While there’s still a fair amount of time between now and the start of the NFL season, Eagles fans have been a bit underwhelmed by the amount of external moves Howie Roseman has made so far. The only notable acquisition the team has made up to this point has been the signing of edge rusher Haason Reddick, whom Howie gave a three-year, $45 million deal to.
Pro Football Focus recently handed out free agency grade for each NFC team and they gave Roseman and Co. an average grade for their efforts. Here’s their entire breakdown of their assessment:
The Eagles’ lone significant addition thus far is edge rusher Haason Reddick, who signed a three-year, $45 million contract to bolster their pass rush. Reddick is a former first-round draft pick who was miscast as an off-ball linebacker early in his career before being reborn on the edge — where he always belonged. At just 6-foot-1 and a listed 235 pounds, Reddick is always going to be an undersized edge defender, but that gives him speed and quickness that is hard to match up with. He recorded 100 pressures over the past two seasons and helps replace some of the heat Philadelphia’s defensive line has lost in recent years.
Retaining depth players, including tight end Richard Rodgers and offensive lineman Nate Herbig, doesn’t hurt, and the Eagles have also made late moves to re-sign Boston Scott in the backfield and Anthony Harris at safety. Overall, this is a team that has largely kept its war chest intact.
Cutting Fletcher Cox was a move made inevitable by his massive salary and decline in play recently, but the team brought him back on a one-year deal. After a run in which he was arguably the best interior defender in the NFL after Aaron Donald, Cox has seen his PFF grade drop from above 90.0 to 74.1 in 2020 and then 68.7 in 2021. He notched fewer pressures in those two seasons combined than in 2018 at his peak.
Philadelphia is also saying goodbye to a good portion of its defensive snaps from last season as of now, so more replacements should be on the way.
2022 NFL free agency grades for all 16 NFC teams
It’s hard to argue with PFF on this one. Howie has done a solid job retaining the bulk of his team’s building blocks this offseason, which included resigning every pick from his 2018 draft class during the season. Bringing back contributors like Boston Scott (one-year, $1.8M), Anthony Harris (one-year, $2.5M), Greg Ward (one-year, value undetermined), and Andre Chachere (one-year, $875K), all for under $3 million is also commendable.
But, it’s been reported that Howie missed out on two major moves that would have significantly moved the needle for 2022. He was on the brink of trading for Falcons wideout Calvin Ridley before his gambling scandal came to light. So that one really isn’t on Howie, but he did miss out on the best safety on the open market this year in Marcus Williams, who eventually signed with Baltimore for a five-year, $70 million deal. Numerous reports suggested the Eagles were neck and neck with Baltimore for Williams’ services.
At the end of the day, while I understand Eagles fans getting antsy with all the blockbuster moves going on around the league, it’s still way too early in the offseason to label it a wash. NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Reuben Frank puts it into perspective with this Tweet:
The Eagles certainly made some strong moves right off the bat in 2017, but it wasn’t until April and May where the Eagles were truly finished with their roster. Then they even went on to add multiple players following the draft, all of whom became solid contributors to that championship team.
I know patience isn’t our expertise here in Philly, but it’s important to remember how long the offseason truly is. And more importantly, we must remember that winning the offseason doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be the last team standing in February.