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Oxymoron Time

 

Today, Monday, begins the “legal tampering” period in the NFL, starting at noon and lasting 52 hours (till the new NFL league year begins in two days, Wednesday evening March 16th at 4pm.  The oxymoron “legal tampering” is the brief period NFL teams can have preliminary negotiations with prospective Free Agents prior to the “real” eligibility to sign these players once the NFL new year begins. 

What will the Eagles prioritize during this period of time?  In descending sequence:

  • Wide Receiver: The Eagles have 1 very good (perhaps better) wide receiver in Devonta Smith, and a potentially good one in Quez Watkins.  Outside that, they are bereft of talent at the position.  A starting “X” receiver is preferred (The Eagles chased Atlanta wideout Calvin Ridley till he was banned from the NFL in 2022 for gambling), but the position has no equivalent talent in Free Agency.  So I think the Eagles will pursue a “2nd tier” wideout such as JuJu Smith-Schuster (25 year old premier slot receiver till he had a performance drop the past 2 seasons (likely due to reduced QB play from a regressing Ben Roethlisberger), in addition to only playing 5 games in 2021 due to injury), and if unsuccessful they will fall back to a 3rd tier guy like Zach Pascal (a Nick Sirianni favorite in Indy).
  • Safety: There is a lot of depth at this position in Free Agency (22 in the top 200), a need for the position in Philly (where both their starters are Free Agents and declining {Anthony Harris & Rodney McLeod}) and just average depth available in the NFL draft (6-7 players in the top 100). Justin Reid (Houston) and Terrell Edmunds (Pitt) are two good Free Agent 25 year old “cover” safeties that might not “break the bank” (Reid was a quality guy whose play has fallen off as Houston’s overall situation has become untenable, and Edmunds ius coming off a November Achilles injury).  Other options include soon to be ex-Detroit Lion Tray Walker (27 and a cousin of Darius Slay), Xavier Woods (26- played well for Vikings) and Marcus Maye (29, ruptured his Achilles 11/04/21 after the Jets failed to extend him, breaking the relationship and sending Maye out on a 1 year “prove it” 6-million-dollar deal). 
  • Edge: The competition and talent at Edge rusher likely drives the Eagles to select one or more in a deep  draft at the position rather than via free agency (unless they plan on trading multiple draft picks for DeSean Watson), though the Eagles have a clear need at this position.  They could pursue a player in tier 3 free agents if they target someone undervalued where the Eagles forecast predicts a bounce back.
  • Cornerback: Here, the situation is different.  Darius Slay isn’t young, but remains a quality cb.  Avonte Maddox is young, good and recently signed.  And the Eagles have a plethora of youthful unknowns headlined by 2nd year player Zech McPherson at corner.  Also, this years draft has 11 outside corners amongst the top 75 players.  So reinforcement at corner is more likely either internal or via the draft. 
  • While there is significant talent available in free agency at LB even in the “2nd tier” (Jordan Hicks, Anthony Barr, Kyzer White, Jaylen Brown), the Eagles have at least 4 they’re quite happy “rostering” in ‘22 (TJ Edwards, Davion Taylor, Shaun Bradley, Alex Singleton), with opportunities to upgrade in the draft more cheaply.  Thye situation is similar at Defensive Tackle.  

Eagles Lessons: The Eagles cap limitations will not allow them to easily sign premier Free Agents, so their actions here could speak loudly.  Pursuit of a free agent wide receiver like Allen Robinson, DJ Chark or Christian Kirk (3 of the highest valued free agents at the position, therefore creating a “splash”) or a very high quality defensive player would be a message suggesting they remain in pursuit of QB Desean Watson by trading elite picks.  More modest free agent acquisitions at both wide receiver and safety make more sense, further bolstering the roster with anticipated reinforcements from the draft.

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