Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Some Offseason Talk

Posted February 18th, 2025 | 2 Comments »

Now that the Super Bowl has come and gone, the NFL offseason is upon us. Teams can start using the franchise tag. The Scouting Combine starts next week. Free agency isn’t that far away.

Let’s talk about some of the Eagles key free agents.

Milton Williams – He’s gone. Williams will get a big deal in free agency. Disruptive DL in the prime of their career are highly valuable. You might wonder if that’s true then why don’t the Eagles keep him. They will have to pay Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith soon enough. The team has a young, cheap replacement in Moro Ojomo and will certainly spend a draft pick on another DL. This is a deep DL draft so that matches up well. I’m sure the Eagles will talk to Williams to see what offers he is getting, but I just don’t know if the Eagles can realistically match. If they do lose him and don’t make any major outside FA signings, they could get a comp pick next year.

Zack Baun – People love to point out that the Eagles don’t spend big at LB, which is true. But this feels different. Baun had a legit shot at the Defensive Player of the Year award. He’s not just a solid LB. Baun was a difference-maker. This is a guy you do everything possible to keep around. He might be even better off the field. You absolutely want him on your team, especially with so many young players on that side of the ball. Baun is the kind of leader they need to be around.

Josh Sweat – I tend to think he’s gone, but I don’t feel as strong on Sweat. He will turn 28 in late March. In theory, he could have several more good years left. At the same time, Sweat might age faster than others. I don’t see him playing until 35 like BG. Sweat was brilliant in the SB and that will probably get him overpaid by someone. He would make sense if the price is right, but I’m guessing he ends up elsewhere.

Mekhi Becton – Based on his highlights, Becton should be a Top 10 free agent. Unfortunately for him teams study whole games. Becton started 15 games and played the best football of his career. But he also was inconsistent. There were times when he struggled to pick up blitzes. There were times when he missed some simple blocks. Becton was still an above average player because of his size/strength. He had dominant moments. The Eagles are spending big at LT, LG and RT. They will need to pay Cam Jurgens. I think they have to go cheap at one of the OL positions. Replacing Becton with Tyler Steen would make financial sense. There is an X-factor. Becton seemed genuinely happy to be part of the Eagles. If he’s willing to sign a reasonable deal, the team could keep him around. The intriguing part of this is that Becton should improve as he plays RG more. He could become a legit Pro Bowl player with more experience.

Kenneth Gainwell – Kenny G was a valuable role player. The bad news for him is that Will Shipley has a similar skill set and there is a loaded RB class in the upcoming draft. If you pay Saquon big money it helps to have cheap backups. Gainwell is purely a role player so there may not be a big market for him.

Isaiah Rodgers – If the Eagles have to cut Darius Slay, bringing Rodgers back makes some sense. Kelee Ringo has shown some flashes, but I don’t know that he’s done enough to make you feel comfortable with him as the starting LCB. Rodgers has 13 career starts and was solid in his first season with the Eagles. This is another situation where the money will be criticial. Rodgers shouldn’t expect huge money. You never know what guys talk themselves into, though. If the price is right, bringing him back would make a lot of sense.

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Doug Nussmeier is going to be the OC for Kellen Moore in New Orleans. They have worked together for several years so this makes total sense. Good luck to both of them. It will be interesting to see how they do with that offense next season.

So the Eagles need an OC and a QB coach. What’s going on there?

Is Josina just saying there should be a good plan in place or that she knows what is going on? It is hard to get a read on her comment. It does feel like Kevin Patullo will get the OC job. Nick Sirianni is very close to Patullo. I’m sure that is his first choice. Jalen Hurts is a big believer in continuity when possible. He and Patullo have worked together since 2021 so that side of things makes sense.

The Eagles will need to find a QB coach and possibly a veteran assistant to add to the mix. This will give them a chance to add someone from the outside.

Moore is taking another coach to the Saints. He’s hiring TJ Paganetti, who was the Eagles assistant OL coach and run game specialist. He’s been part of the coaching staff since 2017 so this isn’t a small loss. The Eagles will look around to see if they find a good young OL coach to work with Jeff Stoutland and help with the run game. Greg Austin could be a name to watch.

If you don’t follow Sam on Twitter, you should.

Paganetti was a smart hire by Moore.

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This is very cool.

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Dominant Stretch

Posted February 17th, 2025 | 1 Comment »

It is funny how you can know something to be true, but seeing it visually just has a different impact. I’ve written plenty about how good the Eagles were since the bye week. Seeing this made that feel different.

That is a 16-1 stretch and the only loss came in the final seconds in a game where the starting QB was knocked out with a concussion. The 2017 team started 13-2. They finished 16-3 for the season. The 2022 team started 13-1. They finished 16-4, losing in the Super Bowl.

The 2024 Eagles won the NFC championship game by 32 points and then had a 34-point lead in the Super Bowl. I don’t know how to put that into context. That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen to the Eagles. The 2017 Eagles beat the Vikings 38-7 in the NFC title game, but then had to hold on for dear life in the Super Bowl. And Case Keenum was the QB for Minnesota. The Eagles destroyed red hot Jayden Daniels this time around. This postseason was just surreal.

It did happen, right?

The Eagles averaged 30.7 points per game after the bye week. They gave up 16.7 points per game, and that includes several garbage time TDs. The number should probably be closer to 15 points per game. The Eagles won 9 games by 12 or more points. They didn’t do that in 2017 or 2022.

I don’t know that we’ll ever seen the Eagles win 16 of 17 games again. That was a dominant stretch of football.

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One of  the best parts of having your team win the Super Bowl is all the great coverage that comes out. This is awesome.

Sometimes it is hard to separate bias from reality. As I watch those speeches in the team meeting there isn’t a doubt the Eagles were going to win. There was a quiet confidence that isn’t the usual football player bravado. The players were intense, but also focused and under control. I need to go see if I can find a Chiefs video to have something to compare it to. I watched the Mic’d Up from SB LVIII and it is full of Mahomes and Kelce ranting the same annoying phrases over and over. SF lost that game as much as KC won it.

The more I watch Saquon Barkley, the more convinced I am he should win the Nobel Peace Prize and some other non-football stuff. What an amazing guy, on and off the field. Thank you Giants.

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One of the ways the Eagles beat KC was game management. Nick Sirianni was aggressive from the start. That set a tone for the game. The Eagles were going to be aggressive. Not reckless, but aggressive. Think of the throws to AJ down the sideline on 3rd or 4th down. Think of the bomb to DeVonta. The Eagles played to win. They didn’t want to give KC a chance at a miracle comeback.

That mentality goes back to Doug Pederson and it helped the Eagles win SB LII. Sirianni has embraced the mindset and it has helped him reach the SB twice. Coaching aggressively pays off, as you can see below.

I sometimes think Dan Campbell is too aggressive. He is consistent and I think that builds up a fearlessness in his team. The Commanders were great with fourth downs this year. I do think part of that is them trailing in those games. I’ll be interested to see if they continue to be that aggressive in the future.

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Kellen Moore is the new coach for the Saints. That means he has to hire a staff. He is considering QBs coach Doug Nussmeier and RBs coach Jemal Singleton for his offensive coordinator. Moore wants to talk to DBs coach Christian Parker for the defensive coordinator position.

I think Nussmeier will get the job. Parker and Singleton have a chance to get jobs in the future. Both did a great job this year with their position groups.

Sirianni doesn’t like losing coaches, but these would be promotions so the Eagles can’t block them. Hopefully most of the staff will return.

And hopefully we’ll start to hear about the search for an offensive coordinator. Even if the Eagles go with Kevin Patullo, they need to talk to outside options. Patullo might be the best option, but you still want to look around and be somewhat thorough.

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