Eagles need a ‘fresh start’ in free agency to keep Super Bowl aspirations alive

Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

It was only 13 months ago that the Philadelphia Eagles were in the Super Bowl. And it was just a little more than three months ago that they were sitting on a 10-1 record, looking like they were headed towards another.

They’ve got a roster filled with young talent, including a franchise quarterback. The future looks as bright as the Eagles’ recent past.

So why is Eagles general manager Howie Roseman looking at this offseason as a chance for a “fresh start”?

That’s of course because of what has happened in the three months since that 10-1 start to last season. No one has forgotten the misery that followed. They lost six of their last seven games, including a blowout loss in Tampa in the first round of the playoffs. Then on Monday, they lost one of their most important players when center Jason Kelce retired. And veteran defensive tackle Fletcher Cox might be next.

They’ve also changed coordinators on offense and defense again. They need to rebuild their secondary. And their best pass rusher, Haason Reddick, wants a new contract and has been given permission to seek a trade.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Roseman said at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis last week. “There’s no question about that.”

That work begins when the free-agent market opens next week. So here’s a look at what the Eagles have to work with and a peek at their plans:

Salary cap situation

The Eagles are currently projected to have about $41.9 million to spend after cutting safety Kevin Byard last week. They have plenty of ways to add more to that if needed, but all of them involve either contract extensions or moving cap hits into future years. Both are things the Eagles do often, but may not have a need to do with so much space available to use this cycle.

The big way they could create more room is by signing Reddick to an extension. He’s got a hefty cap number of $21.8 million for 2024 and a new deal could…


Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/eagles-need-a-fresh-start-in-free-agency-to-keep-super-bowl-aspirations-alive

Author :

Publish date : 2024-03-06 19:38:19

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.