What are the Eagles Doing?

[taz]

I know Howie kinda of warned us this offseason. The entire thing is a head scratcher to me. I hear the media types trying to explain cash vs cap etc. I understand all that. I know that Lurie has put a ton of cash (not just cap) into this team over the past 8-10 years. He also has seen the value of the team rise and he just did cash out last year by selling a small percentage of the team. So the crying poor mouth is not resignating with me. Is Lurie cleaning to books to get financing for a new stadium, sell more of the team, sell the team entirely? I

The media spin of they have to sign Carter in a few years is tiring. He is going into year 3, they have the 5th year option plus at least a year of franchising him if they want to. Signing Jurgens, may not happen at all. He has a pretty serious leg injury. In fact serious enough they traded for a Green in case Dickerson has to move. Its all horse crap talking points. They have the money to keep who they want both cap space wise and cash wise, if they want to. This is coming down to want vs can't.

The question is why did they go in the blow up the defense route. Well I think its about more what happened in 2018 and 2022 after winning and going to the super bowl. They kinda ran it back with the same players and it was a disaster. So is this the time to do a reset. Maybe

I keep hearing about the young players we have behind some of these guys and for the most part it there are guys who are ready to step up. Moro Ojomo, Jayx Hunt, Tyler Steen I think are certainly ready. So letting Williams, Becton (who is not gone yet), Sweat go made some sense. Especially on the D line since the rotate so much. They do have some guys like Byron Young who they stashed.

Now the issue I have is the secondary. The propping up of Sydney Brown who wasn't even 3rd string last year. McCollum was, McCollum proved he is a backup at best. Brown doesn't fit this defense. Even going back to college he was much more of a free lancer. Free lancers in Fangios defense leads to many busted coverage. Trading CJGJ made zero sense especially with the lack of players ready to step in. Now they did sign Lewis Cine at the end of the year. He had 1st round pedigree but just busted out in two stops. I don't think he is anything more than competition for McCollum, Andre Same meh. They are old mother Hubbard with only Blankenship in the cupboard at one of the most critical positions in Fangios defense.

Corner is another area that is a head scratcher. I understand moving on from Slay. He was really good last year, but seemed to get nicked up and miss plays almost every game. I thought they would keep Rodgers and the contract Rodgers got was doable for sure. So now we are going with our 5th string corner in Ringo as the starter with our 6th string guy in Ricks being the backup. None of this makes any sense

Currently the Eagles are the only team to not have agreed on terms with any FA. Yeah they resigned/extended Zach Baun. But other than that they have done nothing. I trust Howie but something else is a foul here.

[dawkins20]

Understand Milton and Sweat going. They got way overpaid. I understand letting an aging Slay go.

didn’t like letting Rodgers go

absolutely hate trading Gardner Johnson.

Hate the idea of trading Goedert

the concerning part to me is the next season. We can’t lose these guys in a year we are picking last in rounds 1-4.

there is still time to put this roster together. But man CJGJ and Goedert played HUGE parts in us winning a title.

I hope we don’t keep trading guys away

[andrewaters]

The only one I didn’t like was letting Rodgers walk.

otherwise I think it’s clear they want the money to resign Jalen, Nolan, Jurgens, Quinyon, Reed, Cooper and maybe even Jordan Davis.

we are stacking picks. This shedding of talent was inevitable and it’s what makes the nfl a competitive league:

[Eagle60]

The only one I didn’t like was letting Rodgers walk.

otherwise I think it’s clear they want the money to resign Jalen, Nolan, Jurgens, Quinyon, Reed, Cooper and maybe even Jordan Davis.

we are stacking picks. This shedding of talent was inevitable and it’s what makes the nfl a competitive league:

[Eagle60]

Understand Milton and Sweat going. They got way overpaid. I understand letting an aging Slay go.

didn’t like letting Rodgers go

absolutely hate trading Gardner Johnson.

Hate the idea of trading Goedert

the concerning part to me is the next season. We can’t lose these guys in a year we are picking last in rounds 1-4.

there is still time to put this roster together. But man CJGJ and Goedert played HUGE parts in us winning a title.

I hope we don’t keep trading guys away

Man, he made so many huge plays for us last year. What a terrible loss. There was no SB without him.

