Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles continued their busy offseason this Friday by signing veteran safety Jaquiski Tartt to a one year deal. The financial details of the deal have not yet been released to the public.
Tartt, now 30 years old, was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Since then, Tartt has carved out a solid career for himself, having spent all seven years of his career with the Niners.
In his seven years with the Niners, Tartt played a total of 80 games; 64 in which he started. During this stretch, the veteran safety has recorded 4 regular season interceptions, 4 regular season sacks, and 265 regular season solo-tackles.
Having never been named to a Pro-bowl or All-Pro team, Tartt was often overshadowed throughout his time in San Francisco by the team’s other starting safety, Jimmie Ward.
Nonetheless, despite having consistently gone under the radar as one of the league’s most underrated defensive backs; Tartt was an extremely important part of the 49ers’ 2019 NFC Champion defensive unit.
The only real setback that the veteran has endured throughout his career has been injuries. Tartt has never played a full regular season. Furthermore, the veteran safety has failed to appear in at least 10 games during several of his seven seasons.
Tartt’s role with the birds
Having now provided a bit of background information on Tartt’s career, let’s discuss what his signing means for the Eagles.
As I discussed in my previous article: Jessie Bates III; the Final Piece to the Eagles’ Perfect Offseason; the Eagles were extremely thin on safety depth before acquiring Tartt.
Previously rostering only three safeties with starting experience in the NFL, Tartt will presumably slide in opposite of Anthony Harris as the team’s starting strong safety. In doing so, the bird’s can continue to utilize Marcus Epps in a rotational safety role in the team’s secondary; a role in which he played quite well last year.
In addition to his on-the-field value for the Eagles, Tartt will provide some much-needed veteran experience to the team’s young secondary unit.
While the acquisition of Tartt likely takes the Eagles out of contention as a possible trade suitor for Jessie Bates III, the move is still a very solid one as it provides the Eagles’ secondary with a seasoned and competent starter at a much lower cost than Bates would’ve commanded.
As we inch closer to the 2023 NFL Regular Season, it will be interesting to see exactly how Howie Roseman continues to improve the Eagles’ roster.
Birds fans can expect a flurry of similar low-risk, high-reward moves prior to the team’s week one matchup against the Detroit Lions.
