Rounding Up Latest Philadelphia Eagles Pre-Training Camp Buzz

Mid-July is rarely full of big NFL news, but a team like the Philadelphia Eagles never has a slow season, and that's especially true entering a promising 2017 campaign.

There aren't many teams across the league that have improved as much as Philly over the long and arduous offseason, and that has Eagles fans champing at the bit for the campaign to get started. While September still feels far away, rookies report to training camp on July 24 before camp gets underway on July 27.

With serious roster battles on the horizon and endless talking points heading into a season in which the Eagles figure to be legitimate NFC East contenders, there is no shortage of buzz around the team. So let's waste no time diving into the biggest stories on the cusp of training camp.

Is There Real Interest in Darrelle Revis?

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The Eagles roster entering 2017 is quite short on proven cornerbacks, to say the least. And a player once viewed as the league's best corner is readily available. Does that make it a good idea for the Eagles to bring in Darrelle Revis before training camp?

NFL Network's Brian Baldinger thinks so, stating in an NFL.com video that he thinks the Eagles could benefit from adding Revis to an inexperienced cornerback room: "Take a look. If he's overweight, if he can't play, if he can't move anymore, send him back on the Turnpike. But if he can, he's going to make everybody in the defensive back room better."

There haven't been any real reports of a Revis-to-Philly connection, and perhaps rightfully so. Revis is a shell of his former self, saying last season during his second New York Jets tenure to Newsday's Kimberly A. Martin that his "body's breaking down." The Eagles have failed miserably in recent seasons with bringing in aging vets at cornerback, and it's a prime reason why they drafted two corners with their first three picks in the 2017 draft.

Revis may be able to provide mentoring and help to Philadelphia's young cornerbacks, but not much else. Veterans Ron Brooks and Patrick Robinson are in place to provide that, and it's hard to see the cap-strained Eagles taking a flier on a player who has practically admitted he can no longer play at a high level.

Nigel Bradham's Week 1 Availability Not Certain

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Outside linebacker Nigel Bradham's play on the field in 2016 came as a pleasant surprise for the Eagles, but his off-field conduct has provided the opposite. He did take his first steps in putting that behind him by accepting a deferred prosecution program for a 2016 felony battery charge in Florida that should keep him out of jail, per Dave Zangaro of CSNPhilly.com.

That doesn't mean his issue is cleared with the league, however. 

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk noted after Bradham's entrance into the program that the NFL will conduct a review and could impose discipline under the Personal Conduct Policy. That allows the league the right to suspend Bradham for up to six games.

Bradham has seemingly taken the right measures prior to that to put him in the best standing possible with the league, but that doesn't clear him of a league-imposed suspension. Such a suspension would be crippling for the Eagles, who hardly have any experienced depth linebackers to fill any void.

The 27-year-old led Philly with 102 tackles in 2016, according to the team's website, which illustrates just how detrimental his loss for even one game could prove to be.

Does Brandon Graham's Future Lie in Philly?

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Upon first glance, the Eagles' selection of defensive end Derek Barnett in the first round of the 2017 draft appeared to offer Brandon Graham the havoc-wreaking partner on the edge he lacked a season ago. Maybe that was jumping the gun.

Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ Advance Media reported an interesting development from OTAs and minicamp, which was that Barnett spent most of his time lining up behind Graham on the left side rather than opposite him on the right. 

That development can be taken with a grain of salt until fans realize how much it could make sense to possibly sever ties with Graham after 2017. Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported before OTAs that Graham would hold out for a new contract before Graham returned to practice and dubbed the story "fake news" to Howard Eskin of 94 WIP. 

Still, one would assume Graham wants to be paid like the best defensive end on the team, as he's shown he is. But that's not the case, with Vinny Curry's $9 million cap hit overtaking Graham's $7.5 million figure, per Over The Cap. 

Curry can be expected to improve in 2017 after an injury-hampered season in 2016, and Graham will likely see his influence diminished at least a little bit because of the arrivals of Barnett and Chris Long. After 2017, the Eagles will need to free up more cap space for impending free agents like Alshon Jeffery, and cutting Graham could save the Eagles $6 million.

