February 12, 2021
Kate Frese/for PhillyVoice
Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox could find himself on a new team in 2021.
The Eagles are coming off of a last place finish in the NFC East at 4-11-1, a division they had multiple chances to win in 2020. They are planning for the sixth pick in the NFL Draft.
They have a brand new coaching staff — the majority of whom are new to their positions and in their 20s or 30s.
They have a quarterback controversy that is threatening their future, as the team seems intent on trading Carson Wentz and taking on his $33.8 million cap hit, by far the largest in NFL history.
In addition to that dead money, the Eagles are incredibly old, and will need to find a way to shed 10s of millions of dollars to get under the salary cap next year, which will mean trading away or cutting core members of their 2017 Super Bowl team like Zach Ertz or Fletcher Cox.
There is almost no expectation, even from the most optimistic Eagles fans, that Philly is going to be competitive in the short term.
And yet...
| Sportsbook | Odds | Rank |
| FanDuel | +260 | 2nd |
| Sportsbetting.com | +250 | 2nd |
| Betonline.ag | +275 | 2nd |
Some (smart?) sports betting sites like DraftKings and Williams Hill haven't yet posted their NFC East odds — but chances are they'll look the same— with the Cowboys as close to even money favorites and the Giants and Washington trailing far behind.
How? How is this even possibly close to the Eagles' reasonable relative chance of winning the division next season?
Even if something happens between the Cowboys and free agent Dak Prescott, a drop off from the Cowboys doesn't magically make the Eagles more than twice as likely to win the NFC East as the Giants and WFT. New York will have a healthy Saquan Barkley back while Washington still boasts one of the NFL's better defenses.
Perhaps sportsbooks are betting on the large Eagles fan base over-valuing their team, which — let's be honest — is a thing that has happened. But it's outright out of touch and extremely weird that the Eagles are not projected to finish dead last right now.
There is always a chance they have a great offseason, that Nick Sirianni shows he is a wunderkind head coach and Jalen Hurts emerges as a franchise quarterback. But even then, the Eagles will be sinking from the dead weight of their past mistakes still on the books, and are likely to stockpile draft picks to try and get younger, regroup and compete in a few seasons when they have a new core in place.
Just because FanDuel is offering the Eagles at +260 doesn't mean they're a good bet. Wait until they're down to +2000 in a few months.
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