Eagles standout Reed Blankenship offered a cryptic response about his future, fueling speculation about a potential reunion with his former coordinator in Dallas.
FRISCO - It's not as easy as it might sound.
The Dallas Cowboys have a new defensive coordinator in Christian Parker, who comes over from the hated Philadelphia Eagles, where he was the overseer of a secondary that featured safety Reed Blankenship.
And now the standout Blankenship is about to become a free agent.
Easy connection, right?
Maybe not. Yet it's such an obvious one that Blankenship was asked about it during Super Bowl Week. And his not-entirely-vague answer is worth noting.
Blankenship would figure to be an overall upgrade in the secondary of the NFL's worst defense, which now sees box safety Donovan Wilson also prepping for free agency.
The Cowboys have an affection for Wilson, who is one of those "Right Kind of Guys.'' ... a late-round draft pick who worked his way up.
But he's about to turn 31.
Blankenship is 26, and has a similar backstory as he made the Eagles roster as an undrafted free agent in 2022 out of Middle Tennessee State ... and became the team’s full-time starter in 2023.
He's been locked in there for three years, always with a high run-defense grade (75.3 this year via PFF) and with a high pass-defense grade (87.2 PFF) over the course of his career as a starter.
Surely Blankenship wants to stay in Philly, right?
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,'' he told usatodaysports.
Hmm.
I've seen projections that have him getting only $7 million per year; my prediction is well beyond that, at $13 million APY for three years.
If my number is right? That's probably too rich for Dallas. If the former number is right? Parker making a push for Blankenship makes sense.
I don't want to oversell the Eagles-to-Cowboys pipeline here. Philly has the best team in the NFC East and there are plenty of reasons for edge Jaelen Phillips, linebacker Nakobe Dean and Blankenship - free agents all - to wish to re-sign there.
But in this one case, for now, when asked? Blankenship didn't answer that way. ... so we'll continue to monitor what Parker might advise and what his Cowboys bosses might do with that advice.