But when they did it again, trading up early in the second round to select yet another cornerback, it looked downright insane.

Not only had Philadelphia used its top two selections on players who played the exact same position. It had also become the first team to draft two corners this early in almost 20 years.

On Sunday night inside the Superdome, though, that oddball move paid off in the most spectacular way imaginable. The first of those cornerbacks, Quinyon Mitchell, burnished his reputation as one of the NFL’s premier lockdown corners. And the second, Cooper DeJean, delivered the play of the game, intercepting a pass from Patrick Mahomes in the second quarter and returning it 38 yards for a touchdown.

“All of us rookies, they brought us in and taught us everything they know,” DeJean said after denying Mahomes a third consecutive Super Bowl ring. “Now, to be here on the biggest stage and be able to hold that Lombardi Trophy…it’s pretty crazy.”

Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell defends Chiefs tight end Noah Gray. Photo: chandan khanna/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Together, DeJean and Mitchell did more than spearhead a secondary that held Mahomes to six first-half completions for just 33 yards. They also underscored how the Eagles have become one of the top NFL teams of the past decade, by reminding the league that football is just as much about economics as it is Xs and Os.

The Eagles’ two Super Bowl triumphs since 2017 haven’t come behind a single dominant quarterback the way the Chiefs have built around Mahomes. Instead, Philadelphia has thrived by identifying inefficiencies to stay ahead of the competition. And cornerback wasn’t just a position where the Eagles needed reinforcements. It was a prime opportunity to beat the market and unlock value.

“The league is set up to be a bell curve, and sometimes if you want to be outside that bell curve on the positive, you’re going to take some chances,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman says. “And you’ve got to be right a lot more than you’re going to be wrong.”

There tends to be a pattern when the cost of certain NFL positions begins to fluctuate: When players in one role start to become expensive, so do their counterparts on the other side of the ball. When the price of offensive tackles surged due to their key role in protecting quarterbacks, so did the cost of edge rushers who were athletic enough to beat them and pulverize passers anyway.

At the other end of the spectrum, as running backs became less important, defensive players whose primary skill was stopping the rush were deprioritized, too.

The latest position to skyrocket has been wide receivers, with a slew of players signing contracts worth over $30 million annually last offseason. That meant it was only inevitable that the value of high-end cornerbacks capable of stopping them would eventually follow.

The Eagles didn’t sit still waiting for that market correction. By drafting both Mitchell and DeJean, they added two talented cornerbacks who will be on cheap rookie deals right as other top players at their position begin to command enormous paydays.

The matter was all the more urgent for the Eagles, considering how they finished last season. When Philadelphia collapsed by going 1-6 over its final seven games, the team’s defense was a sieve. It gave up 30.6 points per game over that span. Drastic measures were required.

And beyond the price tags, Mitchell and DeJean quickly proved that they belonged even before taking a snap when they locked down star receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in practice.

“Seeing them going up against two of the best receivers in the league, in my opinion, and making plays against them, you know they can hold their own against anyone,” says veteran Eagles corner Avonte Maddox.

Commanders tight end Zach Ertz, center, is tackled by Cooper DeJean, left, and Quinyon Mitchell, right. Photo: Matt Slocum/Associated Press

The defense rapidly improved as a result. On the rare occasions when Mitchell actually allowed a completion, he made sure the opposing receiver had no room to run. No defender with more than 30 targets allowed fewer than his 1.5 yards after the catch. And once DeJean entered the lineup in Week 6 as the nickelback, Philadelphia allowed the fewest yards per play (4.2) in that formation of any team since 2018. Overall, the Eagles went from 31st in passing yards allowed per game in 2023 to leading the NFL in that category this past season.

Then, somehow, they became even more effective in the playoffs.

Going into Sunday’s game, receivers covered by Mitchell had been targeted 15 times in the postseason. He allowed just five receptions for a total of 24 yards and came away with two interceptions.

DeJean also came through in the clutch. He made the play of the Super Bowl in the second quarter, when Mahomes dropped back to pass and saw DeJean sitting underneath his preferred receiver. Mahomes then thought he could reset and squeeze a pass across the field.

But DeJean took a few quick steps to his right and thought something else entirely as he saw the ball spinning toward him.

“Score a touchdown,” he said.