How Avonte Maddox is dealing with new role with no guarantees

How Avonte Maddox is dealing with new role with no guarantees originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

He could have pouted. He could have sulked. He could have vowed to sign somewhere else to spite the Eagles.

Instead, Avonte Maddox did the only thing that made sense to him.

He came back.

The Eagles released the veteran defensive back on March 7. After playing in 64 games with 38 starts and being a part of five playoff teams, Maddox was on the street for the first time in his career.

Must have been quite a blow to his ego, it was suggested to Maddox.

“What do you mean? Blow to my ego?” he said. “I know who I am. I know what I can do. I know how I can play and nothing ever is a blow to my ego. You know what I mean? Like that just makes me work harder. So it’s never a blow to my ego. I know who I am, I know who I will be, and there’s never been ego shame to that.”

The Eagles re-signed Maddox on April 4, ending his brief foray into free agency.

“I wasn’t really sweating it too much,” he said. “I talk to (GM Howie Roseman) all the time. Me and Howie have a great relationship. And he told me if nothing works out, you’re always welcome back here.

“And I felt comfortable being here. I’ve been here for the last, what, seven years now going into. So Philly is my home, and I’m definitely comfortable being inside this building and being on the field with the players and the coaches and you know just being around this organization.”

So why did the Eagles release Maddox in the first place? It’s a fair question.

They did reduce his salary — he was due $6.85 million in 2024 on the final year of the three-year, $22.5 million extension he signed in November 2021 and had a $9.6 million cap hit. He’s now due just $1.125 million in base salary with a $1.618 million cap hit, although the Eagles are on the hook for $7.72 million in dead money. So Maddox’s combined cap hit is slightly smaller but the Eagles save nearly $6 million in cash.

For the first time since…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/avonte-maddox-dealing-role-no-110000114.html

Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia

Publish date : 2024-06-13 11:00:00

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