Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Reddick Traded

Posted March 30th, 2024 | 1 Comment »

Haason Reddick should be a player the Eagles are building around. Instead, he’s gone. This has been a strange situation for the past couple of months. Reddick is clearly a good player. He seems like a good guy. But now he’s headed to the green team up north.

There are a few different angles to this. Let’s start with the compensation. Getting a conditional 2nd round pick is fine. In 2026? Not so much. That is an eternity in sports time. Howie Roseman is arguably the best trader in the league. He generally gets good compensation and pays fair prices. He knows value and is a good negotiator. If this is what he got, this is what was available.

Not ideal.

That brings us back to the subject of Reddick himself. He’s 29, but has four consecutive seasons of double-digit sacks. Reddick had 16 sacks and 5 FF in 2022 and was a huge part of the Eagles making it to the Super Bowl. So why were the Eagles willing to trade him and why was there such a poor market for him?

While Reddick is a productive pass rusher, he is erratic as a run defender. He loves to freelance. There were more than a few times last year when he failed to set the edge and RBs got out wide. Reddick would get into the wrong gap, hoping to make a play. Coaches need players to focus on the right gap so the other defenders know what to do.

Age is a factor. Reddick will turn 30 in September. He is still a gifted player, but teams do prefer younger players.

Most of all, this is about money. Reddick signed a 3-year, $45M deal with the Eagles in the 2022 offseason. He posted 27 sacks over the past two years and thinks he’s being underpaid. Reddick saw other guys getting more money and that obviously bothered him. Nick Bosa got $122.5M guaranteed in his new deal with SF. Reddick wanted more money and the Eagles weren’t going to give that to him.

Apparently, the Jets are willing to give him a new deal. That’s in the works so we’ll have to wait and see what he does get.

The Eagles could have refused to deal Reddick. They could have told him to play out his deal and then hit free agency next March. I’m guessing Reddick made it clear to the Eagles that he wasn’t going to be a happy camper. Howie and Nick Sirianni saw the problems the team had last year. There were times when players had personal agendas and that led to problems. The 2022 team was more close-knit and that helped them to win.

If the Eagles are going to get back to winning, they need everyone rowing in the same motion. Having a 30-year old star pass rusher who is disgruntled or frustrated wasn’t a good idea. That situation would get worse over time, not better.

There is also something odd about Reddick. The Cardinals let him leave after a 12.5 sack season in 2020. He signed a one-year deal with Carolina and had 11 sacks for them. That led to his signing with the Eagles. Three straight teams saw him post double-digit sacks and then let him walk. Teams see a good pass rusher. Reddick sees himself as a star, a special player. That puts a chip on his shoulder. That’s good when it fuels Reddick, but becomes an issue when it means he’s always going struggle to be happy.

The Eagles felt they had to make a move. They do have a good group of pass rushers in place.

RE – Josh Sweat – Nolan Smith

LE – Bryce Huff – Brandon Graham – Zach Baun

The Eagles are also checking out a lot of Edge prospects. Laiatu Latu, Chop Robinson and Marshawn Kneeland are all coming to Philly for Top 30 visits. Those guys will go in the 1st and 2nd rounds. Sweat and Graham will probably be gone after this year so the Eagles could invest in another young pass rusher.

It is funny that the Eagles and Jets essentially swapped Huff and Reddick. The Eagles got younger, the Jets older. I don’t understand why the Jets just didn’t pay Huff. They obviously see Reddick as more of a sure thing, but it still feels odd to me.

There is risk in this move to be sure. The Eagles are counting on Huff to become a good starter. They need Nolan Smith to take a big leap forward. They also need a bounce-back year from Sweat. Howie didn’t want to trade his star pass rusher, but he felt this was the best way to handle the situation. Reddick has a chance at a new deal and the Eagles move forward with younger pass rushers. And an extra pick…in 2026.

*****

With new players, a new offense and a new defense, the Eagles need more practice time. I’m glad to hear about this.

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Nick & Jeff Talk

Posted March 26th, 2024 | Comments Off on Nick & Jeff Talk

On Monday we heard from Howie Roseman at the owners meetings in Orlando. Tuesday was Nick Sirianni and Jeffrey Lurie’s time to meet with the media.

I wish I could tell you this was really interesting, engaging material. Lurie was far and away the better of the two. Sirianni was in secretive mode and spoke in coaching generalities.

Lurie expressed genuine disappointment in how the 2023 season ended. That sounds obvious, but it was important to hear him say it and not just gloss over that trainwreck of a finish. Lurie focused on positives, as anyone would. He talked about the success the Eagles have had with Sirianni and Jalen Hurts and wanting to get back to the level of the 2022 season.

He was asked about why he brought Sirianni back. Lurie talked about Nick’s honest evaluation and desire to fix things. I know a lot of people questioned whether Sirianni would make changes, but at his core, I see him as ultra-competitive. That means you do whatever it takes to win. Give up play-calling? Fine. Fire a young coach you like? Fine. Go get me the best guys out there.

Lurie talked about how Sirianni was pushing for Kellen Moore from the start of the coaching search. That’s important. You need Sirianni to fully buy into the new coach and to embrace changes to the playbook. It sounds like that is happening. Lurie said the addition of Moore can make the Eagles offense more dynamic and innovative. That would be better than what we saw the final six weeks.

I liked Lurie talking about how Howie Roseman and the front office looked for market inefficiencies to potentially exploit. It felt like that’s what happened with Saquon Barkley this year. Other teams shied away from giving big money to a RB so the Eagles weren’t in a bidding war. Lurie also made sure to praise Howie’s support staff, talking about how structuring contracts the right way can give the Eagles an advantage.

Lurie was asked about CB Isaiah Rodgers. He said he expects Rodgers to be reinstated by the league. Lurie said Rodgers is an important piece for the Eagles. We know the Eagles CBs are an odd mix right now. You have two older guys in Slay and Bradberry and then a bunch of young guys. Rodgers is 26 and has 10 career starts so he’s between those groups and could challenge for a starting role this year.

Lurie spoke about how both Hurts and Sirianni need to be themselves. He was asked their personalites (Sirianni too emotional, Hurts too reserved). Lurie said that it was important for both of them to be genuine. The worst thing Hurts could do was to change and try to fake it. I immediately thought of Russell Wilson. Lurie admitted that Sirianni has a tough balancing act with being emotional, but not too emotional.

Sirianni was much less interesting.

He refused to commit to Cam Jurgens taking over for Jason Kelce. Sirianni doesn’t want other teams to know what the Eagles will do. I get the need to keep things somewhat secret for a competitive advantage, but there are times when Nick goes too far.

Sirianni talked about the new backup receivers. He likes DeVante Parker’s ability to win outside and the fact he’s different than the other guys (insert your own joke there). Sirianni praised Parris Campbell, focusing on his speed. He also seemed to think Campbell would be a good fit personality wise.

You can watch if you like, but there really isn’t much compelling content.

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