For the most part, the Eagles offensive line is set in stone heading into the 2022 season. They’ll return four out of their five starters and they’re primed to be one of the best offensive line units in the NFL.
The only position that’s still up for grabs is at right guard. With Brandon Brooks now retired, his vacancy will probably be filled by either Isaac Seumalo, the team’s starting left guard for the past few seasons, or Jack Driscoll, a jack-of-all-trades lineman who’s filled in at multiple positions since joining the team in 2020.
Given Seumalo’s history as a starter, he felt like a write-in for the vacancy at right guard. But there’s reason to believe he may not even be on the team once the season rolls around.
The Eagles can save approximately $5.6M by cutting Seumalo after June 1, while only incurring a dead cap hit of ~$2M. Freeing up extra cap space is something Howie Roseman is always interested in doing, especially if there’s a trade/signing on the horizon (Jessie Bates plz).
Seumalo is a fine starter when healthy, but that’s been a challenge for him during his entire career. He’s only suited up for every game once in his career. He’ll once again be coming off an injury heading into 2022, and he lost his natural spot at left guard to Landon Dickerson because of the injury.
Even if Seumalo remains on the roster, regardless of his experience, Jack Driscoll may be better suited to fill Brooks’ shoes. Driscoll started eight games at right guard last season and showed a lot of starting potential. He finished the year with a Pro Football Focus grade of 70.5 along with a 73.9 pass blocking grade. On 293 pass blocking reps last season, Driscoll only surrendered 1 sack and 18 total pressures.
Seumalo has primarily played on the left side of the line during his career. He logged 137 snaps at right guard during his rookie season in 2016. Since then, he’s played a total of one snap at the position. Driscoll logged 438 snaps at right guard just last season.
Switching sides along the offensive line isn’t impossible, but it’s certainly not ideal. On top of that, Seumalo is entering the final year of his contract and will turn 29 in October. Driscoll is only 25.
When two players at the same position are pretty comparable from a talent standpoint, NFL teams typically go with the younger, less expensive option. That’s Driscoll in this situation.
He’s played well enough to warrant a starting spot and his ceiling is higher than Seumalo’s at this point. Both in the immediate future and through a long-term lense, moving forward with Driscoll just makes more sense.
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