One Out, One In (Kinda)

Posted: March 7th, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on One Out, One In (Kinda)

Free agency starts next Wednesday. Legal tampering begins on Monday so we’ll actually see activity then. The Eagles are making moves now to be ready for next week.

Maddox is a tough subject. There are times when he has played some really good football. He’s in the prime of his career. He is versatile, with the ability to play safety or in the slot. The problem is that Maddox has only played in 39 games in the past four seasons. He just can’t stay healthy.

There was speculation that the Eagles could consider bringing him back at a lesser salary. Maybe. But if the problem is durability, then it doesn’t matter how cheap he is. The Eagles need to spend a draft pick on a guy who can play the slot. If they do that, then having Maddox in the mix would make sense at the right price.

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Jason Kelce has retired. Fletcher Cox might be retiring. Brandon Graham wants one more year.

BG has value because he can come off the bench and contribute. He won’t cost a ton of money. This is a good role for a high-energy veteran like BG.

We still don’t know if Haason Reddick will be staying. If he is traded, the Eagles will need to replace him with a starting level player. BG is purely a rotational guy at this point.

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There has been speculation that the Eagles might pursue Saquon Barkley in free agency. Forget about what Eagles fans think of this, let’s see what Tiki Barber thinks.

That is hilarious.

He wants Barkley to go anywhere in the league but Philly. I love the fact he hates the Eagles so much. That is just fantastic.

I would love to see Barkley in green, but I don’t know if the Eagles would be willing to pay the money needed to sign him. Most likely this is just his agent mentioning the Eagles to drum up interest. RBs haven’t had a very robust market in recent years.

We’ll see. It would be fun to see a dynamic RB like him in this offense.

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This cut caught me by surprise.

Simmons will turn 31 in November, but he remains a good player. He knows the Fangio scheme and would make sense for a couple of years.

This has been a wild offseason for safeties. They are getting cut left and right.

  • Justin Simmons
  • Jamal Adams
  • Kevin Byard
  • Jordan Poyer
  • Marcus Maye
  • Keanu Neal
  • Quandre Diggs
  • Eddie Jackson
  • Rayshawn Jenkins

That is wild for one offseason. And there could be more to come.

Teams want cheap options at safety. The Eagles have Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown, but Brown is hurt for now. Adding Simmons for a couple of years might help the young guys to develop into long term solutions.

Whether the Eagles go for Simmons or someone else, they will have plenty of options. Let’s hope they choose wisely, if they decide to go for a veteran safety. With two young guys already in place, it would make sense to add a veteran free agent.

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Help Needed

Posted: March 5th, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 2 Comments »

Now that Jason Kelce’s retirement is official, the Eagles need to figure out a plan for the offensive line. They have four of five starters returning so this isn’t a rebuilding job. They just need to find a fifth starter.

I think the Eagles will move Cam Jurgens to center. He played great in the middle in college and is a perfect fit for what the Eagles like to do in terms of having the center move around and block on the run. Jurgens also knows how Jeff Stoutland wants things done. There is real value in that for the center.

I expect the Eagles to give Tyler Steen every chance to win the job. Win is the key word. The Eagles value the OL way too much to just give a job to a player. The Eagles are paying a lot of attention to OL prospects.

Visits to Philly

OG Cooper Beebe – Kansas State
OL Brandon Coleman – TCU
OT Roger Rosengarten – Washington
OG Christian Mahogany – Boston College

Last year Steen battled Jurgens and some other players for RG. Jurgens was able to win that job and played well. Steen only started one game last year, but played in 11 overall. That’s not a ton of experience obviously. Still, he has been on the field in big games and has an idea of the challenges of the NFL.

Beebe is a guard prospect. Coleman has mainly played LT, but has started at LG. Mahogany is a guard prospect. Rosengarten is a 2-year starter at RT.

The Eagles are showing flexibility. Any of these guys could play RG. Coleman and Rosegarten could also play OT. We know the Eagles like versatile OL so all of this makes sense. They will be bringing more guys to Philly in the future. This is a deep, talented OL class. The Eagles will check out as many as they can.

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The salary cap went up by $10M, but teams are cutting players as if the cap went down. Maybe I’m just not remembering past years correctly, but it feels like more guys are getting cut this time around.

That means the Eagles will have extra choices when they look for help at LB or SAF or whatever position you want to talk about. The problem is that a lot of these players are 30 or older. I would say no to them, for the most part. Focus on players in their prime, guys who can contribute for multiple years.

One guy who might be of interest…

I need to watch tape of him, but Baker is 27 years old and a talented LB with 82 career starts. At the least, he’s worth a look.

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Not a cut, but…

McKinney is young and talented. He’s got 46 starts and 9 INTs in his career. I don’t know if the Eagles will spend money at safety. If they do, McKinney is definitely a player that should interest them.

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The other day I wrote about 6-8, 340 Amarius Mims posting a great short shuttle time at the Combine.

Oops.

We don’t have a time for Mims. Chances are he will not post a 4.33. If he does, we’ll go back to raving about him. As it is, he is still a highly talented prospect who will go in the first round.

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