Source: Eagles Trade Safety Sydney Brown To Falcons In Day 3 Pick-swap

Source: Eagles trade safety Sydney Brown to Falcons in Day 3 pick-swap originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles have traded former third-round safety Sydney Brown to the Atlanta Falcons, a league source confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Brown will get a fresh start with the Falcons, while the Eagles improve their draft status and get some salary cap relief.

Here are the full terms of the trade:

Eagles get: Picks 114 (4th round), 197 (6th round)
Falcons get: Sydney Brown, Picks 122 (4th round), 215 (6th round)

The Eagles on Friday also signed safeties Marcus Epps and J.T. Gray to one-year contracts, a league source confirmed.

By trading Brown ahead of his fourth and final year on his rookie contract, the Eagles will also save about $1.5 million in salary cap space, per OverTheCap. Of course, someone else will replace Brown in the top-51 so the actual savings will be less.

Brown, who turns 26 on Saturday, was a third-round pick (No. 66 overall) out of Illinois in the 2023 draft. While he showed some promise in his rookie season, it ended with a torn ACL in Week 18.

In his three years with the Eagles, Brown played in 42 games with 9 starts and became a major special teams contributor but never wrestled away a major role on defense. Last season, the Eagles gave Brown an opportunity to compete for a starting job but he lost that battle to rookie Drew Mukuba.

And even late in the season when Mukuba went down with a fractured ankle, Brown started one game but was then replaced by Epps coming off of IR.

“As long as the team’s winning, I’m just going to own my role for what it is,” Brown said in November when it looked like he was finally going to get his chance. “I mean, what’s best for the team? That’s how I look at it. And are we winning football games? That’s all I care about. And that’s all you can ask for, especially in this profession. 

“It’s about winning football games. That’s what it is, and I don’t knock on that. And I think at the end of the day, you might not agree with some of the decisions made, but it’s obviously made for the best of the team. And that’s all that matters.”

It’s worth noting that defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was not in place when the Eagles drafted Brown in the 2023 draft.

At the safety position, starter Reed Blankenship left for Houston in free agency. Mukuba will be back for Year 2 and Eagles did rework the contract of Michael Carter II, who has versatility as a nickel and safety.

They also have Andre’ Sam and Brandon Johnson on the roster in addition to Epps and Gray, who were added on Friday.