In a surprising turnaround, cornerback Joselio Hanson is back with the Eagles, as the team announced Hanson has returned on a two-year contract. Hanson has excelled with the Eagles as the nickel cornerback since joining the team in 2006, but he was released last Saturday as part of the roster cutdown. Hanson was deemed unnecessary because of the Eagles' three Pro Bowl cornerbacks (Asante Samuel, Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie) and the presence of three promising young cornerbacks.
Three days later, however, the opportunity to bring back a proven inside player like Hanson was too tempting to pass up and the Eagles chose to part ways with Trevard Lindley, a 2010 fourth-round pick. Hanson rejoins Samuel, Asomugha, Rodgers-Cromartie, Curtis Marsh and Brandon Hughes in the Eagles' deep cornerback stable.
Hanson has four interceptions since joining the Eagles and had an impressive season in 2010, in which, according to Football Outsiders, he posted a second-best 4.4 yards-allowed-per-pass among cornerbacks targeted at least 40 times (Samuel would have ranked first with only 3.2 yards-allowed-per-pass but he was only targeted 36 times). Hanson was also the best in the league, according to Football Outsiders, when it came to bringing down the receiver, allowing a league-best 1.5 yards-after-catch.
