Let’s take a look at how the last six years have gone for Eagles slot corner Parry Nickerson:
He’s played 351 snaps in 14 games, he’s been released 11 times and traded once and he’s been with seven teams.
Nickerson is a textbook NFL journeyman, and at 30 years old he’s still at it, still trying to find a home as a slot cornerback.
Why?
“I have a family to feed, and this is something I’m very passionate about and just (happy) to get an opportunity to showcase what I can do, what I can bring to this team,” Nickerson said after practice Wednesday. “And just continue to be a role model, a guy that’s been in my position, that’s been on several teams. Just continue to harp on those things.
“And it’s just the competitive nature inside me that just wants to keep going and just take advantage of these opportunities. To show the world what Parry Nickerson is.”
Nickerson was originally the Jets’ 6th-round pick out of Tulane back in 2018, and he did get on the field a lot as a rookie for Todd Bowles on a 4-12 Jets team, playing 212 defensive snaps in 16 games. Since then, he’s bounced around from the Jets to the Seahawks to the Jaguars to the Packers to the Vikings to the Dolphins to the Eagles but has only played 13 games and 139 snaps over the last six seasons.
He spent time in 2023 with the Dolphins under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who brought him to the Eagles last year. He was with the Eagles in last year’s training camp and spent the last few months of the season on the practice squad.
He hasn’t played a regular-season snap since the Dolphins-Eagles game at the Linc in October 2023, and he’s played in only five games since 2021.
But he’s had a very good training camp this summer and has elbowed his way into the 53-man roster picture as a potential backup slot behind Cooper DeJean.
“Yeah, I had a great camp,” said Nickerson, a New Orleans native. “Of course, there’s some things I can improve on, but you always can improve on something. But overall, I had a good camp, just understanding the playbook more and understanding different position rules, where help’s at, where no help’s at.
“All these things and just continuing to build a relationship with the guys so we can have trust within each other on the field.”
One of the guys who does trust Nickerson is Reed Blankenship, who raved about him after practice Wednesday.
“First off, he’s a great vet to have in the room,” he said. “And he’s one of the funniest dudes on our team. We went out to dinner the other night, it just seems like every time I hear him talk, because he has that Cajun accent, he’s saying something funny all the time.
“And he’s really great for these young guys. And he brings some type of culture to the room that we sometimes can miss at times. He’s a great guy. I love him as a friend and as a vet.”
The Eagles have 18 defensive backs in camp and 16 of them are 26 or younger. Adoree Jackson is 29 and Nickerson 30.
There’s tremendous value on a young team and in a young secondary with a guy like Nickerson, who’s seen it all, been through it all, and is still grinding seven years after entering the league.
“Especially off the field, talking to these guys, just like our personal stuff, life outside of football, these are things where I feel like I can help these other guys,” he said. “Understand things that are going on outside of football. We get so consumed with football, but the time we do have all the stuff like that, I like that. Spread a little knowledge, give something to the fellas.”
Nickerson is the oldest defensive player on the roster and the 4th-oldest overall, behind offensive linemen Lane Johnson and Kendall Lamm and long snapper Charley Hughlett.
Some of his younger teammates rib him good-naturedly about being the old guy, and he gets a kick out of it.
“They’ll crack jokes and stuff like that,” he said. “But I know it’s all love.”
And he sure doesn’t look at himself that way.
“Yeah, I don’t really feel like I’m an old guy,” he said. “I still move around pretty fine. I really don’t feel old. I still feel like I’m 24, 25…. I take care of my body and do what I need to do. So still got a lot left in the tank.”
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