Enjoy it now: These Birds will never be the same after Sunday
PHILADELPHIA — The
Eagles were facing elimination, and since they were, the same would be true of Miles Sanders’ contract.
Not that the front office wouldn’t be agreeable to an extension, or that it was likely that Howie Roseman would permit a 25-year-old who’d just rushed for 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns to enter the transfer portal, but business is business. And so, Sanders would be quizzed about the possibility of playing his last home game at the Linc.
“Sunday, 3 o’clock,” he said.
But …
“Sunday, 3 o’clock.”
With that, his message was clear: He was preparing for the next game, and if it was on the work schedule, he would prepare for the one after that, which, as it happened, would be Super Bowl LVII against the Kansas City Chiefs.
That hardly meant Sanders was disinterested in remaining with the Eagles; indeed, after a particularly effective late-season game, he was heard to yelp, “I love Howie,” a hint he was expecting Roseman to respond at some point with the appropriate financial tribute. But what Sanders’ public tick-tick-tick shouted was a reality that the Eagles and their fans soon will be forced to accept: This team — one of the most special in franchise history — will never be the same after Sunday. Never.
No team in any pro sport is built to outlast its warranty, and the legalized form of physical torture that is pro football owes much of its appeal to regular career-threatening bone breaks. But the
2022 Eagles were conceived to be a single-use product, easily disposed and recycled. And no matter what happens in Arizona Sunday, that was a wise and effective decision.
So the Giants couldn’t finance James Bradberry, one of the best defensive backs in the world? Well, Roseman would offer him $10 million for one season and plant him across the field from Darius Slay in a punishing combination of cornerbacks.
Still not satisfied with his secondary, Roseman would send some cheap draft choices to New Orleans and come away with C.J. Gardner-Johnson for one year.
Roseman understood the value of experience — and in particular, Super Bowl experience — and so he brought back Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham on expiring contracts. Javon Hargrave, a defensive pillar, is under contract for 60 more minutes. Isaac Seumalo, a contributor to the best offensive line in the game, needs to put his agent to work. Linebacker T.J. Edwards needs a new deal. Marcus Epps, have a seat in the outer office, Mr. Roseman will be with you in a moment. You, too, Boston Scott and Kyzir White. Ndamukong Suh, thanks for playing our game.
In a global NFL sense, none of that is alarming, other than the likely relocation of Bradberry, among the best in the business.
Contracts expire but plenty are extended, and nobody figures it out better than Roseman, who will have until March 13 to get the bulk of his 2023 roster buttoned up. But that’s not the issue Sunday. No, the issue Sunday is that it will be the last time such a dominating Eagles team will be whole. And once the breaking-up begins, it will be difficult even for Roseman to recreate something so special.
“In the NFL,” said Nick
Sirianni, who has had experience in San Diego, Kansas City, Indianapolis and, for the last two seasons as the Eagles’ head coach, “this is the most complete team that I’ve ever been around.”
From the pieces themselves to the collective drive to succeed; to the leadership, to the relative health, to some world championship experience, the Eagles have a fantasy-league roster. It’s why they are favored to win the Super Bowl. But it was just about a year ago that Jason Kelce — the most important Eagle, trait for trait — was considering retirement at 34.
What if he were to say he had enough physical trauma at age 35 and the Eagles lose his skill, his savvy, his experience and his leadership?
“You know when you know,” Kelce said. “And I don’t think that winning this game is going to determine whether I want to continue to play football or not. I remember talking to Stout (offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland) a couple of years ago, saying, ‘I don’t know when it will be time to stop.’ He said, ‘Oh, you’ll know. It will be when you don’t want to do it any more.’ I said, ‘I don’t know it that’s ever going to happen.’ He said, ‘Oh, it will. Trust me. It will.’”
Kelce will likely be back next season, but there will be changes, including a new contract for Jalen Hurts which could affect numerous personnel decisions.
But that’s later.
As for Sunday, there will be one last chance for the Eagles, for their fans and for the football world to savor the kind of team that doesn’t come around often. In fact, it only comes around once.