General manager Howie Roseman confirmed the reports that the Eagles' new addition, Marlin Jackson, will compete with Macho Harris and Quintin Demps for the starting free safety spot in 2010. The Eagles and Jackson agreed to terms on a two-year deal on Wednesday.

"We are going to start him out at free safety," Roseman said. "He has the versatility to play nickel and line up in the slot. He has some size. He's a versatile guy and he's a good football player, so we're going to get him healthy, get him right and then we'll go from there."

Even though Jackson primarily played in a Cover-2 scheme in Indianapolis in his first five years in the league, Roseman thinks that Jackson has all of the tools to make the transition to the Eagles defense.

"He's a tough, smart football player. He's won a lot of football games. He's instinctive. He's quick," Roseman said. "We think this is a great opportunity to get not only a player who can help us on defense, but a great person too and a leader on defense. We are excited about this move."

There is the concern that Jackson is coming off of an ACL injury for the second year in a row, although it's a different knee. Roseman and the Eagles are "confident" in the reports they received from the team's medical staff.

"I think we're really confident that he's in the right hands here," Roseman said. "It was a risk worth taking for us with the person and player he can be for us."

While Roseman is understanding that there are fans who wished that the team made a splashy move early in the free agent process, he wants to remind everyone that the off-season is far from over.

"Everyday we're trying. There are a lot of balls in the air and it's a long off-season," Roseman said. "It's a great draft class that we have so we're still focusing on that, but I can say that everyday we're trying to improve this football team."

-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 3:50 p.m., March 10