The NFL offseason is moving along nicely and we’re less than a month away from the NFL Draft.
We got a bunch of questions, so I split this up into two separate posts. Tomorrow’s mailbag will be all about the draft. Today, is more about the Eagles’ roster as it stands in early April.
Let’s get to it:
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SIGN UP HERE This is a little tough because there’s still a good portion of the offseason to go but I’ll pick one position that I expect to be better and one that might be worse.
The linebacker position should be improved. The Eagles let Alex Singleton and Genard Avery walk in free agency and replaced them with Kyzir White and Haason Reddick. That’s a massive improvement. White and Reddick will join T.J. Edwards, Davion Taylor and Shaun Bradley in the linebacker room. Could the Eagles still use a high-round pick on a linebacker? Absolutely. But even if they don’t, this group looks much better than what the Eagles had a year ago. White just turned 26 and is coming off his best NFL season and Reddick has been piling up sacks the last couple years. It’ll be on Jonathan Gannon to use Reddick correctly but assuming he’ll be allowed to get after quarterbacks, he’s going to be a big upgrade.
The area that’s concerning right now is the secondary. The Eagles tried to take a couple swings at free agent safeties and came up empty so they re-signed Anthony Harris. But even after bringing Harris back, there are some questions in that secondary. What about the other starting safety spot? What about CB2? Rodney McLeod and Steven Nelson are still on the market but bringing them back won’t improve anything; it’ll just be keeping the level they got last year. On top of that, it’s hard to imagine Darius Slay, now 31, playing any better than he did in 2021. And Avonte Maddox was so good last year but there’s no guarantee he’ll be as consistent every season. There are still several months before games but the Eagles need help in their defensive backfield.
Probably a little early to look back at Stay or Go just because we really need to see who makes the roster after final cuts. But in terms of the free agents, we both had Derek Barnett and Anthony Harris gone. Oops. I guess I’m technically behind because I had Avery staying, which went out the window when they landed Reddick.
I guess it’s possible but it seems very unlikely. Foles is still under contract in Chicago and the Bears are trying to trade him and the Eagles shouldn’t do that because of his contract. So the only way this would make sense is if the Bears can’t find a trade partner and release Foles. And the Eagles would also need to find a trade partner for Minshew and they’re not just going to give him away.
The other thing to worry about is the awkward position his presence would put Jalen Hurts in. Last June, there was even a report that Foles turned down a trade back to Philadelphia. Foles is a forever hero in this city and that’s enough.
Their base defense is still going to be a 4-3 but as we saw last year, Jonathan Gannon wants to be multiple, which includes using different fronts. The Eagles did that already last year without Reddick, so they’ll continue that again in 2022. I expect Reddick to be the SAM in the 4-3 base but to stay on the field on nickel downs to continue rushing on the edge. At around 240 pounds, Reddick probably wouldn’t have been a fit as a DE in Jim Schwartz’s old defense in Philly but he does fit with what Gannon wants to do.
Gannon’s ultimate plan on defense is to basically have a new game plan going into each week, which is obviously pretty ambitious. But having different fronts is a big part of that. So their usage of 4-3 or 3-4 will likely vary week to week.
This one is pretty simple. The Eagles will happily hold on to Dillard as a pretty high-level backup tackle unless they get a trade offer for him they deem worthy. I’m guessing it would take a Day 2 or early Day 3 pick to pry Dillard away from the Birds. And Howie Roseman has made it pretty clear to other teams that they’r not just going to give him away.
Nah, I don’t think the Eagles are going to trade Sanders. I know he’s entering a contract year in 2022 but the Eagles really like him. If he gets off to a fast start this season, they could try to extend him like they did with the members of the 2018 class. If the Eagles can’t reach an extension with him during the year, then he could become a free agent after the 2022 season.
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