1 minute ago, ManuManu said:

Coming into the offseason I was excited that I didn’t feel compelled to read about tier 2/3 free agent safeties, but Howie’s back on the horse. Jordan Whitehead and Blackmon from Indianapolis are interesting. 

I'm wondering if Asante Samuel is an option now on a lower cost deal due to issues staying healthy.

Brown is decent enough depth to gamble on a player the caliber of Samuel. Gardner-Johnson was no Ironman either but worked out well enough last year.

They’re often grouped together, but Ringo seems a hell of a lot more ahead than Sydney Brown

Leonard Floyd as a vet DE could make sense. Had decent production and played for Fangio in Chicago and went to Georgia albeit before this crew did

Aaron Wilson:

Traded to #Eagles this represents a fresh start for former #Texans first-round pick Kenyon Green. Texans will pay $1.5 million of Green's $2.88 million guaranteed salary for 2025, the final year of his $15.953 million rookie contract, per league sources @KPRC2

12 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

After Super Bowl 52, Howie doubled down on his strategy from 2017 -- signing older, outside free agents and counting on them to make a difference. It worked in 2017 as guys like Alshon, Blount, Darby (trade), Smith, Bradham, etc. all played well. But when he tried to run it back that way the next couple of years, basically every one of his attempts were a failure. At WR alone we missed with contracts for Alshon, Mike Wallace and DJax. He kept bringing back JP. Guys like Michael Bennett on defense. 

It seems like after this championship he's going completely the other way -- we drafted these guys, and he's going to play them. Brown, Steen, Ojomo, Hunt, Trotter, etc. I think betting on youth is smarter than aging vets, but we need to bring in some cheap vets as competition. Hopefully that happens later in FA.

Haloti Ngata, and that bum DT from the broncos that was washed, I forget his name, he was pretty expensive for a dude that had been benched, not to mention the failed golden Tate experiment 

Didnt help that alshon and ajayi both got hurt either but some of those howie signings in 2018 and 19 were definitely head scratchers. 

1 minute ago, Utebird said:

Haloti Ngata, and that bum DT from the broncos that was washed, I forget his name, he was pretty expensive for a dude that had been benched, not to mention the failed golden Tate experiment 

Didnt help that alshon and ajayi both got hurt either but some of those howie signings in 2018 and 19 were definitely head scratchers. 

Malik Jackson...forgot about him and Ngata.

And older players get hurt. DJax was great for the like 3 games he actually played.

18 minutes ago, Ace Nova said:

I’m starting to think some of these defensive moves are to prepare for the monster contract Jalen Carter is going to get in a couple of years. 

A lot of the Philly beat has said just that. They want to keep the core of this team together. The weapons on offense are all signed through 2028 I believe. 

Carter, Smith, Jurgens, Mitchell and DeJean are all going to need contracts around the same time. You want those guys together. Continue to fill in around them and reload ever year.

Just now, vikas83 said:

Malik Jackson...forgot about him and Ngata.

And older players get hurt. DJax was great for the like 3 games he actually played.

Thankyou, yes Malik Jackson, what a waste of space 

Love DJax actually didnt mind him coming back but wasnt surprising when he got hurt☹️ on a stupid PR he begged to get in on and the stupid coaches relented and boom djax gets hurt on a PR he should have never bern in on.

The other thing to think about with all this change on defense -- it seems the team believes that Vic, along with Baun and the rookies, are the main reason for the improvement. We were 30th in scoring defense in 2023, and we added Baun, Q, Coop, CJGJ and Hunt as contributors. We lost Cox, both LBs and Byard. The only contributor we lost that was added in 2024 was CJGJ. Sweat and Williams were here in 2023 when we sucked. 

Clearly, Howie is high on Vic and the coaching staff's ability to get young guys to perform. We'll see if that confidence is misplaced, but Q, Coop and Hunt all came in and played well right away. Can they do it with Ringo, Brown an Trotter?

We do need bodies on the D line.

20 minutes ago, Ace Nova said:

I’m starting to think some of these defensive moves are to prepare for the monster contract Jalen Carter is going to get in a couple of years. 

Obviously. This isn’t even a question. Not just Carter, but Jurgens, Nolan Smith, Blankenship, Davis, and Ringo will all need a decision made on if we should re-sign them.

25 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

His snap counts aren't high enough to warrant the high praise he gets and his relationship with Carter should hopefully mean nothing to Howie IMO. Don't want Howie taking on a contract just so it keeps another player happy

Again though JIMO

I agree with you, I don't think his relationship with Carter should be a factor. Carter has other GA teammates in Smith, Dean and Ringo. Plus entering his 3rd year he should be developing relationship with other teammates, and he now has a strong DT coach and Fangio at DC to hold him accountable. They're going to pay him huge, he's not going to leave.

