The Eagles offseason has gone about as expected. There wasn’t a whole lot of drama with the coaching changes. Those moves weren’t surprising at all. Most of that stuff is over and we’re now on to the player side of things.
This was unexpected news.
Sources: #Eagles All-Pro edge rusher Haason Reddick has received permission to seek a trade following another disruptive season featuring double digit sacks. The 29-year old with 27 sacks over two seasons in Philly could land elsewhere. pic.twitter.com/WxIGTac24M
Reddick is in the final year of his deal. It is possible that he’s been pushing for an extension and a raise and the Eagles said no to that. Now they have given him permission to talk to other teams, to see what is out there.
Reddick is a gifted pass rusher and highly disruptive player. The downside with him is that he lacks ideal size and freelances more than you’d like in the run game. Reddick is a valuable player, but won’t appeal to all 32 teams.
I wonder what Vic Fangio thinks of him. Most of his OLBs have been in the 260-pound range, about 20 pounds heavier than Reddick. Fangio might prefer a bigger, stronger OLB who can consistently set the edge vs the run as well as rushing the passer.
My understanding is that the Eagles would only move Reddick if it makes sense — both with the compensation in return, and if their cap objectives cannot be achieved with a new deal. (As we've noted, Josh Sweat is also entering last year.) This isn't a fire sale.
The Eagles aren’t going to give away a pass rusher as good as Reddick. Some team will have to show real interest in him and make a good offer. There are plenty of teams out there who need pass rushers so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
If the Eagles do move Reddick, they could look for OLB help in free agency or the draft. I don’t see a player who is likely to be available at 22. UCLA DE Laiatu Latu will probably go in the 10 to 20 range. He is a terrific edge player. The Eagles would likely have to move up to get him. I haven’t looked at free agency to see who is available.
It is possible that other teams won’t offer the kind of money Reddick wants. That could lead to him being an unhappy player for 2024. That’s not ideal for either side. Let’s hope the situation gets worked out, either with a new team or with the Eagles.
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Are you excited for the Super Bowl?
I can’t say I’m fired up for SF vs KC. I think plenty of us have Chiefs fatigue. They’re on TV constantly and Mahomes/Kelce/Reid are in a ton of commercials. As for the Niners, they are the Eagles biggest rival right now. None of us wants to see them win.
I’ll be pulling for Andy Reid to get his third ring. That sentence just feels impossible to anyone who suffered through 2011 and 2012. But it just might happen. Good for Reid. He helped turn this franchise around.
Posted February 10th, 2024 | Comments Off on Eagles Notebook – Kelce’s Future
Will he or won’t he? One of the key questions for the Eagles heading into the offseason is the status of Jason Kelce. He is the best center in football. He’s also the best podcaster. What is his future?
Jason Kelce reportedly met with Amazon this week, too. @FOS previously reported that he met with ESPN and Fox Sports. https://t.co/c25DcRfCAa
Kelce would be a natural at doing games. He’s got the perfect combination of brains and personality. He’s been an elite player for a long time, but is now having quite the impact off the field. Think about his presence at the Buffalo game a few weeks back. Taylor Swift took a back seat to him and that’s not easy to pull off.
This won’t be an easy decision for Kelce. The Eagles finished the season on a real down note. No player wants to walk away after something like that. At the same time, Kelce is 35 years old. Each season is tough on his body. He might be ready to walk away while relatively healthy and still playing at a high level. Kelce is the kind of driven, competitive player who might not handle it well if his performance dropped.
Part of me wants him to come back for one more year. He’s such a great presence on and off the field. Another part of me is ready for him to walk away. The Eagles need to get younger. As much as I’d like Kelce to leave after a Super Bowl win, you just can’t count on that happening.
We’ll find out his decision soon enough.
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I forgot about Isaiah Rodgers when I wrote my piece on the roster. He could play on the outside or in the slot. Rodgers was suspended for 2023 for gambling. He is 26 years old and has started 10 games in his three year career. Rodgers also has PR/KOR experience. I’ll need to watch some 2022 Colts games to get a better feel for him and what he can do for the Eagles.
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Britain Covey with a fascinating and very honest assessment of what went wrong for the #Eagles this year:
"I definitely think we got emotionally tired, trying to figure out what the problem was…There was some miscommunication from coaches to players, there was some pointing… pic.twitter.com/iDAvKoVzwY
Some fans were bothered by Covey’s comments. I didn’t have an issue with them at all. I thought he gave a good explanation of what went wrong. There is no one person or one thing to blame. You don’t have a historic collapse like that where it can all tie up neatly. There are a lot of reasons. I didn’t see Covey as trying to blame one person or point the finger in one direction.
Those comments did lead to this point/question.
But what does Sirianni actually do well himself? It was supposed to be all that stuff Covey is saying was a problem. Why not have experienced coordinators support someone who actually can run a team well?
We have to give Sirianni credit for the good culture of 2021 and 2022. And let’s make sure to point out that things going horribly wrong last year led to an 11-6 record and playoff appearance.
The players stood by Sirianni during and after the season. Things certainly went wrong, but this still feels fixable.
I remember during the 1992 season when Seth Joyner threatened mutiny against Rich Kotite. I remember during the 1998 season when Ray Rhodes had to get on his players because they weren’t paying attention in practice. Those are the kind of coaching issues that felt extreme.
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The Eagles are adding former Titans ILB coach Bobby King to their staff, per sources.
King has worked for the Chargers, Texans and Titans over the past decade. He has not worked with Vic Fangio, but he has coached in similar schemes. I like the fact King is an experienced NFL coach. The Eagles are going to have some young LBs on the roster this year so they will need a coach who knows how to teach and how to deal with NFL offenses. King has had more than a few guys thrive under his tutelage.
King coached Zach Cunningham in both Houston and Tennessee. Howie Roseman spoke highly of Cunningham after the season. Maybe the Eagles would consider bringing him back as depth. They obviously need to spend a pick or some money on a good LB, but I would be okay with Cunningham returning as a backup. He did some good things in 2023.
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Confirming that #Eagles assistant offensive line coach Roy Istvan is joining new #Browns OL coach Andy Dickerson in Cleveland. @TWithersAP first
I’m surprised Roy lasted this long with the Eagles, but I’m also surprised he’s going to be an assistant OL coach somewhere else. I thought he would be ready to run his own O-line. He’s done a good job of supporting Jeff Stoutland in recent years.