NFC Notes: Eagles, Haden, Cowboys

Despite earlier reports to the contrary, an Eagles source tells Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter) that the team was not in on Joe Haden. The Eagles, the source claims, are content with their young cornerbacks.

It’s quite possible that the Eagles were interested in Haden but were not among the finalists for him, making this all a matter of semantics. In any case, the Eagles were unwilling to approach, match, or exceed the $7MM guarantee that Haden secured in his new three-year deal with the Steelers.

The Eagles will be starting a pair of 23-year-old corners in Jalen Mills and the newly-acquired Ronald Darby. Behind them, they have only one player outside of his 20s in veteran Patrick Robinson. Eventually, rookie Sidney Jones could join the active roster and provide help, but that doesn’t help to boost the group’s experience level.

Here’s more from the NFC:

• Tests show that Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens, who suffered a tibial plateau fracture recently, suffered no ligament damage, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. That means that no surgery will be needed and that, in theory, could help to speed up recovery. In a press release, the Cowboys indicated that Hitchens likely will not go on IR. The latest projections have Hitchens missing total eight weeks of action.
• Doctors say that Bears wide receiver Cameron Meredith only suffered ACL and MCL damage and did not injure any other major ligaments in his knee, Rapoport tweets. Meredith is done for the year, but he could be back in time for next year’s OTAs.
• Now that the Packers have added Ahmad Brooks to the fold, they can be more patient with rookie Vince Biegel‘s recovery, Ryan Wood of the Press-Gazette tweets. A source tells Wood that he’ll “probably” start the season on the PUP list, meaning that he won’t count against the initial 53-man limit.
• Former Saints defensive end Royce LaFrance signed with the CFL’s Roughriders, Nick Underhill of The Advocate tweets.