The Eagles released Kevin Byard just months after trading for the former Pro Bowl cornerback

The Philadelphia Eagles are making some changes to their secondary, starting with the release of safety Kevin Byard, which the team announced on Friday.

Philadelphia traded fifth- and sixth-round picks, as well as safety Terrell Edmunds, to the Tennessee Titans to acquire Byard midway through the 2023 season. He played 10 games with the Eagles, having 75 tackles, one interception and three pa*ses defensed. The team’s pa*s defense didn’t show all that much improvement over the last half of the year, and Byard’s inability to recapture the same coverage ability he showed during his Pro Bowl seasons was part of that.

He was scheduled to count against Philadelphia’s books at $14.4 million in 2024, according to Over the Cap, and by releasing him, the Eagles cut that fee to just $1.4 million, creating an additional $13 million in space. That should give them about $42 million in room under the cap to make roster moves this offseason.

The Eagles will certainly make an effort to reshape the defensive backfield after it struggled mightily last season. Cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry are aging, and after Byard Philly is released, they will only have Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown under contract for next season at safety.

They drafted Brown and Kelly Ringo last year, and also signed Eli Ricks as an undrafted free agent, but neither of them have looked like a high-caliber player yet. General manager Howie Roseman has always prioritized the defensive front over the back end, but given the way last year went, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Eagles pour more resources into shoring up the secondary this offseason.