Howie Roseman and the Eagles front office was limited in what they could do this offseason due to a small amount of cap space. They entered the offseason about $60 million over the cap, but Roseman was able to wiggle his way to getting under the cap by the start of the new league year.
With the minimal amount of cap at their disposal, the Eagles added a handful of projected starters to one-year deals. Safety Anthony Harris, linebacker Eric Wilson, defensive end Ryan Kerrigan, and running back Jordan Howard were the most notable acquisitions from this past offseason. And none of them have had any kind of substantially positive impact on the team.
Howard failed to even make the 53-man roster, which isn’t too surprising.
Wilson has been a liability in the run game, missing five tackles on the year and posting a PFF run defense grade of 26.4, the worst mark of any linebacker in the NFL. His strength was supposed to be in pass defense, but he’s struggled in that department as well. He’s allowed six completions on six targets for 69 yards (11.5 YPC), along with a passer rating of 114.6 when targeted.
While Wilson has played pretty poorly through two games, at least he’s had some production. The same can’t be said for Kerrigan, who has yet to record a single tackle in 94 snaps. His lone stat is four pressures on the quarterback in 48 pass rushing snaps.
With Brandon Graham out for the year, Kerrigan stepping up is imperative. But it’s pretty clear that he’s no longer the Pro Bowl pass rusher he once was.
That brings us to Anthony Harris, who has been the best free agent acquisition thus far.
He’s been effective defending the run, posting 27 combined tackles through three games, which averages out to nine tackles per game. His 70.1 run-defense grade on PFF ranks 26th among all safeties this year.
Harris has yet to record an interception, but he’s still been stout in pass coverage. On nine targets, Harris has allowed just three receptions for 24 yards with a passer rating of 42.4. Once Rodney McLeod is back, Harris should be able to operate a bit more freely and this could result in some much needed interceptions from this secondary. The defense has yet to tally a single INT on the year, one of only four defenses around the league.
Suffice to say, the Eagles free agent signings from this past offseason have disappointed. And it shouldn’t be that surprising given how cheap some of these guys were.
Roseman has always targeted veterans during the free agency period, so it’s no surprise that he went that route again this past offseason. But his luck is starting to wear thin with his free agency hits.
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