to make the switch to safety to secure more reps and carve out a more distinguished role for himself on the team.

“I try to be adaptable,” Bradberry told reporters . “I'm on the team right now, so while I'm on the team, I want to find a role on this team and I feel like if I'm a versatile player then I'm going to have a role.

"Of course, I want to start. Now, where I'm going to start? I don't know, but I'm working right now at safety to see if I can learn it and play that and be a valuable asset to the team right there. Of course, we already have two starters [at CB] and we also drafted a guy in the first round and Isaiah Rodgers is really good, so I'm just trying to find my role right now.”

Bradberry’s 726 coverage snaps last season led all Eagles defensive backs, but he also surrendered a team-high 797 yards and 10 touchdowns with a 114.2 passer rating against, per Pro Football Focus .

With six-time Pro Bowler Darius Slay on the opposite side of the defense, Eli Ricks and Josh Jobe pushing for more reps, the addition of Rodgers and highly regarded first-round rookie Quinyon Mitchell and second-rounder Cooper DeJean now in the mix, Bradberry likely believed minutes at cornerback would be more difficult to come by.

The Eagles also have two really good safeties in Reed Blankenship and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, but the latter is recovering from a torn pectoral muscle that limited him to just three games last year and Philly has been known to rotate safeties quite a bit, opening the door for Bradberry to potentially seize a starting spot.

Bradberry allowed a 60.4 completion percentage against last season with 12 forced incompletions, nine pass break-ups and one interception.