1 hour ago, Aerolithe_Lion said:

Howie better nail this offseason if he wants to keep his job

It kinda sounds like we shouldn't expect to see most of our impending FAs back.  I'd post the full tweet but at work and all social media is blocked.  

1 hour ago, time2rock said:

It kinda sounds like we shouldn't expect to see most of our impending FAs back.  I'd post the full tweet but at work and all social media is blocked.  

And whilst we kind of expected that it still makes me a little nervous. Like we need to replace these guys and we won’t have much cap space to do it in FA and relying that heavily on the draft is not ideal. Maybe this is their way of saying "we have a plan, we have things we need to do, and this may take a year or two to restock and go again”.

1 hour ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

And whilst we kind of expected that it still makes me a little nervous. Like we need to replace these guys and we won’t have much cap space to do it in FA and relying that heavily on the draft is not ideal. Maybe this is their way of saying "we have a plan, we have things we need to do, and this may take a year or two to restock and go again”.

Feels like a year, when we let some popular FAs walk and then bank those compensatory picks for future drafts. No one does it better than Howie. 

3 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

And whilst we kind of expected that it still makes me a little nervous. Like we need to replace these guys and we won’t have much cap space to do it in FA and relying that heavily on the draft is not ideal. Maybe this is their way of saying "we have a plan, we have things we need to do, and this may take a year or two to restock and go again”.

We aren’t going to replace anyone with free agents… unless they are players that have been cut or some low level player we sign after signing a player counts against the comp pick formula… that is part of the plan to get several comp picks this offseason.. there will also be departures and possibly trades of players like Slay, Bradberry, Dallas, Pickett, huff, Davis.

 

i feel the eagles view this as a two year plan to try and 100% re-tool

5 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

And whilst we kind of expected that it still makes me a little nervous. Like we need to replace these guys and we won’t have much cap space to do it in FA and relying that heavily on the draft is not ideal. Maybe this is their way of saying "we have a plan, we have things we need to do, and this may take a year or two to restock and go again”.

My gut feeling is that Howie thinks our best chance to land another Lombardi is to let a chunk of those guys walk (hard to pay them and pay the players that will soon be needing new contracts (like Jurgens, Carter, Smith, etc.) - those that are not replaceable. 

• Williams - we have Ojomo waiting in the wings and playing well when given an opportunity.  I'd bet the farm on adding another via the draft ... this is a strong interior DL class.
• Sweat - we have Hunt that came on strong toward season's end, obviously Smith had a huge breakout year, and we just paid Huff (they likely still hope he'll pan out).  We are likely to draft an EDGE as well.
• Becton - we have Steen to take over

Baun is the one where we don't have much right now behind him.  Dean is likely to miss a good chunk of the season.  BVS is on IR as well (although more of a contributor on STs).  Burks is also a FA.  We have Trot Jr, that's about it.   

Howie probably feels we let those guys go, don't go crazy in free agency, and net some decent 2026 comp picks in the process to feed the talent pipeline.  We are playing more of our younger players now more than ever, so keep adding hungry young players and this is the best model to keep that window wide open (so long as you have a good mix of vets as leaders in the mix like Hurts, Brown, Barkley, Johnson, etc.).  It may involve a small step back for a year or 2 but in the long run be better situated for another championship.  

Howie has been drafting ridiculously well lately ... just gotta hope that trend continues.  

2 hours ago, time2rock said:

Howie has been drafting ridiculously well lately ... just gotta hope that trend continues.  

Yeah, here are the first three picks of each of the last four drafts:

• 2024 - Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Jalyx Hunt
• 2023 - Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Tyler Steen
• 2022 - Jordan Davis, Cam Jurgens, Nakobe Dean
• 2021 - Devonta Smith, Landon Dickerson, Milton Williams

Some are better than others, but there is not a true dud in the bunch, which is almost impossible to do.  Throw in some late round contributors, valuable backups and promising youngsters, like McKee, Ojomo, Gainwell, Trotter, and Calcaterra, plus a few UDFA pickups like Blankenship and Covey, and that is an incredible run in the draft.

Of course, other than Hurts, the 2019 and 2020 drafts were almost complete duds.

Not talked much yet, we need to draft a TE to take over in a couple seasons. DG is still good for now, but getting long in teeth.  Behind him, #81 is more a receiver than blocker.  Couple behind him are moving in & out of PS.  Draft one in the early rounds to develop sounds wise.

14 hours ago, time2rock said:

My gut feeling is that Howie thinks our best chance to land another Lombardi is to let a chunk of those guys walk (hard to pay them and pay the players that will soon be needing new contracts (like Jurgens, Carter, Smith, etc.) - those that are not replaceable. 

Yeah I’d agree I think Howie recognises we have a window but that window isn’t just next year. And so I think he’ll retool through the draft and that may just mean taking a step back next year. I’m not suggesting we won’t be competitive but I wouldn’t be surprised if next year was more of a struggle than we may be thinking.

2 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Yeah I’d agree I think Howie recognises we have a window but that window isn’t just next year. And so I think he’ll retool through the draft and that may just mean taking a step back next year. I’m not suggesting we won’t be competitive but I wouldn’t be surprised if next year was more of a struggle than we may be thinking.

We could probably bring most of our impending FAs back but it would come with future cap ramifications and potentially limit us in being able to sign some other more notable players like Carter and Smith.  That route isn't as likely to lead to sustained success as letting some of these guys walk, adding comp picks for their departure, being wise about how we use our cap space, and continuing to draft well.  So a small step back in 2025 (and possibly 2026) to put us in the best position to make another strong run.  

Per Jeff McLane - re-signing Baun is a "priority" for the Eagles.  Didn't feel like posting the Twitter link, lol. 

That's good news and he's exactly who should be their priority of their impending FA's.  Get'r done Howie!

1 hour ago, EaglesAddict said:

Per Jeff McLane - re-signing Baun is a "priority" for the Eagles.  Didn't feel like posting the Twitter link, lol. 

That's good news and he's exactly who should be their priority of their impending FA's.  Get'r done Howie!

Not the link but a screen shot.  I don't use Twitter and TBH don't know how to post the actual tweet.

 

I think the development of Jalyx Hunt may offset the loss of sweat......Hunt has quickly developed and may only get better and better.

Steen is a legitimate replacement for Becton......although I think Becton staying is better for his career and the eagles, the lure of a huge contract will take him elsewhere.

Baun....I think, is a must sign guy........he added so much to the defense.......and defense wins championships........gotta keep him here.

Williams......tough to draft a guy, development him and watch him walk......but with Ojomo being productive and the draft heavy in D-linemen, his price tag is just going to be too much.

Burks.......with Dean on the mend into the 2025 season, signing him may be a high priority.......if they lose Baun, I think signing him is a necessity.

Everybody else can be replaced with one year guys, or draft picks.

I think this offseason may be Howie's masterpiece in wheeling and dealing.  

2 hours ago, birdman#12 said:

I think the development of Jalyx Hunt may offset the loss of sweat......Hunt has quickly developed and may only get better and better.

I’m not sure he’ll offset the loss but for sure I think we can hope he is ready to be the #3 DE next year. He really flashed this year and you’d expect with another offseason he’ll be ready to play even more. Let’s not all forget he was seen as a project type player.

38 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

I’m not sure he’ll offset the loss but for sure I think we can hope he is ready to be the #3 DE next year. He really flashed this year and you’d expect with another offseason he’ll be ready to play even more. Let’s not all forget he was seen as a project type player.

Sweat is 27 and should be in his prime.  He had some big games (especially the biggest one of all ... the Super Bowl!) but he did disappear for large stretches.  Hunt had a decent rookie season especially since he was considered a developmental project.  Knock on wood but he should build on that and continue to grow and is a much cheaper option.  Add another rookie to the mix to begin developing and hopefully we're good there.  Plus Howie will likely add a vet on a cheap 1 year deal to the mix as well as an insurance policy.  

22 hours ago, time2rock said:

Sweat is 27 and should be in his prime.  He had some big games (especially the biggest one of all ... the Super Bowl!) but he did disappear for large stretches.  Hunt had a decent rookie season especially since he was considered a developmental project.  Knock on wood but he should build on that and continue to grow and is a much cheaper option.  Add another rookie to the mix to begin developing and hopefully we're good there.  Plus Howie will likely add a vet on a cheap 1 year deal to the mix as well as an insurance policy.  

Sweat turns 28 in a month, so he will essentially be 28 1/2 when the 2025 season starts.  That gives him probably 2-3 years of prime left, in a career that has been good to very good, but not great (averaging 7.8 sacks per year over the past 5 years).  I'd like to have him back, but I have never thought of him as the linchpin of the defense and at the price he's going to command (probably close to $20M per year on a three to four year deal), I am not going to lose sleep if they end up losing him.

On 2/27/2025 at 8:30 PM, time2rock said:

Sweat is 27 and should be in his prime.  He had some big games (especially the biggest one of all ... the Super Bowl!) but he did disappear for large stretches.  Hunt had a decent rookie season especially since he was considered a developmental project.  Knock on wood but he should build on that and continue to grow and is a much cheaper option.  Add another rookie to the mix to begin developing and hopefully we're good there.  Plus Howie will likely add a vet on a cheap 1 year deal to the mix as well as an insurance policy.  

Oh I agree with you bud and that’s effectively what I said. He had a really good promising rookie year and he was seen as a developmental player so that was really promising. The concern I guess is that a rookie (even at #32) will likely need some time so that cheap veteran will be really important.

Eagles plan to release Slay.  Not unexpected given his age and cap hit.  But not too many years ago, the Eagles outright released Fletcher Cox only to resign him shortly thereafter, so who knows, maybe Slay returns on a team friendly deal.

 

7 minutes ago, Procus said:

Eagles plan to release Slay.  Not unexpected given his age and cap hit.  But not too many years ago, the Eagles outright released Fletcher Cox only to resign him shortly thereafter, so who knows, maybe Slay returns on a team friendly deal.

 

I do hope that happens.  He was still playing good ball this past year and his leadership and mentoring of the young DBs can’t be overlooked.  He said he wants to play 1 more year then retire … so hopefully that is here.  If he was still wanting to play 3-4 more years then I’d feel otherwise.

No surprise 

43 minutes ago, Procus said:

Eagles plan to release Slay.  Not unexpected given his age and cap hit.  But not too many years ago, the Eagles outright released Fletcher Cox only to resign him shortly thereafter, so who knows, maybe Slay returns on a team friendly deal.

 

So we will probably need dome veteran leadership? I wonder who could that be hmm...

They used a post June 1 designation when releasing Slay.  Results in a cap savings of $4.3M.  

18 hours ago, Vlad67 said:

So we will probably need dome veteran leadership? I wonder who could that be hmm...

Bradberry!