Eagles 2023 free agency rumor and report tracker

Stay updated with the latest NFL rumors and reports about the Eagles' offseason.

BY JIMMY KEMPSKI
PhillyVoice Staff

KIRBY LEE/USA TODAY SPORTS

Howie

NFL free agency will essentially begin on Monday, March 13, when the NFL will open a two-day window during which teams are permitted to contact and negotiate with free agents. The first day of the new league year, which is the "official" start of free agency, is March 15.

Since we're right around the corner from free agency, let's start tracking reports and rumors that are pertinent to the Philadelphia Eagles. Most recent entries at the top:

James Bradberry seems willing to give the Eagles the chance to match other offers from around the league (3/12)

Josina Anderson caught up with Bradberry: 

The bet here is that Bradberry will attract offers that the Eagles won't be able to match and he'll be playing for a new team in 2023, but it's noteworthy that he seemed to enjoy his time in Philly and would like to stay. With revelations that the Eagles are shopping Darius Slay, the possibility that Bradberry will return has risen to some degree.

ESPN published several Eagles rumors, notably on S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, CB James Bradberry, DT Javon Hargrave, and LB T.J. Edwards (3/12)

Full story here. I'll note that many of the free agency nuggets within ESPN's rumor piece sound a whole lot like they're coming from agents trying to create the perception of high interest in their clients.

First, Gardner-Johnson and Bradberry, per Jeremy Fowler: 

"The Eagles have several key players they could bring back, and though it appears they are waiting for markets to develop before reacting, some around the league believe they've made a strong effort to re-sign safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who appears set for the open market. That could open the door to re-sign cornerback James Bradberry or another player." [ESPN]

That's a weird sentence. They've made an effort to keep Gardner-Johnson, which could open the door to re-sign Bradberry? I'm not sure I understand what Fowler is trying to say there. Anyway, it is pretty well established that the Eagles want to keep Gardner-Johnson, but at what figure does his price tag become too high? 

Next, Hargrave: 

"This isn't perceived as a great free agent class, but the top of the defensive tackle market could get pricey. Philadelphia's Javon Hargrave is expected to get a big-money deal from some team (probably not Philadelphia)." [ESPN]

It has become less and less likely over the last week or so that the Eagles will keep Hargrave.

And finally, Edwards:

 

"A player whose market might surprise is Philadelphia's T.J. Edwards. He could get more money than people think. He racked up nearly 300 tackles and 12 pass deflections in two seasons with Philly." [ESPN]

One team that makes sense for an Edwards overpay is the Cardinals, where Jonathan Gannon could land his "green dot" signal caller to help install his defense in Arizona.

Fletcher Cox not expected to re-sign with the Eagles (3/11)

Per the Twitter account @letsgo2thephone, Cox is likely to be moving on to a new team.

These guys were all over the Cox release / re-signing weirdness a year ago, so they're not just some random know-nothing jabronis, and I'm curious to see if they go 2/2 on Cox news in consecutive seasons.

In 2022, Cox (32) had better stats (43 tackles, 7 sacks) than the previous year and is still a decent starter, but he never truly felt like an impact player and it has become pretty easy to see that his play in decline.

Eagles teammates wish Chauncey Gardner-Johnson well (3/7)

On Tuesday night, Gardner-Johnson, who is scheduled to become a free agent next week, tweeted the following video: 

He posted the same video on Instagram, and teammates like A.J. Brown (among others) responded in the comment section with well wishes (h/t AidanDoc_).

 

Does that mean that Gardner-Johnson is a goner? No, but as we noted over the weekend, when you read the tea leaves it feels more likely that he will be with another team in 2023 than with the Eagles. 

Derek Carr is close to a deal with the Saints (3/6)

Per Mike Garafolo:

Mike obviously meant Derek Carr, not David Carr. I've done that too. Anyway, this news is relevant to the Eagles since they hold the Saints' second round pick in 2024, and will once again be rooting for the Saints to lose as many games as possible in 2023. While Carr is not among the NFL's elite quarterbacks, he is easily a top half of the league starter and the best quarterback the Saints have had since Drew Brees retired.

If the season began today (it doesn't), the following quarterbacks would be the projected starters in the NFC South:

• Saints: Derek Carr
• Buccaneers: Kyle Trask?
• Panthers: Matt Corral? PJ Walker?
• Falcons: Desmond Ridder

The Saints would have the best quarterback in the NFC South, and by a wide margin.

Update: That's done.

Matt Patricia 'has a chance to land on the Eagles' coaching staff' (3/5)

This isn't so much a free agency report/rumor, but we'll put it here. Per Patriots beat writer Karen Guregian:

Patricia was a good linebackers coach for the Patriots from 2006-2010, but he is perhaps best known among Philly fans as (a) the guy whose defense the Eagles shredded in Super Bowl LII, (b) the guy who didn't win many games as the head coach of the Detroit Lions, and (c) the guy who had a disastrous season as the Pats' offensive coordinator in 2022. Oh, and that he always has a pencil in his ear.

You may also recall that Eagles starting cornerback Darius Slay has on multiple occasions slammed Patricia, who he played for in Detroit from 2018-2020. I mean, the latest instance was less than a month ago.

I believe that the Eagles heavily value team chemistry, and the hiring of Patricia isn't worth a potential locker room disruption.

#JimmySmellTestMeter: 2/10 noses. 👃👃

Brandon Graham is getting attention from other teams, including the Browns (3/3)

Per Tim McManus of ESPN: 

Graham flourished in a smaller role in 2022, racking up 11 sacks in just 474 snaps. He will turn 35 in April, and he is on record as saying he wants to continue to play in his 14th season in 2023, and possibly even for another season beyond that. He has a complicated contract situation, which is detailed here, but the short-short version is that Graham is likely to be released with a June 1 designation in March, with sizeable dead money hits both in 2023 and 2024. He will then become a free agent, free to sign with any team.

Because he will be released, Graham will not count toward the compensatory pick formula, meaning that the Eagles will get nothing in return if they lose him. It's hard to imagine Graham playing anywhere other than Philly, and in my opinion he feels likely to sign back with the team after being June 1 released, much like Fletcher Cox did last offseason.

That said, it's certainly not surprising that Graham is generating interest, particularly from the Browns, who hired Jim Schwartz to be their defensive coordinator this offseason. If he gets blown away by some crazy offer, anything can happen.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-2023-free-agency-rumor-report-tracker-tampering-signings-updates-news-latest-howie-roseman-nfc-east/

Odd that this was written yesterday and Kempski included those last 2 bullet points after BG was already signed to a 1 year deal and we already hired a new LB coach.