The more you dive into the numbers, the less far-fetched it seems that Graham could be on the outs after the season.

Shelton Gibson Getting His Chance to Impress

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By all accounts, rookie fifth-round pick Shelton Gibson has endured a tough summer trying to earn his place in the Eagles' receiver rotation.

Jimmy Kempski of Philly Voice reported Gibson was "really struggling" with dropped passes in OTAs, a sore spot for Eagles fans after last season's Nelson Agholor debacle, while Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News noted one caught pass even drew sarcastic applause from fans "like a goalie who stops a puck after letting in a couple of bad ones."

However, Gibson hasn't found himself on the outs just yet, joining a contingent of Philly wideouts in North Dakota for workouts with quarterback Carson Wentz, per Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports. He's surely getting his chance there to impress Wentz in a more personal setting, which will only help his cause if he shows soft hands and crisp route running.

Gibson's presence in North Dakota may not be a telling factor, as Bryce Treggs is also on the trip and head-turning rookie Mack Hollins isn't. But should he play well and develop chemistry with Wentz, it won't hurt his chances.

Could Duce Staley Be an OC Candidate After 2017?

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Running backs coach Duce Staley's resume with the Eagles is quite impressive. After a formidable playing career that included seven seasons in gang green, Staley is the only Eagles coach who has worked under Andy Reid, Chip Kelly and incumbent head coach Doug Pederson.

Philadelphia's rushing numbers have been great under Staley's direction. Since he took over in 2013, the team has ranked fifth in rushing yards and fourth in rushing touchdowns, per CSNPhilly.com's Reuben Frank.

When asked whether he envisioned a move to offensive coordinator in his coaching future, Staley expressed his desire to Frank: "Yeah, definitely. You never know how that works for you. I do know that you wait on those opportunities and hopefully those chances will come. If not, I love what I'm doing. Can't say anything bad about what I'm doing. I love it. That's when you know it's not a job."

Staley is invaluable to the Eagles, but it's hard to see where he would fit as an offensive coordinator or play-caller in the current system. Pederson, an offensive guru, has called the plays since his arrival in 2016, and if he were to pass them off, OC Frank Reich is the obvious candidate to assume those duties.

The Eagles bolstered their rushing attack this offseason with the addition of LeGarrette Blount and infusion of versatile rookie Donnel Pumphrey. If Philly's rushing game takes off in 2017, don't be surprised if Staley starts fielding calls from teams looking for a run-oriented offense. 

Eagles Legend Harold Carmichael High on Jeffery, Agholor

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There aren't many names more synonymous with Eagles wide receiving than Harold Carmichael, a Philly legend from the '70s and '80s and a part of the Eagles Hall of Fame. When he speaks on the Eagles' receiving corps, his word stretches further than most.

That's why fans should listen when he speaks highly of new No. 1 wideout Alshon Jeffery. The 6'8" menace compared Jeffery to himself when speaking to Teddy Bailey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, which is quite the high praise.

"Jeffery, I saw him catch," Carmichael said. "As long as he can stretch his arms out, anything around that, he has it. He kind of looks like me when I played, if anything comes close to me catching the ball."

High expectations for Jeffery are far from surprising, but the same can't be said of Agholor, who played his way out of the rotation in 2016 when the Eagles needed production from him. Carmichael believes Agholor tried to do too much last season, which no Eagles fan would disagree with, and that he can be a difference-maker if he just focuses on doing his job, saying:

"There's no doubt that he can bounce back. I went through that once or twice before. ... It's something I told Nelson, you can't carry this team. Everybody has their part. He was trying to run before he catches the ball. I think he's going to correct that and he's going to be fine. With the competition level of the guys around him, that'll be fixed. It's not a hard thing to do."

Agholor has a lot of pressure off his shoulders after the signings of Jeffery and Smith, and the drafting of two rookies should have lit a fire underneath him to prove he deserves a spot on the roster. With the mentoring of Carmichael, Eagles fans should like Agholor's chances.