Today the Eagles lost four players from their 2022 roster. 3 of them were defensive starters in Hargrave, Edwards, and Epps, and the other was backup Left Tackle Andre Dillard. In addition to these free agency ‘moves’ was also the announcement of Jason Kelce retiring. Here’s my initial thoughts on Each.
Javon Hargrave
With a pending QB contract for over 50 million dollars, you simply cannot resign Hargrave for $84 million. He’s a fantastic player and one of Howie’s best free agency signings of all time, but the Eagles have gotten the best out of him– It’s time to move on. Plus a third round compensatory pick is great value for a player who you were never going to pay in the first place. Milton Williams and whoever else the Eagles draft or add via free agency are set to be the pass rushing defensive tackles next year.
TJ Edwards
TJ Edwards was a great linebacker for the Eagles, but it’s clear he wanted to go back to his “hometown” in the midwest and was willing to take a pay cut for it. The Eagles are simply never going to pay a non-elite linebacker a second contract, if they weren’t willing to pay Edwards. Still a great player who’s underdog story and leadership in calling plays from the Middle Linebacker spot will most definitely be missed.
Marcus Epps
This was the big surprise of the day. Marcus Epps was a solid starter for the Eagles who almost never missed snaps. He was always available and was rarely a liability in coverage. Clearly, Epps not coming back has major implications for Chauncey Gardner-Johnson’s contract implications. If the Eagles lose both their starting safeties from the 2022 season, that could be worrisome.
Andre Dillard
In my opinion, Andre Dillard looked like a backup offensive tackle every time he got a significant amount of reps. He’s only 25 and could improve further as most offensive linemen do as they get older, but this is clearly a prudent move by the Eagles. You can’t pay a linemen $30 million if you have two starting offensive tackles already. No brainer.
Jason Kelce
Some objectively good news. Jason Kelce is “Not fucking done yet” as he announced earlier on Twitter today. Does this move really need to be evaluated? Kelce is the best center in the league still and arguably the best center of all time. A legendary player and leader, whom all eagle fans are ecstatic to get back. His return could have implications for the Eagles right guard spot, assuming Isaac Seumalo goes elsewhere. Can Cam Jurgens play offensive guard in 2023 now that he doesn’t have to replace Kelce? We will see!
Rashad Penny
This was a great high-upside signing by Howie Roseman. Rashad Penny has impressed every single time he’s gotten significant reps throughout his career. Penny, running behind the best offensive line in the league, is certainly a really exciting thing to think about. Since 2019, Penny has the best rushing yards over expected per rush and second best EPA per rush (min 250 designed attempts) in the NFL. He was signed for only $1.35 million on a one year deal.
Boston Scott
The Eagles also re-signed Boston Scott. With this move, the Eagles are now collectively paying their running back room less than $5 million dollars for the 2023 season. Scott is a great depth piece for their running back room, who has shown an ability to step up in a handful of games every season (usually against the Giants). He was also their kick returner for the majority of this season.
James Bradberry
Cornerback is—in my opinion— the third most important position in football and most important position of defense. The Eagles by signing James Bradberry are ensuring stability at such a key spot. With Bradberry on the opposite side of Slay, the coverage structures within the Eagles defense should be perfectly balanced out, and as a result give Sean Desai a lot of flexibility schematically for what he wants to run. Bradberry is being paid approximately $12.7 million per year, which is not bad value. While he may be on the wrong side of 30 to begin the 2023 season, I expect Bradberry to continue his stellar play for the 2023 season and beyond.
Brandon Graham
I am ecstatic to hear the news that Brandon Graham is back and I think Howie Roseman is too considering the fact that he’s only paying $6 million next year for him to stay.
This is a really unselfish move by Brandon Graham to stay. Him staying in Philly when he could’ve gotten substantially more elsewhere allows the Eagles to keep a rotational pass rush at the edge position next year, which we know this organization values very highly.
All things considered this is a remarkably high value move. Graham had 13 sacks, 32 hurries, 48 pressures, and a 89.1 PFF pass rush grade in a limited amount of snap opportunities.
Even if he does not produce to the same degree in 2023, he’s going to be a much more valuable player in terms of cost compared to what Fletcher Cox was in 2022 on his 1 year $15 million deal.
Graham is such a good player, good person, and staple of this franchise and I’m really excited to see him back in Eagles green. He recently bought a house in Havertown, so I didn’t expect him to leave, but to take a team friendly-deal speaks volumes.
Fletcher Cox
Fletcher Cox was re-signed for $10 million on a one year contract. That sounds like a lot. But after further examination, I can totally see the rationale for the contract. The defensive tackle market skyrocketed this year, so finding replaceable options in free agency other than Cox was never a real option. The market also forced the Eagles to give him the amount of $10 million and nothing less. Cox will give consistency on the Eagles defensive line as a rotational pass rusher and locker room leader. Makes sense.
Isaac Seumalo
Isaac Seumalo will not be on the Eagles for the 2023 season, which is not a surprise. With Jalen Hurts’ impending contract, it’s expected that the Eagles invest less overall money in their offensive line. Seumalo was a really intelligent player who rarely made mistakes when given significant reps. He will be missed. But ultimately it was a good decision not to pay him, considering the fact the Eagles have potential in-house replacements on their roster. With Jeff Stoutland’s coaching over the course of this offseason, I have a lot of confidence that Jack Driscoll or Cam Jurgens could be component starting linemen at the Eagles RG spot.
