Eagles Release McKelvin

PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) - The Eagles made the first of what will likely be a series of moves to open up salary-cap space in advance of free agency when they released veteran cornerback Leodis McKelvin on Wednesday.

By moving on from what was their best player at a bad position, Philadelphia will have an extra $3.2 million in space available to them.

McKelvin struggled with hamstring issues for much of the season and was rated as the 71st best cornerback in the NFL by ProFootballFocus.com, hardly impressive but by far the best on Jim Schwartz’s defense.

Nolan Carroll, the other starting CB who is set to become a free agent in March, was graded at No. 92 and rookie Jalen Mills was dead last at No. 112.

McKelvin finished his lone season in Philadelphia by starting 12 of the 13 games he played in and amassing 53 tackles, two interceptions and 20 passes defended while playing in 58 percent of the team’s defensive snaps.

With McKelvin gone and Carroll’s future up in the air, cornerback may be the thinnest position on the team as we head toward the new league year.

Currently, the Eagles have Mills, Ron Brooks, CJ Smith, Dwayne Gratz, Aaron Grymes and Mitchell White under contract.

-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen