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Philadelphia Eagles 2018 Offseason Thread

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The Eagles have finally brought a Lombardi to Philadelphia; now they have to defend their title.

 

Priority #1: clear cap space. A massive contract for Carson Wentz is on the horizon, which will limit the Eagles' ability to sign players at other positions. Their draft picks the next several years will be a crucial part of maintaining success.

 

Players to be released:

LB Mychal Kendricks (creates $4.4M in cap space)

TE Brent Celek ($4M)

WR Torrey Smith ($5M)

 

Kendricks and Celek are obvious cap casualties. Smith is a little less obvious; I think $5M is a fair price for a player with his ability. It's a tough decision, especially when the Eagles need to be thinking long-term, which means money for Nelson Agholor (see below). Releasing these three players creates $13.4M in cap space, and should put the Eagles well under the cap.

 

Wild Card #1: QB Nick Foles. This is the biggest story of the Eagles' offseason, and one of the biggest for the league as a whole. I think the Eagles should operate under the assumption that Foles will remain in Philly as Wentz's backup. I don't care how well his rehab is going; Wentz may not be ready week 1. Keep Foles on the roster unless someone make you an offer you can't refuse. That being said, if Foles approaches the front office and asks for a trade, I think you give it to him. Buffalo, Jacksonville, and Denver are logical landing spots.

 

Wild Card #2: OT Jason Peters. Maybe this isn't so uncertain after Doug Pederson called Peters the starting left tackle, but his $11.7M cap hit next season looms large for a 36-year-old (even if he is a Hall of Fame player). The Eagles can save another $5M in cap space by cutting him, but I'm not sure they're ready to turn left tackle over to Big V. Maybe an incentive-laden restructured deal?

 

Free Agency Strategy: Buy Low. The Eagles simply don't have the cap space to make a big splash, nor must they to field a Super Bowl quality roster. Fill roster holes with cheap veterans, guys coming off injury, etc. And as much as I would like to see Nigel Bradham re-signed, I think he'll simply cost too much.

 

Draft Strategy: Best Player Available. And trade down as often as possible. The Eagles currently have six picks in the 2018 draft, but they are without a 2nd- or 3rd-rounder. A Nick Foles trade would certainly stock up that capital, but I would love the 32nd overall pick to be moved down into the 2nd round for additional picks.

 

A Look Ahead...the following players are entering contract years in 2018.

QB Nick Foles

RB Jay Ajayi

WR Nelson Agholor

DE Brandon Graham

DE Chris Long

LB Jordan Hicks

CB Ronald Darby

K Jake Elliott

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Agreed with the part about Foles for sure. If he wants a trade you move hell and highwater to get him where he wants to go. You owe him that.

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Disagree with you on Kendricks. I'm one of his biggest critics but the dude played a vital part in this defense when Hicks went down. We don't know if Hicks can stay healthy and we don't know if we can retain Bradham.

 

The Eagles LB situation would be looking awfully bleak if both Bradham and Kendricks are gone and Hicks gets hurt again.

 

Also I think it would be wise to find a way to pay Jason Peter's. I think it's just a move that would really kind of help to maintain the mentality and family feel of the Eagles. I wouldn't be surprised if guys structured their deals to help make sure Peter's gets paid. Wish we could pay him the rest of his contract to be a coach but he wants to play. He deserves a shot and he should never put on another uniform.

 

Winning a super bowl also helps get you guys to structure deals in a favorable way and Howie is a wizard with that shit. I trust him.

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Call me a biased Homer but I fully expect Wentz to be as team friendly as possible within reason. I don't know if it'll be the cap crippler that Philly needs to expect.

 

I mean, move forward expecting to pay the shit out of him, but it won't surprise me one bit if he isn't more team friendly than others might be.

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Yeah you have zero evidence to support that viewpoint and Eagles as an organization have to assume he's going to be a massive cap hit.

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Disagree with you on Kendricks. I'm one of his biggest critics but the dude played a vital part in this defense when Hicks went down. We don't know if Hicks can stay healthy and we don't know if we can retain Bradham.

 

The Eagles LB situation would be looking awfully bleak if both Bradham and Kendricks are gone and Hicks gets hurt again.

 

Upon reflection, I think you're right. If we lose Bradham and Kendricks, LB becomes a glaring weakness. Still, there's only so much money to go around. I read today the Eagles were trying to re-sign Bradham, and if they do, they can then let Kendricks go comfortably, IMO.

 

 

Call me a biased Homer but I fully expect Wentz to be as team friendly as possible within reason. I don't know if it'll be the cap crippler that Philly needs to expect.

 

I mean, move forward expecting to pay the shit out of him, but it won't surprise me one bit if he isn't more team friendly than others might be.

 

I think it's a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation for Philly with Wentz. The sooner they pay Wentz, the cheaper his contract will be, but is it wise to pay him $150 million after only one good season in which he got injured? I'd be shocked if he gets his contract this offseason.

