You Never Know Where the Best Talent For An NFL Roster May Come From.
If you think that the day after the NFL Draft is completed isn’t that important — when NFL clubs scramble to sign UDFA’s – you better think again.
As NFL franchises mobilize quickly to offer league minimum contracts to top collegiate talent who did not get a call to the podium in the April NFL Draft, critical pieces of franchise rosters are filled out.
Enter Reed Blankenship, the twenty-five-year-old safety out of Middle Tennessee State. Blankenship was signed in April of 2022 as a UDFA from The Eagles.
Photo Courtesy of Eaglesnation on X.On March 1st, the Eagles released Safety Kevin, who was acquired in 2023. Redshirted in 2011, Kevin Byard also played at Middle Tennessee and graduated in 2015. He obtained All-Conference USA honors in 2013 and was nominated First-team All-Conference USA. Byard’s 19 career interceptions are ranked the most in the school’s history. Byard graduated from Middle Tennessee in May 2015 with a degree in liberal studies.
This past November, the Eagles parted ways with defensive end Derek Barnett. The parting of the ways was significant for two reasons. The first was that the Eagles used a first-round pick on Barnett. The second was that he was involved in one of the greatest plays in the Eagles’ history. He recovered the fumble in the Super Bowl when Brandon Graham knocked the ball loose from Tom Brady in the fourth quarter of the 41–33 victory.
Blankenship’s contract, which extends him for two years through 2025 with guaranteed money of $3.94 million with additional incentive bonuses, places him with the Eagles until at least 2025. The Eagles’ first-round 2017 pick and Super Bowl hero is now gone.
Blankenship, a UDFA from 2022, remains with the Eagles.
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