Source: Eagles to release former Pitt CB Avonte Maddox

PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles are releasing starting slot cornerback Avonte Maddox, according to a league source who confirmed an ESPN report Wednesday.

The 27-year-old spent the first six seasons of his career with the Eagles and was entering the final season of a four-year contract extension signed in 2021 with a $9.6 million cap hit going into next season. The move would clear just under $2 million on the Eagles’ salary cap unless they release Maddox with a post-June 1 designation. If they use one of their two post-June 1 slots on Maddox to offset half of his dead cap hit into 2025, they’d clear $7.1 million on the salary cap once the release is official June 2. The move doesn’t close the door on Maddox returning later this offseason.

Maddox, a fourth-round pick out of Pitt in the 2018 draft, became one of the better nickel cornerbacks in the NFL, but he has missed significant time throughout his career. Ankle, hamstring, and toe injuries limited him to nine games in 2022, and a torn pectoral muscle suffered in Week 2 last season kept him out until Week 17. He’s played 16 or more games just once in his career.

Maddox has 38 career starts and 64 total games played with four career interceptions, eight forced fumbles and 250 total tackles.

After Maddox went down early last season, the Eagles had a revolving door of slot cornerbacks in his place. They went into training camp with Zech McPhearson as the primary backup, but the 2021 fourth-round pick suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in the preseason. The team tried veteran outside corner James Bradberry inside along with undrafted rookie Eli Ricks before signing veteran defensive back Bradley Roby for the spot in early October. When Roby missed time, the team used practice-squad call-ups Josiah Scott and Mario Goodrich in the slot before eventually settling on rookie safety Sydney Brown.

Maddox returned ahead of schedule last season. He played the final two regular-season games and the Eagles’ wild-card round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had one forced fumble and two pass breakups in his four regular-season games.

At the NFL scouting combine last week, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman conceded the team needed to bolster the depth at slot cornerback this offseason compared to last.

“I’ve got to do a better job of bringing in more guys to be able to play that position,” Roseman said. “I think that’s one area that you kind of felt like, in August, maybe we needed to add. So we tried some guys.”

If Maddox isn’t released with a post-June 1 designation, the Eagles are projected to start free agency next week about $42 million under the salary cap, according to overthecap.com. They have several needs on the defensive side and could be aggressive pursuing young building blocks in the secondary. This year’s draft class also presents a strong class of cornerbacks with plenty of defensive back prospects capable of holding their own in the slot expected to be available in the middle rounds.