Free Agency or Draft: How Should Philadelphia Eagles Fill Their Biggest Holes?
The Philadelphia Eagles are set to head into free agency and then the NFL draft, which will allow Chip Kelly an opportunity to better his roster for the 2015 season. The 2014 club was effective in the sense that the Eagles won 10 games and set a franchise record with 474 points scored, but the ultimate result was that Philly failed to qualify for the postseason.
The defensive backfield flat-out wasn’t good enough. The offensive line was decimated with injuries. Inside linebacker may be a need if DeMeco Ryans can’t return from his injury, and wide receiver is a pressing need if Jeremy Maclin walks in free agency.
How should the Eagles build up the holes on the roster? Is free agency the best move for Kelly, or should he look solely to the draft? This breaks down the six positional groups that require the biggest upgrade and how Philadelphia can do so.
Cornerback
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The Philadelphia Eagles can’t possibly go into 2015 with Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher as their starting cornerbacks. Williams is at least an average starter, but Fletcher was exposed badly against the league’s premier receivers. Nickel cornerback Brandon Boykin has thrived in limited roles, but the coaching staff all but refuses to play him outside of the slot.
Williams is a potential cap casualty, and Fletcher won’t likely be re-signed. That means the Eagles may be in the market for two starting cornerbacks. It’s much easier to get immediate contributions from a free-agent corner than a rookie, even a first-rounder, so look for Philly to address both of these cornerback spots via free agency.
Should Darrelle Revis reach free agency, he becomes the consensus best available cornerback. But it’s extremely doubtful the Eagles pay top dollar for him after the whole Nnamdi Asomugha debacle in 2011. The Seattle Seahawks’ Byron Maxwell makes a lot of sense, and the Eagles are reportedly the front-runners to sign the 27-year-old, according to DraftInsider.net's Tony Pauline (h/t CBS Philly's Andrew Porter).
Other potential ’15 starters Philadelphia can obtain at a fairly cheap price are Chris Culliver, Perrish Cox, Antonio Cromartie and Kareem Jackson. The ’14 Eagles spent about $11 million on Williams and Fletcher; it’s not unreasonable to expect the ’15 club to spend about the same on two free agents.
Safety
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Malcolm Jenkins will be locked in as the No. 1 starter at safety, and there’s a good chance Nate Allen returns as the top backup. But he’s not an ideal starter, and this is a position that will need to be upgraded.
So what’s the best way to do so? Free agency or the NFL draft?
In this particular case it may have to be through free agency again. Outside of Alabama’s Landon Collins, there may not be a safety worth drafting in the first two rounds. The Philadelphia Eagles could use an immediate starter, one who can play at a fairly high level and improve the secondary.
The Denver Broncos' Rahim Moore is just 25 years old and recorded four interceptions in 16 games started last season. He’s likely to command at least a five-year deal worth $6-7 million in free agency, a figure the Eagles should be willing to match.
The New England Patriots' Devin McCourty may be a plausible option as well, seeing how the Patriots may struggle to pay both Darrelle Revis and McCourty. McCourty is a versatile defender who was drafted as a cornerback and now plays safety; he could ask for up to $10 million per year over a five- or six-year deal, though.
More realistic middle-of-the-pack options include Louis Delmas and Stevie Brown; regardless of whom the Eagles sign, they need to upgrade the position somehow.
Wide Receiver
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If the Philadelphia Eagles re-sign Jeremy Maclin, an upgrade isn’t necessary; it would just be a luxury for the team. But if Maclin is allowed to walk in free agency, suddenly this becomes a pressing need for Chip Kelly.
Jordan Matthews played well as a rookie slot receiver in 2014, but without Maclin, he’s suddenly the top target in ’15. Riley Cooper will likely be relegated to a backup role, which will thrust last year’s third-round pick, Josh Huff, into a more prominent role. That would all but require Kelly to add a playmaker through either the draft or free agency.
Because the draft will be much less of a burden on the salary cap, this would make sense for the Eagles. Arizona State’s Jaelen Strong is a feasible option for Round 1 should Kelly be unable to secure the services of Marcus Mariota.
Later options include speedy playmaker Phillip Dorsett (4.33 40-yard dash), Stanford’s Ty Montgomery, Georgia Tech’s DeAndre Smelter or Michigan’s Devin Funchess should Kelly want to add a hybrid receiver-tight end mix.
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Inside Linebacker
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The Philadelphia Eagles will likely move on from veteran inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans this offseason. Ryans, 30, is coming off a torn Achilles tendon, and he’s due to make $6.9 million in 2015. He can be released with no cap penalty.
The Eagles will need a new starter next to Mychal Kendricks. They could go with an in-house option, which could include any of Travis Long, Marcus Smith or Emmanuel Acho. They could re-sign Casey Matthews, a former fourth-round draft pick of Philadelphia who held his own when asked to contribute this past year.
The NFL draft would allow Philadelphia to acquire a player like Eric Kendricks (Mychal’s brother), Denzel Perryman or Paul Dawson. In free agency, a low-cost option like Bruce Carter, Sean Weatherspoon (having missed 25 games due to injury over the last two years), A.J. Hawk or David Harris would suffice. This is one of those examples where a draft or free-agency upgrade could work.
Quarterback
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Quarterback isn’t a dire need for the Philadelphia Eagles; the team can certainly survive and probably even make the playoffs in 2015 with Nick Foles under center. After all, he’s 14-4 as a starter under Chip Kelly, and he did make the Pro Bowl in ’13.
But Foles has a limited skill set, and his athletic limitations don’t allow Kelly to utilize the entire playbook. It’s no secret though that Kelly would do almost anything to acquire his former collegiate quarterback, Marcus Mariota, who has a much higher ceiling than Foles.
Kelly could theoretically acquire Mariota in a number of ways: a draft-day trade, a predraft trade like the Washington Redskins did to get Robert Griffin III or even a post-draft trade in which Kelly offers whichever team drafts Mariota an absolute can’t-miss offer.
Kelly has coaxed the best out of both Foles and Mark Sanchez, so seeing him reunited with his former Oregon signal-caller would likely produce top-notch results.
Right Guard
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The Philadelphia Eagles recently released 10-year veteran guard Todd Herremans in a move that will save the team $2.8 million against the cap.
There are several ways the organization could look to replace Herremans. It could be an in-house option like Allen Barbre, Andrew Gardner or Matt Tobin, a costly free-agent guy like Mike Iupati, a mid-range free agent like Stefen Wisniewski or a 2015 high draft pick.
The logical guess would be that Chip Kelly goes with Barbre, a top backup the team recently signed to a three-year contract extension.
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