How The Eagles Planned Ahead

Coming up on the one week mark since the legal tampering period began. NFL Free Agency has lived up to the hype.
While rival fans insisted on the downfall of the Eagles Super Bowl team with a whopping 21 players expected to become Free Agents, the Eagles were going to be losing players by the handful.

Below is a list of the players who have already signed a contract, not with Philadelphia.

Signed Elsewhere

DT Javon Hargrave – San Francisco 49ers – 4 Year, $84 Million

LT Andre Dillard – Tennessee Titans – 3 Year, $29 Million

RB Miles Sanders – Carolina Panthers – 4 Year, $25 Million

LB T.J. Edwards – Chicago Bears – 3 Year, $19.5 Million

S Marcus Epps – Las Vegas Raiders – 2 Year, $12 Million

OLB Kyzir White – Arizona Cardinals – 2 Year, $11 Million

QB Gardner Minshew – Indianapolis Colts – 1 Year, $3.5 Million

RG Isaac Seumalo – Pittsburgh Steelers – 3 Year, $24 Million

S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson – Detroit Lions – 1 Year, $8 Million

The Eagles may have lost 1 Pro-Bowler and 2 Alternates, but they were able to retain 2 Pro-Bowlers and 3 Alternates at the same time.

While 9 players have moved on, Howie Roseman was able to come to terms with 5 of the Eagles free agents, and brought in 3 more.

Sticking Around

CB James Bradberry – 3 Year, $38 Million

C Jason Kelce – 1 Year, $14.25 Million

DT Fletcher Cox – 1 Year, $10 Million

RB Boston Scott – 1 Year, $2 Million

RT Brett Toth – 1 Year, $1.105 Million

And, while he wasn’t a Free Agent. Darius Slay signed a 2 year, $42 Million extension amidst a chaotic morning when the Eagles were planning on releasing their star Corner.

New Faces

GM Howie Roseman was quick to fill in several value contracts during the Free Agent frenzy. 

RB Rashaad Penny – 1 Year, $1.35 Million

QB Marcus Mariota – 1 Year, $5 Million

CB Greedy Williams -1 Year, Unknown Value

With the draft still a month away, the Eagles were able to fill in some big concerns on the roster. With 2 first round picks available, any remaining question marks could be solved before the draft ends.

Still Pending

There’s 6 remaining Eagles Free Agents that haven’t made any decisions, including:

DE Robert Quinn

DT Ndamukong suh

DT Linval Joseph

WR Zach Pascal

LS Rick Lovato

TE Tyree Jackson

With no deadline on when or if these players will be signed, the Eagles have already made a dent in finding solutions to their extensive list of Free Agents.

Drafting Ahead

There was never a reality where the Eagles were going to return with all 21 Free Agents. However, losing both starting Safeties as well as Linebackers could prove to be a challenge. On the other hand, the Eagles drafted ahead to address these issues in the 2022 Draft. The Eagles had several players that were drafted for future purposes, that didn’t see many snaps during their rookie season, including:

13th overall: DT Jordan Davis

Davis was a force along the Eagles defensive line. Heavily missed during his mid-season injury. With a big role in the upcoming season in Javon Hargrave’s absence it’s time for the 13th overall pick to shine.

51st overall: C Cam Jurgens

The Eagles intended to draft Cam Jurgens as Jason Kelce’s future successor at Center. With Kelce’s return for another season, the Eagles could now swing Jurgens to be the solution to Seumalo’s departure at Right Guard. It would be unlikely the Eagles would keep a 2nd round pick off the field for 2 full seasons. Perhaps their solution at Right Guard is already on the team.

83rd overall: LB Nakobe Dean

Dean didn’t get much play time behind Edwards and White. With their departure, it only makes sense that the former Georgia Bulldog will play a majority of the Defensive snaps in the upcoming season.

181st overall: LB Kyron Johnson

Most of Kyron Johnson’s snaps in his rookie season came from Special Teams. If the Eagles are unable to find another starter via draft or the remaining Free Agents, with big names like Bobby Wagner, Leonard Floyd and Bud Dupree still on the market. Perhaps they expect huge steps from Johnson going forward.

There’s updates everyday on Free Agents, but the one guarantee is that the draft is only 38 days from now.

Who’s on your watch list for the 10th overall pick?

Go Birds!

https://phlsportsnation.com/2023/03/20/how-the-eagles-planned-ahead/

Not sure I see Kyron Johnson as a viable replacement. 

When you look at who Howie was able to retain you have to tip your hat to him. We were always going to lose players but to lose the ones we did I think to be honest he’s done a great job really. And with the draft ahead I think there’s reason to be so positive for this team and the future.