July 02, 2016
Thom Carroll/AP
There's a decent chance that Kenjon Barner, Ryan Mathews, and Darren Sproles will all be elsewhere in 2017.
Yeah, yeah, I know. It's still only July of 2016, the 2016 season still has to be played, and the 2017 NFL Draft is 10 months away. "Slow news day," you might ask? Well, um, yeah. Anyway, people like following the draft year-round these days, and as noted already, it's a July (and a Saturday no less), and I want to go to the beach.
With that disclaimer out of the way, some of the Eagles' biggest needs may change between now and April 2017, but the following five positions feel like good bets to be addressed next draft.
For the second consecutive season, the Eagles have the oldest projected starting offensive line in the NFL. They drafted versatile offensive lineman Isaac Seumalo in the third round of the 2016 draft, and OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai in the fifth round. Still, with Jason Peters' career coming to an end in the immediate future, the Eagles will need to continue to add youth and depth at the bookend spots.
Ryan Mathews is the ninth-oldest projected starting running back in the NFL this season, and perhaps not the best fit in Doug Pederson's offense, which will require running backs who excel at catching the football. That's not Mathews. If the Eagles release or trade Mathews next offseason, they will save $4,000,000, which is money that they will need, seeing as they have the least amount of available cap space in the NFL in 2017 and 2018. Meanwhile, Darren Sproles is 33 and in the final year of his contract, and Kenjon Barner is more hype than production.
The only running back who feels very likely to still be on the team in 2017 is 2016 fifth round pick Wendell Smallwood. Expect the Eagles to draft another one next offseason in a 2017 running back class that is absolutely stacked.
This shouldn't need much explanation, right? The Eagles led the NFL in drops last season and did not select a wide receiver in the 2016 draft. (You can't address everything). Meanwhile, Nelson Agholor is facing serious sexual assault charges, and the receivers the Eagles added in free agency -- Rueben Randle and Chris Givens -- are on one-year deals. And then there's Josh Huff, who has shown flashes of talent, but has also been too inconsistent to trust as a viable starter.
Jordan Matthews is the only proven, steady receiver in the bunch. The Eagles need to upgrade their passing offense weaponry.
It's never a bad idea to load up on corners as it is, seeing as so many NFL offenses are using three wide receivers as their base set. The Eagles have an aging Leodis McKelvin as the current number one corner, will a mishmash of guys competing to start opposite him, or in the slot.
The Eagles selected Joe Walker with the third-to-last pick of the 2016 NFL Draft, and he may actually be counted on this season to play a reserve role at linebacker this season. The Eagles badly need more depth at linebacker, although that could also come in free agency in the form of inexpensive vets, as the Eagles do have good young starters in Jordan Hicks, Mychal Kendricks, and Nigel Bradham.