[musicman]

When has this team never had a plan ? WTF do any of us know about any fucking thing this team does ? Even the beat writers haven't got a clue. Info doesn't leak out of that place. I did hear straight from the DB coaches mouth when asked about underrated talent in the defensive backfield, his answer was Andre Sam and Ringo. Rodgers wasn't a prototypical outside CB , so for him to start, ideally he would have gone to the slot and then you move DeJean and hope he can play outside. Personally DeJean was way to good in the slot to move him IMO. If Rodgers was once again going to be a backup, maybe they wanted to give him the chance to start .As for selling off the team, maybe jeff wanted a few hundred million to stash for when he hands the keys over ??? But by selling 5%, it's a helluva leap to think he's selling or to call him cheap. Howie has enough picks to move multiple times and draft some really talented replacements. They haven't done anything to make me think we'll be anything but a very good team again. All they do is win 70% of their games .Good grief

[Eagle60]

When has this team never had a plan ? WTF do any of us know about any fucking thing this team does ? Even the beat writers haven't got a clue. Info doesn't leak out of that place. I did hear straight from the DB coaches mouth when asked about underrated talent in the defensive backfield, his answer was Andre Sam and Ringo. Rodgers wasn't a prototypical outside CB , so for him to start, ideally he would have gone to the slot and then you move DeJean and hope he can play outside. Personally DeJean was way to good in the slot to move him IMO. If Rodgers was once again going to be a backup, maybe they wanted to give him the chance to start .As for selling off the team, maybe jeff wanted a few hundred million to stash for when he hands the keys over ??? But by selling 5%, it's a helluva leap to think he's selling or to call him cheap. Howie has enough picks to move multiple times and draft some really talented replacements. They haven't done anything to make me think we'll be anything but a very good team again. All they do is win 70% of their games .Good grief

Selling the team? That's about as likely as me buying it.

[musicman]

Selling the team? That's about as likely as me buying it.

I know you have the funds

[musicman]

maybe this will help



Howie Roseman learned his lesson last time the Eagles won a Super Bowl. He tried to keep that team intact, he let emotion rule his decisions and he gave contracts to older players near the end of their career.

And then he watched as an aging team slowly declined.

The 2017 Eagles were the 8^th-oldest team in football and by 2018 they were 3^rd-oldest, and the decline was on. The 2018 team did steal a wild-card win in Chicago, but the 2018 and 2019 teams both went 9-7 and the bottom fell out in 2020 with a 4-11-1 disaster that cost Doug Pederson his job.

The three years immediately after the Super Bowl LII win, with an aging roster and a G.M. who admittedly made decisions for the wrong reasons, the Eagles went 22-25-1, the 20^th-best record in the NFL over that three-year span.

It wasn’t until Roseman began replenishing the roster with young players and Nick Sirianni was hired that they became competitive again.

And Roseman told himself: If the Eagles ever win another Super Bowl, I'm not going to let emotions get in the way of smart roster moves.

It’s got to be so hard building a championship roster with homegrown players and then essentially dismantling it. But Roseman learned. You can’t run it back. It just doesn’t work.

And he's convinced that you can’t sustain success without constantly infusing the roster with young players. That means you have to keep drafting well and that means you have to have a lot of starters on rookie contracts and that means you can pay market value to keep your superstars.

That’s the formula. That’s the plan. And it works.

Roseman’s plan for this offseason was a simple one. Stock up on draft picks. Don’t even try to sign any free agents. Get younger. Trust the kids. Put the compensatory pick formula to work.

It was partly necessitated by the Eagles’ less-than-ideal cap situation but also by Roseman’s understanding that the only way to remain competitive is to make painful decisions when it comes to roster construction.

So while it hurts to see all these players leave, Roseman believes it had to happen if the Eagles are going to continue to compete for championships.

So this offseason has been about getting younger and letting guys like Kelee Ringo, Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Jalyx Hunt, Sydney Brown, Tyler Steen and Moro Ojomo compete for more prominent roles while they’re on cheap rookie deals.

For this approach to work, you have to draft well, and 17 of the 18 players Roseman has drafted in the first four rounds since 2021 have developed into important pieces, with 2021 4^th-rounder Zech McPhearson the only exception – although he did play a lot as a rookie.

There’s certainly a risk factor involved here. Nobody knows if Sydney Brown can replace C.J. Gardner-Johnson or Jeremiah Trotter Jr. can replace Oren Burks until Nakobe Dean is ready or Kelee Ringo can replace Darius Slay. And so on.

But Roseman believes this is the Eagles’ best chance of staying on this run that’s seen them go 39-12 with two Super Bowl appearances over the last three years.

So while other NFL teams over-pay for fading veterans, Howie is trusting the young guys and piling up draft picks, all with an eye to the future.

