Eagles predicted to cut ties with young $4.6M defender after NFL draft haul

GM Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles have been unrivaled among NFL franchises when it comes to infusing young drafted and developed talent into their roster.

The Eagles deployed one of the league’s 10 youngest teams in 2024 on their way to winning Super Bowl LIX. They’re in the process of welcoming a 10-player draft class from this past weekend, and have a full cupboard of 12 projected selections for the 2026 draft.

Philly’s latest rookie haul should lead to some intriguing training camp battles, especially on defense. Safety Andrew Mukuba (pick No. 64 overall) and cornerback Mac McWilliams (No. 145 overall) offer intriguing athletic profiles and could challenge veterans like Sydney Brown and Kelee Ringo for reps right away.

Every big draft class comes with winners and losers, and among the Eagles’ players trending down entering training camp is Ringo, who struggled to get on the field in Vic Fagio’s defense in 2024. Sterling Xie of Pro Football Network named the 22-year-old Ringo as Philly’s top trade or surprise cut candidate following the NFL Draft.

“With Darius Slay and James Bradberry gone, 2025 would seemingly be a chance for Ringo to emerge as the third cornerback behind Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean,” Xie wrote for PFN. “However, between free agent signing Adoree’ Jackson and fifth-round rookie Mac McWilliams, Ringo could be looking at a make-or-break summer in terms of his place on the roster. Because he’s on a cheap rookie deal, Ringo would leave behind minimal dead money if the Eagles move on. He does have two years left on that rookie contract though, which would give an acquiring team multiple years of team control if they want to take a look at the former 105th overall pick.”

Draft experts were high on the McWilliams pick, due to his prowess in man-to-man coverage. Most notably, he held up well in marquee matchups against a pair of top-10 draft picks in Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan last season.

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Ringo was mostly a special teams player for the Eagles in 2024, as he played only 129 total snaps (with 54 of them coming in the team’s throwaway Week 18 game against the Giants). The Georgia Bulldogs product brought 4.3-speed to Philly as an early Day 3 pick in 2023, but the team hasn’t been in a hurry to get him on the field.

With that said, it’s unlikely that Ringo’s moving on this summer, given Philly’s thin cornerback depth chart behind Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Even if McWilliams, or veteran Adoree Jackson, wins the vacant starting job, Ringo offers the team valuable depth and a cheap rookie contract that doesn’t expire until 2026.

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