Eagles 2024-2025 Season

[LegoDoom]

2 years, $20M doesn't mean much without the details (specifically guaranteed money). I hate to see him leave. Even if Steen is decent, the OL is a bit thin right now.

[phillychuck]

Eagles apparently like Keegan a lot and are going to give him a shot at RG. Green was once considered a top OL prospect, maybe Stoutland can fix him. They are short at swing tackle since Fred Johnson will probably get signed elsewhere, so they need to draft that. I expect an OL in the first three rounds.

[LegoDoom]

It's a little tough to say they are short at OT when Dickerson can probably play both well. I did think about Keegan. It's still a big downgrade in talent and depth.

[phillychuck]

Honestly, no one knows anything about Keegan. He was a top lineman in the B1G for his college career, and it often takes OL a year or three to figure out the pro game. In the only game he played last season, he got a very high grade from pff and certainly passed the eye test. And Steen was more than solid in his appearances last year. As Howie said, some of the young guys are going to have to play, and play well.

[LegoDoom]

PFF does have some odd grades at times, but it's an easy way to measure these things. I think Steen has struggled in pass blocking, which is why he's not a swing tackle in the pros even though he played both OT positions in college (I could be wrong about that, but like Dickerson he was very versatile in college).

[phillychuck]

Eagles current projected comp picks:

Williams 3rd round
Sweat 4th round
Becton 5th round
Rogers 6th round

Four is the max per team.

I think this also affects the Eagles' decisions...is Becton worth $8M extra and not getting a 5th round pick?

[LegoDoom]

I think this also affects the Eagles' decisions...is Becton worth $8M extra and not getting a 5th round pick?

This is a SB caliber team, so I think yes. I'm not saying that a 5th round picks is nothing, but Dickerson and Jurgens were 2nd round picks (and Dickerson was coming off a serious injury), which Becton and Lane were high 1st rounders. Yes, I get the Stoutland argument, but the Eagles are filled with high end talent out of college. Even Steen was a 2nd rounder out of Alabama.

The only thing that may sway me from that opinion if they are using the money to extend someone, but who? Jurgens? It's too soon for Carter. Jordan Davis still has a 5th year option. Dean is coming off an injury.

[bkeich]

I think this also affects the Eagles' decisions...is Becton worth $8M extra and not getting a 5th round pick?

This is a SB caliber team, so I think yes. I'm not saying that a 5th round picks is nothing, but Dickerson and Jurgens were 2nd round picks (and Dickerson was coming off a serious injury), which Becton and Lane were high 1st rounders. Yes, I get the Stoutland argument, but the Eagles are filled with high end talent out of college. Even Steen was a 2nd rounder out of Alabama.

The only thing that may sway me from that opinion if they are using the money to extend someone, but who? Jurgens? It's too soon for Carter. Jordan Davis still has a 5th year option. Dean is coming off an injury.

I wonder if they are not simply holding on to Cap space for next year (it floats for a season) to help with the Carter extension, which is going to be massive.

I read an article where Roseman supposedly stated he is not making the same mistake as after the last SB win, when he tried to keep the older players together. All the ones he has let walk are either older or where high annual cost (Becton is an exception, but I think the feeling is that they have Steen as a replacement).

If you look at our top 2nd string players they all had an opening created for them. This is a very cost effective way of running the team. For the first time in a few years we may not have the most dead space in the league next year.

[phillychuck]

I see the high draft picks, but the Eagles' history is littered with lower round draft picks that found success on the O-Line: Kelce (6th), Mailata (7th), King Dunlap (7th), Todd Herremans (4th), etc.

And JP was undrafted.

[LegoDoom]

JP is Jason Peters... Who cost the team a 1st round pick?

[phillychuck]

But he was an undrafted tight end by Buffalo. The point, I believe, was that O-line talent doesn't have to come from round 1 or round 2. A decent lineman, maybe a pro bowl lineman, will go undrafted this year, or be drafted after round 3. The trick, of course, is finding that guy. We've been pretty good at it over the years.

[LegoDoom]

But you named 5. One which wasn't drafted by the eagles and King Dunlap wouldn't start on this OL by a mile. Neither would Herremans, but it'd be much closer.