Williams will bring back a 3^rd-rounder, Sweat a 4^th-rounder, the Kenny Pickett trade got the Eagles a 5^th-rounder – in this year’s draft – and Isaiah Rodgers should be worth a 6th-round pick. And the C.J.G.J. trade turned a 6^th-round pick into a 5.

So as of now, the Eagles have single picks in the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th rounds and four 5^th-round picks in this year’s draft and and then next year single picks in the 1^st and 2^nd round in 2026 plus three 3^rd-rounders, two 4^th-rounders, two 5^th-round selections and one pick each in the sixth and seventh rounds.

That’s 19 picks in the next two years, seven of them in the first three rounds.

That’s what Roseman wanted out of this offseason. Assets that will turn into more young talented players and keep the Eagles competitive year after year after year instead of being bogged down by bloated veteran deals.

And if Roseman and his scouting staff keep nailing draft picks like they have the last four years, those picks will help the Eagles a heck of a lot more than 32-year-old Davante Adams will help the Rams, 31-year-old Grady Jarrett will help the Vikings or 34-year-old Morgan Moses will help the Patriots.

As of now, according to Spotrac, the Eagles have the 2^nd-youngest roster in the NFL, and that still counts 34-year-old Darius Slay and 32-year-old James Bradberry, because they were released with June 1 designations and are still technically on the roster. It won’t be surprising if they have the youngest roster in the NFL by June 2.

The only projected starters who’ll be in their 30s on opening day are Lane Johnson, the best right tackle in football, and Dallas Goedert, who turned 30 in January and may not even be here. The oldest projected defensive starter is Zack Baun, who just turned 28.

It's no fun seeing guys leave in droves just a few weeks after a historic Super Bowl win in New Orleans and joyous parade up Broad Street.

But Howie got Baun signed. He extended Saquon. He piled up the draft picks. He cleared money to eventually extend Jalen Carter, Reed Blankenship and Cam Jurgens.

It hasn’t been an easy offseason to watch, but it’s an offseason Roseman knows had to happen. And I can’t think of a single reason not to trust him.

[dawkins20]

Only Slay can be considered older of the guys we lost. I guess Goedert and his whopping 30 years would be considered old when we trade him.

I get the lesson after the SB. But this is a totally different team mix.

I admit it’s only Mid March. Too early to judge. But losing CJ is bigger than we all think. Especially with low draft position and losing depth on the DLine. Sure, they deserve the benefit of the doubt. But right now, as of today, I’m not sure this is a SB roster. Still time, but serious work to do

[Eagle60]

This is all well and good assuming Hurts is going to be their long term quarterback. We all know how long he hangs on to the ball so we will have to keep on restocking the offensive line and keep finding playmakers. This is basicly the way the Chiefs operate.

[NoDakIggle]

I understand and accept Williams and Sweat and Gainwell and Rogers yada yada.
I guess I just don’t understand CJG. He is signed so it isn’t money. He didn’t come in asking for more. I am okay with getting younger but Brown hasn’t shown the ball skills of CJG yet and he hasn’t shown the leadership or swagger. None of us are there so we don’t have the inside dope but CJG is just one I don’t understand

[Jukin]

The thing about CJGJ is that as talented as he is, he has been on 5 different teams over the last 5 years. Why is that? There has to be something behind the scenes that we don’t know about that is making teams choose to move on from him. The Eagles should have known what they were getting when they brought him back. Maybe they decided he was worth putting up with for a year for the shot at a super bowl. We’ll probably never know the truth, but there must be a reason multiple teams have unloaded him after a year.

[musicman]

The thing about CJGJ is that as talented as he is, he has been on 5 different teams over the last 5 years. Why is that? There has to be something behind the scenes that we don’t know about that is making teams choose to move on from him. The Eagles should have known what they were getting when they brought him back. Maybe they decided he was worth putting up with for a year for the shot at a super bowl. We’ll probably never know the truth, but there must be a reason multiple teams have unloaded him after a year.

he had some moments during the season where he was a little heated with a team mate

[Eagle60]

The thing about CJGJ is that as talented as he is, he has been on 5 different teams over the last 5 years. Why is that? There has to be something behind the scenes that we don’t know about that is making teams choose to move on from him. The Eagles should have known what they were getting when they brought him back. Maybe they decided he was worth putting up with for a year for the shot at a super bowl. We’ll probably never know the truth, but there must be a reason multiple teams have unloaded him after a year.

I thought the same thing as as you did at first joke. then I saw the video and saw how happy he was to be an eagle and he was in agreement with the front office that he had to move on, Most likely because he understood the cap situation.That was the best exit From the Eagles I have heard since Dawkins left Because Andy basically told him to leave .