Headed into the fourth year of his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles, safety Reed Blankenship found out exactly what his team thought of him when they traded away the other starting safety, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, to the Houston Texans in what management called a salary cap move.
In all reality, it was more of a display of faith in Blankenship, a 15-game starter each of the last 2 seasons who was a key piece of last year’s Super Bowl winning defense.
In 2025, Blankenship will be counted on as a mentor to the player who will likely take Gardner-Johnson’s spot in the starting lineup with 2025 second round pick (No. 64 overall) Andrew Mukuba.
Those are all part of the reason why Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton singled out Blankenship’s lack of a new deal as one of the NFL’s “Most Important Contract Decisions” just one month away from the Eagles hosting the Dallas Cowboys in their regular season opener on Thursday Night Football on September 4.
“Philadelphia also has a young safety in Blankenship, who’s younger than Gardner-Johnson, on the rise and headed into the final year of his contract,” Moton wrote on August 3. “Like Gardner-Johnson, Blankenship finds the ball in coverage, recording seven interceptions over the last two seasons. The Eagles may be able to sign him to a less costly extension than they would have given a more experienced defensive back in Gardner-Johnson.”
While the price for Blankenship isn’t going up right now, once the season starts it very well could. That’s all the more important reason to sign him before the Eagles begin the regular season.
Getting Blankenship immediately, on a deal in the range of a 3-year, $30 million contract extension, could end up looking like great savings down the road with massive contract extensions coming for defensive tackle Jalen Carter in 2026 and cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in 2027.
Blankenship Called Philly’s ‘Most Underrated Player’
PFF’s Jonathan Macri called Blankenship the “Most Underrated Player” on Philadelphia’s roster headed into 2025.
“On a Super Bowl-winning roster, there will always be some unsung heroes whose contributions might get overlooked, and Blankenship stands out,” Macri wrote on May 14. “As a former undrafted free agent, Blankenship has assumed a locked-in starter over the past two seasons and delivered an 87.2 PFF coverage grade, which ranks eighth among 129 qualifying safeties since 2022.”
Blankenship had a career high 4 interceptions in 2024 after 3 interceptions in his first year as a full time starter in 2023, when he also had a career high 113 tackles.
From Undrafted Free Agent to Super Bowl Champion
Blankenship, 6-foot-1 and 203 pounds, only had one Power Four offer coming out of West Limestone High School in Lester, Alabama — from Minnesota — but ended up at Middle Tennessee.
Blankenship was a 5-year starter and 5-time All-Conference USA selection at Middle Tennessee — he got an extra year because of the pandemic — and ran the 40-yard dash in a more than respectable 4.55 seconds at Pro Day but still went undrafted.
If the Eagles wait on his contract, they could very well price themselves out of the market for Blankenship, who is due just $1.475 million in 2025.
