Ralph Vacchiano
NFC East Reporter
One thing that no one will ever accuse Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman of doing: Standing pat.
He certainly could have done that after last season, when his team finished in a 1-6 spiral that ruined what they hoped would be a Super Bowl encore. It would have been easy to say he still had the core of the 2022 NFC champions. It would’ve been easy to blame injuries for how his team so alarmingly fell apart.
Instead, he went on a spending spree, not only locking up some of his key players to long-term contracts, but bringing in what some might call a “Dream Team” of high-priced free agents. He signed running back Saquon Barkley, who was arguably the best offensive player on the market. He added edge-rusher Bryce Huff, one of the best defensive players available. And he brought back safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who in many ways was the heart and attitude of the defense that helped the Eagles to Super Bowl LVII.
Head coach Nick Sirianni also replaced his offensive and defensive coordinator after Roseman and owner Jeffrey Lurie decided not to make the head coach the fall guy for the disturbing, late-season fall. And the result of all that is an Eagles team that will seem familiar, but might look a lot different on the field.
Here’s a look at how the Eagles redefined themselves over the past five months:
What they did
They brought in Barkley who, if he stays healthy, could change everything about their offense. They did get 1,049 rushing yards from the departed D’Andre Swift last year, but he wasn’t much of a factor in the passing game. Barkley is capable of 1,400 rushing yards and can be a dangerous weapon through the air, too. He will force defenses to make a real difficult decision about which of the Eagles’ many weapons to focus on this season.
They also brought Huff, who turned out to be a replacement for Haason Reddick who was later traded to the Jets. Reddick is…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/grading-eagles-offseason-will-spending-spree-put-them-back-top
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Publish date : 2024-07-08 18:45:17
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