Winners and Losers of Philadelphia Eagles' Offseason so Far
One of the most fascinating offseasons by an NFL team in recent memory has resulted in a complete turnaround by the Philadelphia Eagles.
A number of the most crucial players from the 2014 season were jettisoned this offseason, including quarterback Nick Foles, running back LeSean McCoy, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, guards Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans, linebacker Trent Cole, cornerbacks Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher, and safety Nate Allen.
Oh, and former general manager Howie Roseman is also no longer in his previous role with the team.
The Eagles will have 11 new starters from the previous season: six on the offensive side of the ball and five more on the defensive side of the ball. How this new team will do in 2015 remains to be seen, but it'll be fascinating to watch.
The following eight slides will highlight members of the organization who saw their role affected the most dramatically this offseason. They are in no particular order.
Winner: Sam Bradford
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You really couldn't find a more grateful player in the National Football League than Sam Bradford. The former No. 1 overall draft pick was a colossal disappointment during his five seasons in St. Louis, regressing after winning Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2010 before tearing his ACL in each of the past two seasons.
Yet Chip Kelly, one of the most innovative offensive head coaches in the league, looked around the league and decided that the Rams castoff will be his quarterback of the future.
He kept Bradford on his roster even in a draft class that featured former Oregon quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota, and he's surrounded him with easily the best supporting cast of his career.
After all, Bradford has last year's rushing champion, DeMarco Murray, as well as 2013 Pro Bowl selection Ryan Mathews as his top two running backs.
He has Jordan Matthews and first-round pick Nelson Agholor as his receivers, and while that's nothing special at receiver, it's still probably the best talent he has ever played with at the position. On the offensive line, Bradford has three potentially elite talents in Jason Peters, Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson.
If Bradford fails in Philly in 2015 under Kelly's offense with those players taking handoffs and blocking for him, you've learned all you need to know about Bradford's future in the NFL.
Winner: DeMeco Ryans
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The Eagles could have cut veteran DeMeco Ryans after the 2014 season. In fact, I still think they should have.
The 30-year-old inside linebacker is currently recovering from his second torn Achilles in the last five seasons and became expendable when the Eagles traded for 2013 Pro Football Writers Association Defensive Rookie of the Year Kiko Alonso.
But Kelly chose to keep Ryans, even deciding to extend him for one more season, which will keep him in Philadelphia through the 2016 season. He'll be making $7.5 million over the next two seasons, even though he'll probably be just a backup (for at least 2015) behind Alonso and Mychal Kendricks.
Kelly has praised Ryans every chance he's gotten, even referring to him as the Mufasa of the team after his torn Achilles last November, according to Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com (h/t Pro Football Talk). Now the former 2006 draft pick will play at least two more years in Philly.
Loser: Marcus Smith III
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The city of Philadelphia let out a collective "who?" when Marcus Smith was drafted late in the first round in 2014. The pass-rusher from Louisville did absolutely nothing to change the minds of the fanbase during his rookie season.
Pro Football Focus indicates Smith played in just 74 snaps during his rookie season, finishing with zero tackles in what will go down as a completely lost campaign.
The coaches tried him at both outside linebacker and inside linebacker, clearly a desperation move to find his position of the future. They didn't succeed, and Smith is still a complete unknown entering the 2015 season.
After missing the first week of OTAs with a nagging groin injury, the concern for Smith has to be growing with each passing day. The Eagles have a terrific core of linebackers in Connor Barwin, Kiko Alonso, Mychal Kendricks and Brandon Graham, with veteran DeMeco Ryans and rookie Jordan Hicks as the top depth players.
At best, that leaves Smith as the seventh linebacker on the depth chart. To be fair, if he's that high, it's only because of where he was drafted—not because he earned it.
Quite simply, Smith is showing practically every sign in the book that he's well on his way to becoming a colossal bust.
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Winner: Byron Maxwell
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The least-known member from Seattle's legendary Legion of Boom defense, Byron Maxwell parlayed a solid 2014 campaign into a massive free-agent deal with the Eagles.
His six-year, $63 million deal stands as the second-largest by a free agent in franchise history behind pass-rusher Jevon Kearse's signed before the 2004 season.