With Davis, Howie traded up in the 1st for him so he probably wants to hold onto him to see if he becomes more. But we always knew it was one of those risk/reward moves. His snap count decreased from last year to this year. With Williams leaving, I don't see them trading him now though. They will bring in another DT or two in the draft and FA and see how all that works out with Ojomo also increasing his snaps. Then decide on Davis after next season.

17 minutes ago, pgcd3 said:

This is a byproduct of a great drafting.  Now they have too many young guys to re-sign.  It's a great problem to have but it's still a problem. He's dealing with it while people are crying

That's what I was just talking about with some guys. If you continually draft great players, you're going to reach a point where you can't keep them all. The important part is figuring out who your core group of guys is, and to build and reload around them. Always draft one step ahead. 

We're all fast to say no way in hell about Jeanty at 32, but if he truly is a special RB, bringing him in now to be ready if Saquon hits a wall isn't the dumbest thing to do. It should be lowest on the list, but I could see the argument for him if they decided to go that direction.

13 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

I will say -- bringing back Miles Sanders on a cheap deal makes way too much sense. Let him backup Saquon again.

Wouldn't hate it.

25 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

After Super Bowl 52, Howie doubled down on his strategy from 2017 -- signing older, outside free agents and counting on them to make a difference. It worked in 2017 as guys like Alshon, Blount, Darby (trade), Smith, Bradham, etc. all played well. But when he tried to run it back that way the next couple of years, basically every one of his attempts were a failure. At WR alone we missed with contracts for Alshon, Mike Wallace and DJax. He kept bringing back JP. Guys like Michael Bennett on defense. 

It seems like after this championship he's going completely the other way -- we drafted these guys, and he's going to play them. Brown, Steen, Ojomo, Hunt, Trotter, etc. I think betting on youth is smarter than aging vets, but we need to bring in some cheap vets as competition. Hopefully that happens later in FA.

You also look at the core of the defense, they have solid players at each level. In addition to Carter you have Nolan Smith who emerged as a star player, Baun, Dean when healthy is solid, Hunt contributed a lot more later in the year for a 3rd round rookie, that's unusual for us. Q, DeJean, Blankenship, Ringo, guys Howie drafted. 

We did expect most of these free agents to leave. I'd be worried if they let Baun walk. But the biggest pieces of the defense remain, and their replacements are either already on the roster or will be added. If they have a draft that comes even close to the quality of Q and DeJean, or Carter and Nolan Smith where they add a DE and Safety, they are in business.

OK board. Knowing what Howie's plan is. What players on this team do you feel are the true CORE? Which players are they building around for the long-haul and who might not be viewed as that big picture piece?

5 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

The other thing to think about with all this change on defense -- it seems the team believes that Vic, along with Baun and the rookies, are the main reason for the improvement. We were 30th in scoring defense in 2023, and we added Baun, Q, Coop, CJGJ and Hunt as contributors. We lost Cox, both LBs and Byard. The only contributor we lost that was added in 2024 was CJGJ. Sweat and Williams were here in 2023 when we sucked. 

Clearly, Howie is high on Vic and the coaching staff's ability to get young guys to perform. We'll see if that confidence is misplaced, but Q, Coop and Hunt all came in and played well right away. Can they do it with Ringo, Brown an Trotter?

We do need bodies on the D line.

Also, the offense took a back seat to the defense during the season.  Hand off to Saquon and don't turn the ball over.

We've seen the offense show it's potential when "the straight jacket comes off".  The formula for success next season will look a bit different.

8 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

OK board. Knowing what Howie's plan is. What players on this team do you feel are the true CORE? Which players are they building around for the long-haul and who might not be viewed as that big picture piece?

Carter, Mitchell, smith, dejean, baun and Reed on defense. 

offense: can make the case the core is everyone  (jurgens really the only one not signed long term But will be) but potentially becton, goedert and lane (since he’s likely retiring in 2 years)

8 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

A lot of the Philly beat has said just that. They want to keep the core of this team together. The weapons on offense are all signed through 2028 I believe. 

Carter, Smith, Jurgens, Mitchell and DeJean are all going to need contracts around the same time. You want those guys together. Continue to fill in around them and reload ever year.

The problem with that line of thinking is Johnson will be gone and Brown and SB above 30.

