By: Dianna Russini, Mike Jones and Joe Rexrode
The Philadelphia Eagles are trading for Titans safety Kevin Byard, league sources confirmed to The Athletic. Here’s what you need to know:
- The Eagles are sending Tennessee fifth- and sixth-round picks in 2024 along with safety Terrell Edmunds in exchange for Byard.
- Byard, in his eighth NFL season, has spent his entire career with the Titans and has earned two first-team All-Pro and two Pro Bowl nods.
- The 30-year-old has started all six games for Tennessee this season and has logged 47 total tackles and a fumble recovery.
The Tennessee Titans are trading All-Pro defensive back Kevin Byard to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles will be sending the Titans a 2024 5th and 6th rounder and safety Terrell Edmunds, per multiple league sources.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) October 23, 2023
Why move makes sense for Philadelphia
The two-time All-Pro safety and eight-year veteran should help bolster the Eagles’ injury-riddled safety position. The position group features promising young players like Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown, but both have struggled to stay on the field so far this season.
Byard has a favorable contract (two years, $25.1 million) and will also help mentor his young teammates. For his career, he had 464 tackles and 27 interceptions and 63 pass breakups. — Mike Jones, NFL staff writer
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Why Titans made this move
The big question for the Titans — at 2-4 and watching the Jacksonville Jaguars round into the team many thought would run away with the AFC South this season — was one of self-awareness. Would they wait and see what happens during Sunday’s home game with the Atlanta Falcons before pulling the trigger on any deals? Or could they be talked into starting to sell before that result?
Now it’s clear the Titans have accepted that this roster needs to be stripped down and built back up. Byard was one of the jewels of former GM Jon Robinson’s first draft — a heck of a bargain in the third round in 2016. So what about the second-round pick from that draft? Is Derrick Henry next? — Joe Rexrode, Titans senior writer
What Eagles are getting in Byard
In Byard, the Eagles are gaining one of the true pros in this league, a guy who has been the Titans’ primary vocal leader for many seasons and a guy who has never missed a game — he played in all 127 possible in his career, playoffs included. He has been one of the top safety playmakers in the league as well, though not as much this year — which can be traced in part to the Titans’ disappointing lack of pass rush. He’s a clear upgrade for the Eagles and joins another great player, A.J. Brown, with whom he played in Tennessee. The Titans only had three picks before the seventh round in the upcoming draft, so adding a fifth and a sixth is a worthwhile return as they look to turn over this roster. — Rexrode
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Required reading
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- NFL Week 7 takeaways: Ravens look like real contenders; Chiefs’ D swarms Chargers
(Photo: Nick Cammett / Diamond Images via Getty Images)
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