The Philadelphia Eagles signing Johnathan Cyprien added more veteran depth at safety, but there's more into the signing than healthy veteran competition. Philadelphia added safety Andrew Sendejo back in March for veteran depth at the position, giving up a potential compensatory pick in the process because they signed Sendejo prior to May 8.
There's plenty of depth at safety on the Eagles roster right now, and that was before the addition of Cyprien. The Eagles have Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod as the starters, but added Sendejo, Blake Countess and Godwin Igwebuike to fortify that depth. Not to mention the Eagles have a young safety in Tre' Sullivan who progressed in the playoffs last year and feel a need to get younger at the position with Jenkins at 31-years old and McLeod at 29.
One (or multiple) of these players are going to be released once 53-man cut-downs occur on Aug. 31, which puts Sendejo on watch. This has little to do with Sendejo the player, but just business in the NFL.
The Eagles were expected to receive up to four compensatory picks in the 2020 draft, but the signings of Sendejo and Fort cancel out the loss of Jordan Hicks (fourth-round) and Jordan Matthews (seventh-round). Sendejo is only worth seventh-round compensation (per Over The Cap), but the Eagles signing him cancelled out Hicks (Philadelphia can get the fourth-round compensatory pick back if they release Sendejo before the season).
As general manager Howie Roseman has indicated in the past, the Eagles focus on adding compensatory picks to compensate the loss the free agents the year before (which will come into play now that Carson Wentz signed the biggest contract for a quarterback in NFL history). For a franchise that has only had 10 draft picks over the past two seasons, having a potential of 10 draft picks in 2020 alone would be huge for the franchise.
Another name to keep an eye on is free agent linebacker L.J. Fort, whom the Eagles could also receive a compensatory fourth-round pick if they were to release him on cutdown day. The Eagles aren't likely to release Fort, since they would have to pay $489,854 in dead cap space to remove Fort from the roster (they signed him to a three-year deal). For the Eagles to move on from Fort, undrafted free agent T.J. Edwards would have to outperform him in training camp.
The Eagles are giving Cyprien a chance to snatch a roster spot from Sendejo. Of course, Philadelphia could keep both players, but they have played the compensatory pick game well over the years. Just an added flavor to the mix on what Roseman may actually do when determining the final roster.