36 minutes ago, devpool said:

Dump for what? They save zero money this year.  OK, it rolls into next year for Carter and Jurgens. So they don't care about winning this year? You can't expect rookies to fill every hole and play like Q and Coop did last year. So your other options are league minimum vets or hoping someone becomes available for trade and the cost is a 5th round pick.

It seems like they're banking on Hunt, Ringo, ojomo, and trotter Jr to make huge leaps. 

Likely.  Guys all over the D had to make huge leaps for the D to be what it was this past season.

The Leapers: Carter, Smith, Williams, Dean, Baun, Mitchell, Dejean.

2 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

OK board. Knowing what Howie's plan is. What players on this team do you feel are the true CORE? Which players are they building around for the long-haul and who might not be viewed as that big picture piece?

Offense -- Hurts, Barkley, AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dickerson, Mailata, Jurgens, Lane

Defense -- Carter, Davis, Nolan Smith, Baun, Mitchell, DeJean

2 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

OK board. Knowing what Howie's plan is. What players on this team do you feel are the true CORE? Which players are they building around for the long-haul and who might not be viewed as that big picture piece?

Of guys on first deal:

Jurgens

Carter

Nolan Smith

Q

DeJean

Reed at a reasonable number. Might get tricky if his agent wants top $

Too early to tell on Hunt 

3 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

The problem with that line of thinking is Johnson will be gone and Brown and SB above 30.

That's why they have to continually draft at a high level and why Jeanty might not be as bad of a pick as we think, if they go that direction.

1 minute ago, bpac55 said:

OK board. Knowing what Howie's plan is. What players on this team do you feel are the true CORE? Which players are they building around for the long-haul and who might not be viewed as that big picture piece?

Offense: Hurts, Draftees on the OL, Brown, Smith.  I actually don't see Barkley as core, more like a power up in MarioKart.

Defense: Carter, Smith, Davis, Hunt, Baun, Q, DeJean.  Baun's quality makes LB core in this case.  I'm not sure if Reed can make safety a core position

I was VERY critical of Howie for his defensive drafting for years. He now has 4 drafts in a row where most of his 1st and 2nd round selections were home runs. Everyone here but Davis is an irreplaceable starter now.

2021: Smitty, Dickerson
2022: Davis, Jurgens
2023: Carter, Nolan Smith
2024: Q, DeJean

2025: ?, ?

Plus picks in other rounds in that span: Milton Williams, Gainwell, Dean, Calcaterra, Steen, Brown, Ringo, McKee, Ojomo, Hung, Shipley, Trotter.

Howie has actually been killing it ever since he learned from the Reagor/Jefferson draft. It can't last forever, there are bound to be picks that don't work out just like with any team. But if this draft nets a solid starter at DE and then adds a Safety to compete with some veteran free agents added, that should address those needs.

1 hour ago, devpool said:

Dump for what? They save zero money this year.  OK, it rolls into next year for Carter and Jurgens. So they don't care about winning this year? You can't expect rookies to fill every hole and play like Q and Coop did last year. So your other options are league minimum vets or hoping someone becomes available for trade and the cost is a 5th round pick.

It seems like they're banking on Hunt, Ringo, ojomo, and trotter Jr to make huge leaps. 

We banked on that from Nolan and Quinyon and Cooper and Zack and Cam and Isaiah and Nakobe last year. Part of normal team building is hoping unproven players prove themselves. Even when we are "loaded”, we have tons of guys that stepped up where no one expected them to. Playing inexperienced players isn’t just necessary, it’s the norm. The Chiefs do it every year, the Bills do it every year, the Ravens do it every year, the 49ers do it every year.

Think about what we didn’t know this time last year when we gave CJGJ his money:

Nakobe Dean broke out. He’ll get paid if he returns to form after injury

Zack Baun broke out, and got a monster deal.

Jalen Carter stepped up, was even better than rookie year and cemented a historic extension.

Nolan Smith stepped up and is a very likely extension on a big deal.

Cam Jurgens made the pro bowl in year one, assuring his big extension.

Quinyon Mitchell broke out right away and is now only 2 years away from breaking the CB market

Cioper Dejean broke out, he’s a likely extension too.

Saquon Barkley was so good, he was underpaid by the big contract we gave him. So he gets another extension.

Oh, and if Mekhi Becton comes back, move him to the very top of the list of improbable money Howie didn’t expect to have to spend.

if you asked the FO last year, they probably assume not even half of these things happen all in 1 year. CJGJ became very expendable, as did Goedert. We need to free up as much money as we can in the immediate future. Unless you think we should keep CJGJ over Baun? Or Smith? Or Jurgens?

Howie is not perfect, but he is the best GM in NFL history at adapting to new circumstances. Gotta break some eggs