Before this season, James Bradberry had played in one playoff game. Now, he’s on the verge of winning a Super Bowl with the Eagles.
And after that, could he return to the Giants, who employed him from 2020-21?
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It’s certainly possible — and it would be fascinating.
Bradberry, a cornerback, is now in his seventh season. In 2017, his second year, he went one and done in the playoffs with the Panthers. He hadn’t been back until this season, his first with the Eagles, who will play the Chiefs in next Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Bradberry can’t wait for this game. After the Eagles beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, he said he celebrated on the field by “screaming a whole lot, just running around yelling.” Hard to blame him. He has waited a long time for this opportunity.
Last offseason, new Giants general manager Joe Schoen had to cut Bradberry — still a productive player — because he was desperate to free up salary cap space and sort through the mess that Dave Gettleman left behind.
When Schoen cut Bradberry, “it was hard for me to envision a Super Bowl, because the position I was in, I was just trying to make sure I got to a team,” Bradberry said.
He wound up landing on a Super Bowl-level roster, after enduring 6-10 and 4-13 records in his two seasons with the Giants.
Bradberry will be 30 when next season begins, but he played quite well this season, on a one-year contract. ESPN ranks him as the 12th-best free agent in 2023, including No. 2 among corners. So he won’t come cheap, though he also might not be able to command a long-term contract, because of his age.
Still, the Giants need an outside corner to start opposite Adoree’ Jackson, presuming he is back for the final year of his contract (and there’s a good chance he will be).
In 2022, Bradberry ranked 14th in Pro Football Focus’ corner ratings, including seventh in coverage. Jackson was 25th overall and 28th in coverage. In 2021, with the Giants, Bradberry was 42nd overall and 33rd in coverage, while Jackson finished 13th overall and fourth in coverage.
Bradberry’s release elevated Jackson to the No. 1 corner role, though Jackson played better than Bradberry in 2021 anyway — albeit in the No. 2 job.
Bradberry has thrived in 2022 while playing opposite Darius Slay, who is tied with Bradberry for 14th overall in PFF’s ratings and is eighth in coverage, one spot behind him. The best season of Bradberry’s career remains 2020 with the Giants — at least according to PFF’s metrics — but this season with the Eagles is a close second. So he remains plenty capable, even late in his career.
Before Schoen determines what he wants to do at cornerback in free agency, he must answer this question: Will Jackson be back?
Well, Schoen doesn’t need to cut him, in order to free up cap space. He’s still a good player. He does have a fairly high cap figure ($19 million), and Schoen would free up $8.6 million of that by releasing Jackson. It’s possible Schoen restructures the deal for cap purposes (which wouldn’t result in Jackson getting less money). Jackson is worth retaining, especially since he’s still fairly young. He doesn’t turn 28 until mid-September.
Jackson and Bradberry played just one season together with the Giants, since Gettleman signed Bradberry in 2020 and then signed Jackson a year later. It would be intriguing to see them team up again in 2023, presuming both continue to produce.
This past season, Schoen planned on having Aaron Robinson as his No. 2 corner, opposite Jackson. But Robinson — a 2021 third-round draft pick — once again struggled to stay healthy. A core muscle injury limited him to nine games as a rookie. He played two in 2022, mostly due to a knee injury. He has played just 340 snaps through two seasons and remains an unknown factor.
Does Schoen really feel comfortable entering 2023 with Robinson as his No. 2 corner? Fabian Moreau primarily filled that role in 2022, but he is a pending free agent and isn’t a long-term solution. Nick McCloud, whose rookie deal runs through 2023, will be back. So he’s an option. And he started eight games this past season, giving Schoen plenty of game film to evaluate.
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The Giants’ secondary — and Jackson in particular — got plenty of well-deserved love for shutting down Justin Jefferson, the NFL’s best wide receiver, in a wild-card playoff win at Minnesota. But on a whole, the Giants did not excel in coverage in 2022. They finished 30th in PFF’s ratings.
Schoen must find a way to improve that in 2023. Is a reunion with Bradberry the answer?
NJ Advance Media’s Andy Vasquez contributed to this story.
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Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com.
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