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We may have to trade Nick Foles to keep Bradham. Do you do that at this stage in Carson Wentz's recovery? idk man it's a tough call. Could the Eagles draft a couple LB's and get close to that production? idk man, maybe. I think a rookie LB contributing is easier than maybe having to starting a mid round rookie QB or Sudfeld for a couple games to start the year. The fact that we don't have a 2nd or 3rd round pick is huge too. Trading Foles would likely remedy that too and the Eagles are going to need guys to play on rookie deals when Wentz gets his deal. Trading Foles/Re-signing Bradham is such a big decision. I'm just glad we have the guys in the front office that we do making those calls lol.

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So the Eagles have:

  • traded for Michael Bennett,
  • traded Torrey Smith,
  • released Brent Celek,
  • signed Haloti Ngata,
  • re-structured Lane Johnson's contract, and
  • re-signed Nigel Bradham.

Meanwhile Trey Burton and Patrick Robinson are gone. I'm pretty happy with this offseason so far. I'm shocked we have the money to re-sign Bradham. Vinny Curry is a near-certainty to be released, and I'd bet on some sort of re-structure for Jason Peters as well. They simply have to start saving money for Wentz (unless the Eagles know something we don't about his knee...)

 

Also I really like philosophically how the Eagles are being aggressive in approaching the offseason. Many teams, I feel, would simply be passive in an effort to keep a Super Bowl team together. I think the Eagles are doing it right.

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Howie Roseman is a mad scientist lol

 

 

Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman was pretty straight forward this week when asked about trading back from No. 32 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.

"It’s a pretty simple formula for us. If there’s a guy we have rated as a difference-maker — we will never have 32 guys in our first round (guys with first-round grades)," Roseman said. "But if there’s a guy there that we feel can make a difference and is a first round talent, we won’t hesitate to take that guy. If we have a bunch of guys with similar grades, we would look to move back. Same thing if we have a bunch of guys with lesser grades. Now, it takes two. So you can’t just say I’m gonna move back or I’m gonna move up. But that’s the process we’ll go through."

Translation? If a team wants to move up, chances are the Eagles will move back -- and those chances seem pretty good.

Interesting peak inside of the Eagles draft process. I like it.

Edited by seanbrock

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Eagles released DE Vinny Curry.

The move was time-sensitive as $5 million of Curry's $9 million base salary would have been guaranteed on Sunday. The Eagles tried convincing Curry to accept a pay cut but the two sides could never reach a compromise. Curry probably saw the writing on the wall after Philadelphia acquired Michael Bennett from Seattle earlier this month. The 29-year-old dominated last year, earning PFF's No. 10 grade among 4-3 defensive ends. He should attract widespread interest on the open market.
Source: Mike Garafolo on Twitter
Edited by Vin

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Expected but sad. Curry grew up an Eagles fan and was playing his dream. He got a ring, though.

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Dang I lost track of this thread. Time to get caught up.

 

I love what the Eagles did in the draft. They achieved their goal in trading down from 32nd overall (though I would have loved Sony Michel) and added extra picks. More importantly, they're loaded on picks for 2019, when they'll need them.

 

Training camp just started, but Wentz is already doing 11-on-11 drills (although with no contact) and apparently moving around well. He's thrown a lot of INTs, but this is an encouraging start. Right now I'd say he's 60% or better to suit up week 1 against Atlanta.

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crap team imo

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crap team imo

 

That would be the Seahawks. Crap O-line, no Baldwin, drafted a 3rd round RB- at best- in the first round, lost Kam, lost Sherman, probably gonna lose ET... yall lucky to sniff 8-8 this year.

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I'd have to think even BC is trolling at this point. The Eagles may very well underperform due to how stacked the NFC is, but everybody knows they have a top-3 roster in the league.

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I believe in Carson Wentz and the Eagles organization, obviously, but all this ruckus around how much he's participating in practices is still making me nervous.

He's going to need more first team reps come late August. That's for damn sure.

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Who cares? Worst case scenario, and I mean DOOMSDAY SCENARIO, Foles has to play the first half of the season, we go 5-3, and Wentz takes over after the bye.

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Yeah there's a reason that Foles hasn't been dealt. If he has to play I wouldn't expect him to be anything other than up and down like he always has been but he knows the system and when he's hot he makes plays, when he's not the Eagles have a very capable ground game and can give him easy completions.

 

As for Wentz, my only questions about him is can he improve his touch on 50/50 balls and jump balls? Can he become consistently pin point accurate? The other question is can he maintain or elevate his level of play in the post season in high pressure situations against elite competition? I think from a mental stand point, pocket presnece stand point and an arm talent stand point he checks all the boxes. He's going to be good. It's just a matter of how good at this point.

Edited by seanbrock

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I actually really like the Kamar Aiken signing, too. With the way Wentz spreads the ball around, I can see him racking up some RZ touchdowns.

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Carson Wentz is healthy now by all indications to be honest. He's in an overall better situation than any QB in the league. No QB has plusses in the run game, pass pro, weapons, and field position/extra possessions (defense/special teams) like he does. Your boy might get his MVP this year. Your team can't stop him haha.

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I know its just preseason but.... a 5-0 loss to the Browns cant be good for morale.

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