Marcus Mariota
This signing was predicted by a ton of Eagles fans and it turned out to be true. For only $5 million, the Eagles are signing a player who was a starting quarterback last year—not a perennial backup. My favorite thing about this signing is that the Eagles will be able to maintain mobility at the quarterback position when Hurts is out. When Gardner Minshew started last year, the inability to create spacing, angles, and numbers advantages on offense was incredibly evident. Can Mariota win a playoff game if Hurts gets injured? I sure hope so.
Justin Evans
Just a day after the loss of Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, the Eagles are seeking to add depth at safety. It’s clear this signing is a low risk, high reward move for the Eagles. Justin Evans’ career has been up-and-down since he was drafted in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft. He’s shown flashes with respective coverage grades of 65.8 and 63.9 in 2018 and 2022, but has also missed 3 of the last 5 seasons due to injury. His draft profile highlights his hard-hitting ability, good footwork, and quick speed. He’s also shown versatility with 26.8% of his snaps in 2022 coming from the slot-corner position.
(These low risk moves are beginning to become a theme this offseason. They’ve signed Rashad Penny, Greedy Williams, and now Justin Evans to low money contracts. Signing low money players with big turnout potential has similar surplus-value to late round draft picks, which the Eagles don’t have much of this year. With two of these low risk moves in the secondary—Williams and Evans—it seems that Howie Roseman is showing his understanding of coverage as a weak-link system, where stars are not necessary when you have no clear weaknesses on the backend. He showed this understanding as well last year when he signed multiple UDFA cornerbacks in an effort to find a diamond-in-the-rough starting level cornerback.)
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
A Phildelphia Fan favorite—Chauncey Gardner-Johnson—was signed for a one year $8 million deal by the Detroit Lions. Considering their contender status, the Eagles could’ve matched and effectively re-signed CJGJ if they wanted to, but they didn’t. The safety market has been shockingly low this free agency, which is largely a reflection of how GMs value the position. Howie Roseman has been a part of this trend for a while now as he hasn’t drafted a safety in the first three rounds of the NFL draft since 2011 and has not notably paid a safety any time in his tenure.
Ultimately, we should not be surprised by the move, but CJGJ is special. He’s a versatile defensive back who can play multiple positions and effectively create turnovers and prevent big plays in the process. He’s also only 25 years old. I understand the rationale of not valuing safeties and having a limited amount of cap space with the looming signing of Jalen Hurts, but I’m still shocked.
Nicholas Morrow
The Eagles just signed Nicholas Morrow to a one-year deal. Two things to like about the 27 year old linebacker are that he’s versatile and available. Last season, he played all 17 games, which allowed him to lead the Chicago Bears in tackles. When asked about his role in the Eagles defense Morrow cited his versatility: “I’ve played Mike, I’ve played Will, I’ve played Sam, I’ve played in the 4-3, I’ve played in landmark defenses, I’ve played in match defenses, I’ve played in man defenses, I’ve kind-of played it all with the Raiders and with Chicago”. Based on the deal, it seems that the Eagles just signed a below-average starting linebacker for pennies on the dollar. Good surplus value. I would not be surprised if Morrow is the day one starter for the 2023 Eagles defense. Nate Gerry and Eric Wilson were once day one starters for the Eagles defense—it wouldn’t be unprecedented to start Morrow off the bat.
Lane Johnson
Lane Johnson got paid. Adam Schefter reports that Johnson just earned a one-year extension through 2026 worth $33.45 million ($30 million guaranteed). It’s important to note that this extension will lower Johnson’s cap hit in 2023, freeing up more room for the Eagles financially in the near future. Additionally, this deal will have void years attached to it to ensure the cap hit in 2026 isn’t as strong.
This is a massive deal, but Lane Johnson is deserving. He’s pound for pound the best player on the Eagles and the best offensive tackle in the NFL. Only 4 or 5 guys are even near his level of pass-blocking skill at any given time. He’s a rare breed. It’s so valuable to have a linemen like Johnson who can lock up a star pass rusher in Micah Parsons 2 times every year and it’s even more of an advantage to know that you never have to give pass-protection to help the right side. He may be the most important player on the Eagles roster with the expectation of Hurts. Basically, you pay him whatever he wants. And this one year extension has me assuming that Johnson plans to retire after the 2026 season.
Terrell Edmunds
The Eagles just signed Terrell Edmunds to a one-year deal. There is a lot to like about this move. Edmunds has started over 75 games in his career and has played 4,899 snaps. 40% of his snaps have come as a box safety, 25% have come as a slot corner, and 29% have come as a deep safety. In addition to his availability and versatility, is the fact that Edmunds was a first round talent coming out of college. However, this pickup is difficult to assess because Edmunds role within Sean Desai’s scheme is unknown. No one outside of the organization knows how the Eagles plan to utilize Edmunds’ abilities when he’s on the field. Nonetheless, I think it’s smart of Howie Roseman to continue to bring young, former high-round picks for low money on one year deals. If Edmunds fails–The Eagles don’t lose much, but if he succeeds they can resign him or let him walk for another compensatory pick.