Eagles: Looming Free Agency ...
>> 5 players who might not be back with Eagles in 2018
David Hennessey
USA Today | EaglesWire
February 12, 2018
theeagleswire.usatoday.com
The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles have already lost two members of their coaching staff to other teams. In free agency, they will lose several players who contributed to the team’s improbable run this season.
We obviously don’t know which players the Eagles will decide to, or be able to, bring back just yet. But here are just five of the many Eagles players that could wind up playing outside of Philadelphia next season.
RB LeGarrette Blount | Blount signed a one-year deal with the Eagles as a free agent last offseason. He was excellent for Philadelphia in the first half of the regular season and in the Super Bowl. But the Eagles might decide they don’t need the veteran running back. The dynamic of Philadelphia’s backfield changed dramatically when the team traded for Jay Ajayi in October. Ajayi still has a year left on his rookie deal and should lead the Eagles’ rushing attack in 2018. Corey Clement emerged as a viable weapon this season and had a breakout Super Bowl.
And Darren Sproles is looking to return to football for another year after suffering two injuries on one play that ended his 2017 season. Last year’s fourth-round draft pick, Donnel Pumphrey, has shown nothing as of yet, but he will be another back fighting for a roster spot next season.
The Eagles may have too many effective running backs and not enough cap space to justify bringing the 31-year-old Blount back next season. [Jay Ajayi and Corey Clement have each earned a roster spot on the 2018 Eagles, but if Darren Sproles retires or the team doesn’t bring him back, they will still need a third back. Depending on the cost required to keep him, Blount might stick around for another year.]
TE Trey Burton | Burton is a talented, athletic player whose potential has yet to be fully utilized by an NFL team. He could be a No. 1 tight end, but he will never be able to realize that potential with the Eagles.
Zach Ertz is the team’s starting tight end and will be for the foreseeable future. Brent Celek may be calling it quits soon, while Burton will likely generate a lot of interest as a free agent.
After starting his NFL career as a special teams player, Burton earned a small offensive role in 2015. Burton really came on when coach Doug Pederson was hired by the Eagles. He had 37 receptions for 327 yards and a touchdown in 2016. This year Burton saw his targets get cut in half, but he only played 28 fewer snaps than the prior season. Part of that is likely due to the amount of targets that went to offseason acquisitions Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffery. Though Burton got fewer targets, he still finished the regular season with 23 receptions for 248 yards and five touchdowns.
Burton has shown flashes of excellence as a pass catcher. There’s a high probability one of the other 31 teams in the NFL will be able to offer the tight end more money and a better opportunity than the Eagles can.
LB Nigel Bradham | The Eagles don’t necessarily need to bring back Blount or Burton, but they must re-sign Bradham. The linebacker is too important to Jim Schwartz’s defense to let him go. Bradham has played the most snaps of any Eagles linebacker since signing with the team in 2016. He had 88 total tackles, eight pass breakups, a forced fumble and a sack this year.
Sure, linebacker Jordan Hicks will demand a sizable contract after 2018. But Hicks is injury-prone and still has yet to prove he can be trusted long-term. Bradham has been productive and consistently available for Philadelphia.
He’s also a solid leader on the Eagles defense who would be sorely missed if another team outbid Philadelphia. The Eagles might have to overspend to keep Bradham, which certainly isn’t ideal given their cap situation, but they really can’t afford to let the linebacker walk.
[After Bradham played all 67 defensive snaps and notched four tackles against the Vikings, it is clear the Eagles see him as the top (healthy) linebacker on the team. The passing defense has especially benefited from the play of Bradham since Jordan Hicks was lost for the season. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus rated Bradham as the third-best coverage linebacker in the league during the 2017 season. The front office should view Bradham as a must-sign player.]
CB Patrick Robinson | Robinson signed a one-year deal with the Eagles last offseason and far exceeded expectations. He was a reliable nickel cornerback on a defense that desperately needed one.
But with the return of Sidney Jones from his Achilles tear and the emergence of Jalen Mills in 2017, the Eagles may end up parting ways with Robinson. The veteran cornerback rejuvenated his career in Philadelphia and should have plenty of suitors as a free agent. Robinson had four interceptions and 18 passes defensed this year. He was one of the best nickel corners in the league. Other teams will be interested in Robinson. The Eagles probably shouldn’t get in a bidding war over the veteran when they have several other capable young corners, led by Ronald Darby . Philadelphia’s defense has their outside corners set in Darby and Jones. They could move Mills to the slot to replace Robinson, should the veteran sign elsewhere in free agency.
