Through the ever-chaotic storm that is NFL Free Agency it is important to remind ourselves that the Eagles have the best General Manager in all of football.
In a truly shocking turn of events, Philadelphians are overreacting to the first 48 hours or so of free agency. Even though Howie Roseman before free agency came out and asked for patience, and we knew a fair amount of pieces were on their way out, the general consensus still appears to be shock that some guys are actually gone. Let’s go through a quick rundown of what has happened so far.
We will start with the most important. The Eagles locked up All Pro LB Zack Baun to a 3 year, $51 million deal. Roseman never pays LB, but obviously in this situation he knew he needed to pay THE LB. Baun exploded out of nowhere this season after signing a one year deal with the Eagles as a depth add from the Saints and was absolutely incredible. He had one of the best seasons an Eagles LB has ever had and seemed to have an impact on every single game. 6 FF, 13 TFLs, 184 Tackles, and 3 INTs, including a fantastic diving one on Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl 59. In Vic Fangio’s system, Baun became the best LB in the NFL and was one of the biggest reasons this team won the Super Bowl. Keeping him was the most important move of the offseason. Outside of that the Eagles made a somewhat surprising, but good move when they gave Saquon, who still had 2 years left on his deal, a 2 year extension worth $41.2 million which now makes Saquon the highest paid RB in the NFL. While there is always concern about how an RB will age, Saquon is the best player in football at the moment and was unequivocally the biggest game changer for this team. With the guys up front largely still here, there is no reason to think Barkley isn’t capable of being just as productive in the years to come. He will be heavily featured in the Eagles’ record books when all is said and done. Also on the RB front, the Eagles signed GB Packers RB, AJ Dillon, to back up Saquon.
To jump into the guys who the Eagles have lost, we’ll start with the two most obvious. Milton Williams was due a Brink’s truck and when he had the game he had in the Super Bowl we all knew the pay day would be even bigger. That came with a 4 year, $104 million deal from the New England Patriots. With Jalen Carter’s megadeal looming large in the not-so-distant future, the Eagles just could not validate spending that on the about to be 26 year old. The Same goes for Josh Sweat, who got 4 years, $76.4 million from the Arizona Cardinals. The about to be 28 year old played the game of his life in the Super Bowl, making a legit case for Super Bowl MVP, but the Eagles again could not validate shelling out that level of money to Sweat who will be 32 by the time that deal is done. The Eagles also traded back up QB Kenny Pickett to the Cleveland Browns for a 5th and QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson. The Eagles also let back up RB Kenny Gainwell head to Pittsburgh on a one year deal. While great in his role here, Kenny G will have the opportunity to be the starter with the Steelers, especially with the departure of Najee Harris. Two other player departures came as a bit of a surprise. The Eagles lost CB Isaiah Rodgers to a 2 year, $15 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings. With the cutting of Darius Slay and James Bradberry combined with Cooper DeJean’s success in the slot, it felt like Rodgers would fill an obvious need at CB2, but the financials were just not there apparently. The same can be said about Oren Burks, who the Eagles lost to a minimal deal from the Cincinnati Bengals of 2 years, $5 million. It would have been safe to think, especially with how unsure Nakobe Dean’s health is at the moment, that bringing back Burks would have been a no-brainer. When Burks stepped in for the injured Dean and did not miss a beat, it felt certain he would be back again, but it was not meant to be.
There has been no bigger surprise of the offseason so far though than what happened on Tuesday. The Eagles traded fan favorite, CJ Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans for guard Kenyon Green and a 5th round pick. The move, which has since been clearly defined as strictly cap related, came as a surprise. CJGJ quickly spoke on stream about how the Eagles told him he would be traded to save cap space and his only request was to go somewhere he had a shot at winning, which he will get in Houston. The move hurts as CJGJ was the jagged knife for this defense, he brought a ton of energy and confidence to this group while being quite the player himself. However, CJGJ was also due an extension soon and the writing was on the wall that would not happen here due to the wealth of young talent due money soon, so the move was made. As for Kenyon Green, he will be the newest enrollee at Stoutland University, where he will be joining junior Tyler Steen in the competition for RG. While it may not be completely the same, Roseman may be eyeing Green as this seasons’ Mehki Becton. Green is a former high first round pick, largely labeled a bust by his team, who was then sent to the Eagles. Sound familiar? Becton’s future with Philadelphia is still uncertain, but with 4 O-Lineman on 8 digit contracts, Howie Roseman appears to be hedging on finding a cheaper replacement.
The Eagles ultimately have a very good problem. They have an immense amount of talent that has yet to be given any real money. The 2024 Eagles will go down as one of the best 53 man rosters in NFL history. The offseason Howie is having isn’t just about 2025, but it is guaranteeing his ability to keep this core around for the years to come and he is making sure to go about it in a much less sentimental way than in 2018. Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Jordan Davis, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, and Reed Blankenship all will soon need new contracts just to name a few. Lane Johnson is retiring soon and another Hurts extension might be happening sooner rather than later. Do not be surprised if there are a few more Eagles that leave the nest this offseason. Again, this is a good position to be in because it means you’re crushing the draft and free agency, but for now sacrifices do need to be made. Also, for every guy lost there is an in-house replacement already here. Josh Sweat becomes Jalyx Hunt, CJGJ to Sydney Brown, Oren Burks to Jeremiah Trotter Jr, Milton Williams to Moro Ojomo, Isaiah Rodgers to Kelee Ringo, Kenny Pickett becomes Tanner McKee, and Will Shipley replaces Kenny Gainwell. Maybe Kenyon Green becomes the new Mehki Becton, or maybe Becton replaces Lane down the soon to be traveled road and Green or Steen step up at RG. We can debate the potential, future success of these guys, but the internal depth is something to be appreciated and maybe the influx of even younger talent, helps prevent any type of Super Bowl hangover. It is also important to see that outside of maybe the Commanders, no contender really has made the attempt to close the gap on the Eagles either. More than anything else, Howie Roseman has earned our trust and it is fair to say he will do what is best for the defending Super Bowl Champion Eagles for 2025 and beyond.
