Cooper DeJean soared to first-team All-Pro acclaim last season, earning that honor for his standout work as a slot cornerback. That will still be DeJean’s primary position, but the Eagles are introducing a wrinkle for the third-year standout.
Philadelphia intends to play DeJean at safety in base sets, Vic Fangio said Thursday (via The Athletic’s Zach Berman). This will mark a change for the Iowa product, who primarily served as an outside cornerback in the Eagles’ base defense last season.
The Eagles navigated issues at the corner position alongside DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell last season, but they made a move to address that spot in free agency. Riq Woolen joined the team on a one-year, $12MM deal. Woolen is now in line to play opposite Mitchell as a boundary corner in base sets, with the Eagles prepared to roll out a Mitchell-Woolen-DeJean trio in nickel packages.
While DeJean and Andrew Mukuba will start at safety when Fangio’s group plays in base — which assuredly will be less than the Eagles use sub-packages — the veteran DC said a competition will commence to determine who will play alongside Mukuba at safety in nickel looks. Marcus Epps, whose second Eagles stint will continue thanks to a one-year contract signed in March, may be the favorite for that role. Fangio said Epps will receive a strong look for the role.
The Eagles turned to Epps as a regular in their Super Bowl LVII season but did not re-sign either of their safety starters from that NFC champion squad. Epps and C.J. Gardner-Johnson relocated in 2023, with Epps joining the Raiders on a two-year, $12MM deal. After a season-ending injury in 2024, Epps signed with the Patriots last year. New England released him, upon request from the DB, and he rejoined the Eagles on a practice squad agreement soon after. This came months after Philly ended Gardner-Johnson’s second stint early, trading him to the Texans.
Epps, 30, started four games for the Eagles last season and played 33% of Philly’s defensive snaps. The former Vikings sixth-round pick is tied to only a $1.55MM contract for 2026. A regular role would give him a chance to secure better terms — from either the Eagles or another team — by the start of the 2027 league year. The Eagles lost starter Reed Blankenship to the Texans in free agency and traded Sydney Brown to the Falcons days later. That opens a spot alongside Mukuba, a 2025 second-round pick.
DeJean’s slot skillset will clear a path for Epps, though the Eagles also have Michael Carter II and rookie seventh-rounder Cole Wisniewski rostered. Veteran corner Jonathan Jones resides as insurance at that position, but DeJean will not have a challenger for his slot role thanks to two impact seasons coming out of the 2024 second round. The Eagles experimented with DeJean at safety during the 2025 offseason, but he has only logged two career snaps in a deep safety role.
The Eagles became the first team since the 2016 Broncos (Chris Harris, Aqib Talib) to land two cornerbacks on the All-Pro first team. Pro Football Focus ranked DeJean eighth among corners last season, when he notched his first two regular-season interceptions. DeJean’s Super Bowl LIX pick-six helped turn that game into a rout, and the Eagles will surely have extension plans for both he and Mitchell. For now, DeJean — who saw some safety action with the Hawkeyes — will do some cross-training before assuming an interesting 2026 dual role.
This is old news… Dejean played Safety in Base Sets last year… Nobody outside of Eagles fans noticed, because the Eagles are almost never in Base defense.