Nick Foles | How can the Eagles move on from the quarterback that led them to their first-ever Super Bowl victory? Carson Wentz is recovering from an ACL tear and may not be ready for the start of the season, so there’s no way they would actually trade Foles . . . right? On the surface it seems nonsensical to trade Foles after he just had two incredible performances in the two biggest games of his career. But Foles’ cap number jumps up by $6 million next season. And he could net the Eagles a mid-round pick in a trade. The Eagles need to honor his wishes this offseason, considering he finally brought Philadelphia a championship.
He is the best backup quarterback in football. If Foles wants the chance to be a starter, the Eagles should trade him and give him that opportunity. If he’d prefer to be a backup on a contending team, Philadelphia should hold on to him. Taking the Super Bowl victory out of the equation — which is impossible, truthfully — it would make sense for the Eagles to strike while the iron is hot with Foles. His value will never be higher, and there are a lot of teams with ugly quarterback situations. Despite Foles’ unbelievable postseason, Wentz is still the Eagles starting quarterback. The Eagles should grant Foles’ wish this offseason. <<
Remaining 2018 free agents:
DT Beau Allen
RB Kenjon Barner
OT Will Beatty
LB Bryan Braman
TE Trey Burton
LB Dannell Ellerbe
LB Chris Long
LB Najee Goode
RB Darren Sproles
K Caleb Sturgis
CB Jaylen Watkin
Also:
Safety Corey Graham | What do Reshad Jones and Landon Collins have in common? Both are safeties who will play in the Pro Bowl this weekend. What else, you might ask? When targeting these players, opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating over 94. Graham, however, held opposing quarterbacks to a passer rating of 46.2 when they threw his way. Graham flew under the radar most of the year, but with zero touchdowns allowed and only 12 receptions allowed on over 250 coverage snaps, Graham was a very good depth safety to have around. Without many options to back up Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod, the Eagles would be wise to offer Graham a contract extension.
Unfortunately, the team will only be able to re-sign a few of these players — it is already over the projected salary cap for 2019. The following players have been crucial to the Eagles this year and would be difficult to replace.
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>> Monday Morning QB: Three Eagles offseason personnel move predictions
Nick Fierro
The Morning Call (Allentown PA)
February 12, 2018
mcall.com
Complicating the fact that the Philadelphia Eagles don’t have as much salary cap flexibility as they’re used to is their lack of picks in the first three rounds of the 2018 NFL Draft. They only have one, in the first round, which comes dead last at No. 32 overall, thanks to their Super Bowl championship. So improving the team or just keeping it at the level it played in 2017 will be more challenging than ever. Here’s three predictions on moves they will make:
1.Release WR Torrey Smith. The way his contract is structured, they would get $5 million in salary cap relief with no dead money. Because of their situation and the belief that they have some good young receivers (Mack Hollins, Shelton Gibson, Marcus Johnson) ready to take the next step, there’s no way they can afford to pay Smith, who stepped up his game in the playoffs (13 catches for 157 yards and a touchdown in three games) but whose production in the season was not commensurate with his salary.
2. Release TE Brent Celek. The longest-tenured Eagle might have played his last game. The intangibles he brought to the table every year outweighed his dwindling catch numbers over the last five. But the feeling here is that the culture coach Doug Pederson has built can now sustain without him and the $5 million cap hit they’d be charged by keeping him in 2018. The Eagles would save $4 million by letting him go.
3. Signing LB NIgel Bradham. With the cap room created by the previous two moves, the Eagles can then get creative with the only starter they stand to lose to free agency. A backloaded deal with a healthy signing bonus up front that can be prorated for cap purposes over the life of the contract should do the trick and keep his cap hit minimal for this coming season, when they need as much relief as they can get.
The Eagles have many more complicated personnel decisions to make. In addition to Bradham, 13 others have expiring contracts, including versatile tight end Trey Burton. Also, the combined contracts of defensive ends Vinny Curry and Brandon Graham will net a $19 million cap hit this season, and they’re almost certainly going to need to revise that number somehow. But getting these three moves done will be essential to giving them a chance to succeed in 2018 the way they did on their way to bringing the first Lombardi Trophy to Philadelphia in 2017. <<
- Eric L, - |
