Reed Blankenship
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The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane reported the Philadelphia Eagles will not go above $10 million per season with free agent safety Reed Blankenship.
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane reported the Philadelphia Eagles want linebacker Nakobe Dean to circle back to their organization if Dean’s value doesn’t materialize in 2026 NFL free agency. Interestingly, the Eagles are taking somewhat of an opposite approach to free agent safety Reed Blankenship.
According to McLane, the Eagles have a hard limit on what they are willing to offer the veteran safety. If his market value reaches above that, Blankenship will not return to Philadelphia.
“Reed Blankenship is not expected to return to the Eagles if his market value hits 10+ mil, per Jeff McLane,” wrote NFL writer Thomas R. Petersen on X.
Presumably, Petersen meant $10 million per season.
Blankenship became a regular starter in Week 1 of his second campaign during 2023 and has started every game since then. In four seasons with the Eagles, he has posted 308 combined tackles.
During 2025, Blankenship had 83 combined tackles, including one tackle for loss. He also registered four pass defenses, one forced fumble and one interception.
Assessing NFL Free Agency Value for Safety Reed Blankenship
The Eagles have a few defensive free agents that they would like to keep. It sounds as though Blankenship is one of them.
But according to McLane, unlike with some of their other free agents, the Eagles are set on not paying over a certain price.
With that price at $10 million per season, it might be a true toss up whether Blankenship still has a shot to return to Philadelphia.
The Athletic’s Daniel Popper projected the safety to sign a 4-year, $42 million deal. That would be half a million above Philadelphia’s limit.
Spotrac, though, has Blankenship remaining within the Eagles price range. Spotrac estimated Blankenship’s market value to be a 2-year, $14.39 million deal.
Those two deals provide a wide range for the safety in terms of total money. With other players, Popper seems to be on the higher end of salary projections. But with Blankenship turning just 27 years old this March, it seems likely he will land a deal longer than two years.
Blankenship Experienced Setback in 2025
Blankenship has 50 games of starting experience. He posted a career-high 113 combined tackles with 11 pass defenses during 2023. In 2024, he had a career-best four interceptions.
His statistics remained solid last season. But overall, the Eagles safety didn’t perform as well.
That makes it more difficult to judge his free agency value. Will teams pay him believing he will return to his 2023-24 form? Or will they set his market based on what he did during 2025?
“Blankenship had seven interceptions over two seasons from 2023 to ‘24, and he won a Super Bowl as a starting safety in 2024,” Popper wrote. “But he took a step back in a contract year in 2025. His eyes were inconsistent, and he lacked agility in tighter coverage.
“Part of that could have been related to the unsettled spot next to him at safety. Rookie second-round pick Andrew Mukuba fractured his ankle in Week 12 and missed the rest of the season. The Eagles tried multiple starters next to Blankenship, including Sydney Brown and Marcus Epps.”
One thing is clear — how other teams judge his 2025 versus the prior two seasons will influence whether the Eagles can re-sign him for under $10 million per year.