Majority of free agents can likely start packing their bags
Team not expected to put up fight to retain them
Because the Eagles are in such poor salary cap health heading into the 2021 offseason, they can’t operate like they usually do in free agency. They won’t be able to bring many in or keep their own from departing.
That’s just the harsh reality for a team that according to spotrac.com is over the cap more than all but one team, the New Orleans Saints, at $46.9 million.
Against this backdrop, we examine this year’s Eagles freeagent class and try to determine who stays, who goes and why.
Unrestricted free agents: WR DeSean Jackson (already released), T Jason Peters, DB Jalen Mills, QB Nate Sudfeld, CB Nickell Robey-Coleman,
DE Vinny Curry, DT Hassan Ridgeway, CB Cre’Von LeBlanc, LB Duke Riley, LB Nate Gerry, RB Corey Clement, S Jonathan Ford and TE Josh Perkins.
Restricted free agents: TE Richard Rodgers, P Cam Johnston and RB Boston Scott. Exclusive rights free agents: LB Alex Singleton and WR Greg Ward.
Who stays: Mills, Rodgers, Johnston, Scott, Singleton and Ward.
Mills has become the poster child for many Eagles fans as the man who bites on double moves and can’t cover. But even when he played cornerback, which he doesn’t anymore, he was more valuable than many knew and never received credit for the many plays he stopped and how good he’s been against the run.
As a safety, Mills brings a veteran
presence and a high football IQ that new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon will need, especially if he does what his former team, the Indianapolis Colts, does and plays mostly Cover 2.
Rodgers is a known commodity in a year in which they expect to be losing top tight end Zach Ertz in a trade. The Eagles would be foolish to let Rodgers go without at least offering him a tender.
His time with the Eagles has been marred by multiple injuries, but he stayed healthy last season, when the Eagles needed him most, because
Ertz and Dallas Goedert spent time on injured reserve, and gave them 24 catches on 31 targets for 345 yards. Statistically, Johnston didn’t have as good a year in 2020 as he did in 2019. But he still has one of the strongest legs in the league. A right-of-first-refusal tender, the lowest of the three that can be used on restricted free agents, might be a good idea.
But even if they choose not to offer him a tender and allow him to become an unrestricted free agent, they could get him back. And they should.
Scott, has proved worth the Eagles making him an offer for 2021. As an exclusive rights free agent, he isn’t really free at all. He must take what the team offers him or sit out the season because he has no more than two years of accrued service as a player on the active roster.
The same applies to Singleton, who was unexpectedly thrust into a starting role in 2020 and came through with a team-high 119 tackles to go with two fumble recoveries and an interception return for a touchdown.
Ward led the Eagles with 53 receptions and six touchdown catches in 2020.
Why everyone else goes:
The rest are either too ineffective, injury prone, old or expensive to risk bidding against themselves and not seeing how the market plays out.
Take Robey-Coleman. Take him please, say many fans. He had an up-and-down season and could still possibly offer value to the defense. But the Eagles would be prudent to see what kind of interest he draws from other teams before deciding whether to bring him back.
The same holds true for Gerry, a converted safety who was on track to be their leading tackler before suffering a season-ending injury in Week 7. Gerry might actually be a good option in the middle for a Cover 2 defense because he can run and he’s a ball hawk.