Moves Philadelphia Eagles Will Regret Not Making This Offseason

The Philadelphia Eagles have been among the busiest teams in the NFL this offseason, signing free agents, dumping veterans and carrying out multiple trades already. Then again, sometimes it’s the moves the front office doesn’t make that come back to haunt the team.

Nobody is quite sure whether this aggressive overhaul of the Eagles roster will work, but despite receiving high praise from some observers, a few details seem to have gone overlooked. The secondary still appears to be far from fixed, and several talented, young players are left twisting in the wind without contract extensions.

Some of these decisions could hurt Philly in 2015. Others could impact the franchise's success down the road. From where we're sitting today, the Eagles will come to regret the inaction in all of these crucial areas if left unattended at the conclusion of this offseason.

Signing a Veteran Safety

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You can’t blame the Eagles for trying to move on from Nate Allen after five mediocre seasons at safety. You also can’t blame the club for trying and failing to sign Devin McCourty away from the New England Patriots during free agency.

But when the McCourty gambit fell through and Allen wound up going to the Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia’s secondary suddenly found itself in a more precarious state yet. Rather than bring in a lesser free agent to start alongside Malcolm Jenkins on the back end, the Birds appear poised to go with what they have on the roster and presumably a draft pick.

Either route is rife with danger.

Outside Jenkins, the Eagles are devoid of proven talent at the safety position. Earl Wolff is the only one with meaningful starting experience in the NFL—all of six games as a rookie in 2013—and a knee injury hampered the fifth-round selection’s development last season.

Meanwhile, the draft is always a crapshoot, and this year’s safety class is a weak bunch to begin with. The only first-round talent is Landon Collins out of Alabama, and he may not fit Philly’s scheme, which likely means scouring the middle portion of the draft for a potential starter.

Some might say whoever starts for the Eagles in 2015 couldn’t be worse than Allen, but believe me, that’s not true. The club would be wise to bring in a veteran for insurance at least.

Releasing Cary Williams

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Folks will laugh at the notion that releasing Cary Williams was a bad idea as well. Admittedly, it would have been tough to bring him back for another season at a salary-cap hit over $8 million, per Spotrac.

The problem is the Eagles haven’t necessarily adequately addressed both of their cornerback vacancies in the wake of Williams and Bradley Fletcher’s departures this offseason. Obviously, blockbuster free-agent addition Byron Maxwell is expected to put out the fire on one-half of the field. The opposite side, on the other hand, is far from solidified.

Philadelphia also brought in Walter Thurmond III to compete for a starting job, but he’s only managed to dress for 27 of his clubs’ last 71 regular-season and playoff games, so don’t count on him. And none of Brandon Boykin, Nolan Carroll or Jaylen Watkins was good enough to take playing time away from Williams or Fletcher last year, so what does that say for the rest of the roster?

Plus, Williams isn’t nearly as bad as his reputation. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked 38th out of 73 cornerbacks in opponents’ passer rating last season—essentially middle of the pack.

Hey, Williams was good enough to win a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens as recently as 2012.

Again, for $8 million, the Eagles were justified in releasing an average cornerback. No doubt, the team will also continue to address the position at the draft. Regardless, none of the options are guaranteed to be better.

Extending Mychal Kendricks

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Over the past two seasons, only three NFL linebackers have recorded at least 8.0 sacks, three interceptions and three forced fumbles—Julius Peppers, Lavonte David and Mychal Kendricks. Yet why do many observers get the sneaking suspicion the Eagles will try to trade Kendricks this offseason?

First, the team traded All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for Kiko Alonso, an impressive, young linebacker coming off a torn ACL. It seemed the Birds were set to pair Alonso and Kendricks in the middle, only the club then extended soon-to-be 31-year-old DeMeco Ryans’ contract through 2016. Traditionally, only two interior linebackers start in a 3-4 defense.

Adding fuel to the fire that Kendricks is the odd man out is a report from Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer that the team had yet to discuss a contract extension as of a month ago. Kendricks is entering the final year of his rookie contract.

If Kendricks was viewed as a critical piece of Philadelphia’s future, why wouldn’t the front office at least open a dialogue?

Both the numbers and the tape indicate Kendricks is one of the bright, young playmakers in the league today. It would behoove the Eagles to keep him as far away from the free-agent market as possible, where another team could swoop in with a better offer next offseason.

There’s still time, and maybe we’re simply looking at the apparent logjam at interior linebacker too closely. That being said, if Kendricks isn’t part of the Eagles’ plan, they might be making a huge mistake.

Extending Fletcher Cox

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Fortunately, Philadelphia can exercise a reported fifth-year team option on Fletcher Cox’s rookie contract, delaying free agency to 2017. Why wait to give the All-Pro defensive end the long-term extension he so clearly deserves?

Eagles head coach Chip Kelly went so far as to describe Cox as the club’s most valuable player during a press conference this past December, per the team website. Why then, according to Spotrac, is arguably the best player on the roster being asked to play this season at a salary-cap hit just north of $3 million?

This is the first offseason Cox is able to sign a contract extension, but thus far, there are no reports that the two sides are talking.

Why extend Cox when the Eagles can simply exercise the option for next season? Because he’s outplayed his contract, and traditionally, teams reward their budding stars with a nice payday and long-term security.

The last thing the Birds want to do is make Cox feel undervalued or unappreciated so when he is eventually closing in on free agency, he decides to test the market.

Again, it’s possible Philadelphia will open contract negotiations with Cox at some point this offseason or perhaps come to terms with him down the road. The Eagles are beginning to close in on the salary cap as well, which may be part of the reason for the delay. Whatever the case, if you listen to Kelly, Cox is the one player this organization should move heaven and earth to keep happy.