Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will coach a different group of players this season, but he’s confident that Philadelphia’s offseason losses won’t prevent the defense from being stellar again.
The Eagles’ losses on defense this offseason have included defensive tackle Milton Williams, defensive end Josh Sweat, cornerback Darius Slay, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, defensive end Brandon Graham, cornerback Isaiah Rodgers and linebacker Oren Burks. Fangio said on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shaprio’s podcast that it hurts to see good people leave.
“It’s just part of the way it goes. I would have loved to keep all those guys, but in the NFL the salary cap is real,” Fangio said.
Still, Fangio says Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman is capable of bringing in the players the Eagles’ defense needs.
“In Howie we trust,” Fangio said. “This is his time of the year. He realizes we lost five staters on defense and two of the top backups that we had for those guys, so we need to get better. He’s done that in the offseason we got some guys, we have a draft coming, we have 20 picks over the next two years in the draft. What does that mean for next year? He can always trade picks in future drafts.”
The Eagles should add some good young pieces to their defense over the next three days, and they know they have a good old coach in Fangio to get them ready to play.