[LegoDoom]

The point is, keep Becton for a season or maybe two and figure it out later. This is a SB team.

Draft an OL in a later round and develop them. Most of the players mentioned weren't immediate players.

This is precisely what the eagles have done to get here. A 5th round pick a year from now means next to nothing.

[zambonir]

I feel like Howie probably has one eye beyond this season and another on a draft-day trade. Granted they don't have two firsts like in 2023 but I don't know if anyone saw the A.J. Brown trade coming. It certainly doesn't have to be that splashy (or involve a big extension) to fill one of the current holes.

[VoteForKalas]

Definitely trying to position the team better for 2026 and 2027 by eating the built up dead cap money, letting most of our FA walk, trading away some contracts and limiting spending so we can extend Carter, Mitchell et al. at the optimal (and cheapest) time.

We have a lot of draft picks this year and next. Roseman will need to continue finding several starter level players from each of those drafts to keep the process working effectively, but also should have more flexibility those years to add a key FA or make a significant trade.

[Docs]

Exactly- i agree with you guys, it’s nice to have a GM that has job security and can do what’s best for the team in the long run and not sacrifice the future being in win now mode that limits other GMs and coaches. This will give them a much longer competitive window with their core players. He has a plan to lock up his key young players, he can use the available cap space to do that because it rolls a year, he has a history of taking care of players a year sooner than he needs to which provides an extra year to absorb bonus money, and he plans to compliment large contracts with players on rookie contracts like they had this year. His plan for the future also allow the team to draft some players that won’t contribute right away (smith, Dean, Dickerson, hunt, jurgens, hurts as examples). This approach gives the eagles a competitive advantage over many other franchises. Plus they are still one of the best teams in the nfl despite the free agent losses.

[LegoDoom]

I am not second guessing Howie. He definitely traded for Kenyon Green so that it wouldn't cancel out comp picks. I hope the Eagles can turn him into a great player (another 1st round pick, btw).

But something needs to be done to the OL long-term.

[allentown]

Of course. We need a new starting OT and it's tough to replace a consistent pro-bowler. He could retire after this year and he also is getting to the age where he could miss significant time to injury. It's FAR easier to replace a G than an OT. I think Roseman has handled the off-season very well. He's badly strapped for cap $. Becton was a great find, one who may not have been nearly as good without Stoutland. Stoutland will have plenty of projects this year. He should every year. He is an aging gem and to get maximum value from him we need some OL turnover, so that his successful pupils can step forward. Jurgens and Becton stepped forward last season and the OL was superb. When we went into training camp, Becton was nothing but a very large failed first-round tackle pick. When he joined the Eagles, Mailata was a 7th rounder that other teams had never heard of. If Howie is a smart as I'm coming to appreciate, then Stoutland will find an OT to draft in the first two rounds and an OG/C to draft in the following 3 rounds and Howie will select that guy. I'd love to have Becton back this year, but Howie just doesn't have the $ for that to make sense. It;s the $ far more than the extra draft pick that drive this. To me, allowing the Stoutland OL talent conveyer belt to keep rolling is also a bigger consideration than the draft pick. Other teams recognize this. Non-starter Eagles OL seem to be highly sought after by other teams when they become available.

[LegoDoom]

Aside from Mailata, I just don't see it. Yes, give a good coach a lot of talent and he's going to look good. And that is contributed to Howie. The OL is littered with a lot of 1st and 2nd rounders. These aren't diamonds in the rough as much as they are failed picks on bad teams and the Eagles repurpose them. If Becton was still thought to be an OT, then he would have gotten paid much more than he signed for with the Eagles.

[bkeich]

Even the 32nd pick could net us a very good long term OT if that is the way we go, and we all know if there is the guy they want in the early to mid 20s Howie isn’t afraid of that trade.

Offseason are hard to judge because they really are not complete in football until the last preseason games and cut downs. Certainly until the draft it is hard to say we didn’t get something done, we only know what should be the targets in the draft. We may yet trade Goedert, and while I don’t expect a big return, we may get a player instead of a pick.

The one guy I hope they engage with now is Fred Johnson (I think he is still out there). We are thin at OT backups and both are OTs are older and have a lot of snaps on their legs.