June 17, 2016
This offseason, the Eagles prioritized signing a number of their own players, wrapping up Zach Ertz, Brent Celek, Lane Johnson, Vinny Curry, Malcolm Jenkins, Sam Bradford, and Fletcher Cox to multiple-year deals.
With so many players now locked up for the long-term, let's take another look at the remaining Eagles players who will be unrestricted free agents next offseason.
After the Eagles signed Cox, Howie Roseman spoke about the logic in wrapping up players early. "In terms of how we were thinking about it," explained Roseman, "when we sat down and looked at our roster, we felt like there were a bunch of players we wanted to keep here.
"And the longer that we wait on contracts for players, the closer they get to free agency, the more it's going to cost us. It's just the nature of the game. So we were hopeful that with this plan, by signing guys that we didn't want to ever leave the building that going forward, maybe we would be able to keep one or two more guys because as they get closer to free agency, the more expensive they are going to be. That requires doing some things early."
One player who has not been reported to be negotiating a new deal is Logan. The Eagles drafted Logan to be a two-gapping defensive lineman in a 3-4 scheme. However, despite low sack totals, Logan has shown the ability to penetrate through the line of scrimmage. Now that the deal for Cox is complete, we'll see if the Eagles try to get something done with Logan.
Sproles turns 33 on Monday, and he missed the voluntary portion of the Eagles offseason. Still, the Eagles' West Coast offense would seemingly be a good fit for him.
"If you go back and just look at what we did in Kansas City with our running backs with Jamaal [Charles] before he got hurt and then with the two guys after the injury [Chiefs RBs Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West], we like to move our running backs around," said Doug Pederson. "[Sproles is] a guy that creates matchups on defense, or against the defense, and we're going to move him around; we are not necessarily going to keep him in the backfield. His role will be extensive, both offensively and also on special teams, and I'm excited to kind of get to see what he can do this week a little bit."
There's a decent chance Sproles may want to move on to a team in a better position to make a Super Bowl run next offseason. We'll see, but don't expect a new long-term deal for Sproles this offseason.
Jones turns 36 in July, but he is a still a very good punter who was crushing the ball in OTAs and minicamp. He is the 15th highest paid punter in the NFL, which is a bargain. I'd be surprised if Jones and agent Drew Rosenhaus weren't asking for a new deal.
Maragos signed a three-year deal with the Eagles in 2014. Braman signed a two-year deal in 2014 that the Eagles reworked last offseason, extending him through 2016. Both players have been stalwarts for a team that has gotten outstanding special teams play the last two seasons. The previous regime prioritized special teams personnel, so Maragos and Braman will be good litmus tests on whether the new regime intends on taking the same approach.
This group includes Nolan Carroll, Stefen Wisniewski, Rueben Randle, Chris Givens, and Mike Martin. They are all on "show me" deals.
This group includes Barrett Jones, T.J. Graham, and Caleb Sturgis.
And then there's Jon Dorenbos.
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