Eagles safety Patrick Chung struggled this season. His tenure in Philadelphia will likely be short, which has pretty much been standard for this franchise's safties in recent years.
Over the course of the next two weeks we will examine each of the Philadelphia Eagles 2013 free-agent signings and off-season additions and look at how they contributed to this year's NFC East championship team both on and off the field.
S Patrick Chung
Finding a starting caliber safety has clearly been the Philadelphia Eagles quest for the white whale in the now five-year quest to replace Brian Dawkins, and no recent signing illustrates that better than Patrick Chung.
To say Chung struggled this season would be putting it kindly.
The former Oregon Duck and New England Patriots Safety was signed to hopefully provide some veteran stability to the Eagles secondary that had been lacking just that in recent years. It turns out, Chung would struggle to be a bridge to fifth round draft pick Earl Wolff.
Thus goes the story of the Eagles great quest for the white whale.
Sean Jones, Macho Harris, Nate Allen, Kurt Coleman, Jaiquawn Jarrett, Jarrad Page, Kenny Phillips, and Wolff have all joined Chung spending time in the Eagles defensive backfield as part of a frustrating and largely frutiless quest to identify a starting caliber safety in the last half decade.
Chung's numbers, only 59 tackles, don't tell the entire story of his struggles this season. The 26-year old struggled in deep coverage, many times out of position, and anytime he was asked to make a touchdown saving tackle fans likely were left holding their breath.
To add injury to insult, the five-year veteran missed four games battling a shoulder injury that in all likelihood played a role, however small, in his on-field inconsistencies.
Wolff ultimately supplanted Chung, but because of his own injury issues, the veteran was forced back into duty.
Given the fact that Chung is due $3.25 million if he is on the roster in training camp, he'll likely be shopping his services elsewhere.
And it's a safe bet that the Eagles game of safety roulette will continue in 2014.
Signing Grade: D
While adding Chung didn't pay nearly the dividends Howie Roseman and Chip Kelly would have hoped, he did start 12 games this season.
Eagles 2013 Free Agency Review
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