Maxwell goes from the fourth-most important member of the Seahawks' secondary to the most important member of the Eagles' secondary, and to put it bluntly, pressure will be on the 27-year-old cornerback.
Maxwell will cover the likes of Dez Bryant, Odell Beckham, DeSean Jackson, Julio Jones, Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Evans and Sammy Watkins this season. After all, defensive coordinator Billy Davis already said that the Eagles could move Maxwell around to shadow top wide receivers, as reported by ESPN's Phil Sheridan (h/t Fox Sports).
This is a dream come true for a player who was the only non-superstar on Seattle's defense. Now he has $63 million and every opportunity in the world to succeed in a defensive backfield that will be focused primarily on his strengths.
Winner: Walter Thurmond
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One of a number of injured players whom Kelly brought in this offseason, Walter Thurmond was expected to compete for a spot as the No. 2 starting cornerback or—the likelier scenario—the nickel cornerback.
Instead, he'll be the odds-on favorite to come away with the other starting safety spot opposite veteran Malcolm Jenkins. The Eagles just started playing Thurmond at safety a few weeks ago, as reported by Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer (h/t Pro Football Talk), basically as a way of maximizing his potential at a position lacking depth instead of at a position where he could find himself buried on the depth chart.
Although he's never played safety before, Thurmond's toughest competition in 2015 will be the likes of Earl Wolff, Ed Reynolds and Jaylen Watkins, none of whom is an Earl Thomas or Kam Chancellor, to say the least.
Even if Thurmond doesn't win a starting spot at safety, he'll at least be familiar enough with the position to fill in if there's an injury during the regular season. That's a win for the entire defensive backfield.
Loser: Earl Wolff
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As a fifth-round pick before the 2013 season, Earl Wolff emerged as one of the surprise players on the team's defense with a solid rookie campaign. But he's struggled with a chronic knee injury over the past two seasons, and his time in Philly could be coming to an end.
The words of head coach Chip Kelly were very telling when asked about the third-year safety's recovery from his knee issues.
Kelly and Wolff are clearly not seeing eye-to-eye with Wolff's return from injury, as Kelly said that Wolff has been cleared and playing is a matter of what pain he can tolerate, as reported by Jeff McLane of Philly.com (h/t NBC Sports). Since Wolff hasn't been participating, he clearly can't tolerate the pain.
Wolff is one of a number of players fighting for a roster spot, along with Ed Reynolds, Jaylen Watkins and Jerome Couplin. Missing OTAs does everything to hurt his chances of making the team.
Winner: Billy Davis
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During the constant Marcus Mariota trade speculation, it was the Eagles could trade several of their top players on the defensive side of the ball—notably defensive ends Fletcher Cox and Vinny Curry, linebacker Mychal Kendricks and cornerback Brandon Boykin.
But the Eagles stayed put with the 20th selection in the draft, and after picking a wide receiver, they used their final five picks on defensive players, including three cornerbacks.
You really couldn't have scripted a better offseason for defensive coordinator Billy Davis.
He gained a Pro Bowl talent at linebacker in Kiko Alonso and his best defensive back in Byron Maxwell. He was able to keep all four of Cox, Kendricks, Curry and Boykin. And he added a future starter at defensive back in Eric Rowe, as well as a number of quality depth players in JaCorey Shepherd and Randall Evans.
The Eagles ranked 22nd in scoring defense in 2014, but it's not out of the question that this team could crack the top 15 in 2015 in what will be a make-or-break year for Davis.
Loser: Howie Roseman
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There were rumblings from Tim McManus of Birds 24/7 during the season that the relationship between head coach Chip Kelly and general manager Howie Roseman isn't what it used to be (h/t NJ.com's Eliot Shorr-Parks).
But things reached the point of no return immediately following the end of the season when a power struggle between Kelly and Roseman ended up costing the general manager the position he worked his entire life for.
It's unknown exactly what role, if any, Roseman has had in the shaping of the Eagles this offseason. All that is known is that his office was relocated to the other side of the NovaCare Complex.
He's still with the Eagles, for now, but even with his massive pay raise and promotion, it's hard to see him staying when he longs to be a general manager—not a cap guy.
Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.
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