March 10, 2016
The first day of free agency is in the books, and the Philadelphia Eagles were busy. In total, they made two trades and signed five players. Because I'm a hack sellout, let's assign the Eagles an arbitrary letter grade for each move!
Trading DeMarco Murray for literally anything is an enormous win. Frankly, I can't even imagine what was being said on the Titans' end of this deal:
"You mean to say that we can have a bad, slow, massively overpaid complainer at an incredibly easy position to find talent, and I have to give you something to get him? Deal!"
For "losing" Murray and his awful contract, the Eagles move up 13 spots in the fourth round.
Grade: A+++
Again, holy crap. The Eagles were able to dump a bad contract (Maxwell) while throwing in a player who was downright bad a season ago (Alonso), and for those "losses," the Eagles move up from 13 to 8 in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft, which opens up a whole new host of options at that pick.
In two trades, Howie Roseman preyed on the stupidity of inept franchises.
Grade: A++
McLeod, who will turn 26 in June, was an under-the-radar player we identified prior to free agency as a potential fit in the Eagles' defense for his range and toughness in run support.
McLeod is only 5'10, 195, which is less than ideal, but he plays bigger than his size. From 2013-2015, when he was a three-year starter, McLeod had 233 tackles, 18 pass breakups, 5 interceptions, and 7 forced fumbles.
He is an ascending young player at a position of need who will help give the Eagles some much-needed toughness over the middle. This was my favorite signing, although the Eagles did pay him quite well, at five years, $37 million.
Grade: A-
Finally. The Eagles are the only team in the NFL not to have drafted an offensive lineman over the last two years, and they haven't drafted a guard since 2012. They also largely ignored the position in free agency during the entirety of the Chip Kelly era.
In 2015, the Eagles' lack of quality guard play often stalled their rushing attack and allowed interior pass rushers like Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy to wreck games. Guard is as glaring a hole on the Eagles' roster as you'll find. In Brooks, the Eagles have filled one of their gaping holes along the offensive line. He will likely play RG for the Eagles.
Grade: B+
Prior to free agency, we had identified Bradham as a logical target, as he played under Jim Schwartz in Buffalo. However, our focus was on Lions LB Tahir Whitehead, who played for Schwartz in Detroit after attending Temple University. As a result, we're a little behind in evaluating Bradham's game.
With that disclaimer out of the way, you can see how physical Bradham is in this "wired for sound" feature on the Bills' website. It seems that Jim Schwartz may have a type. Bradham, McLeod, and Ron Brooks (below) are all physical players, and it would appear that the Eagles are trying to build a nasty identity on defense.
Bradham had his best season under Schwartz in 2014 when he had 104 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, an INT, and 7 pass breakups.
Grade: B
As noted above, Brooks is a physical player, although one who was mainly a special teams contributor in Buffalo. In the last two seasons, Brooks had 18 special teams tackles. He also has experience playing on the outside at corner as well as the slot.
In his tenure here, while overall a failure, Chip Kelly did some great things. One of those things was his commitment to building great special teams play. It is encouraging to see the Eagles continue to target players who excel on teams.
Grade: B
If there was one move that was perplexing in any way, it was the signing of Daniel. His deal is a three-year contract worth $21 million ($12 million guaranteed). That number can escalate to $36 million in incentives based on playing time, wins, and playoff appearances, but he would need to be the starting quarterback to reach those incentives.
The move itself isn't necessarily bad. It's more about trying to figure out exactly what the Eagles strategy is at the quarterback position as a whole. The Eagles are paying a whole lot of money to a pair of quarterbacks who have achieved nothing in the NFL, and it has been reported that the Eagles are going to have a true quarterback competition in training camp. Whether that's true or just "coachspeak" remains to be seen.
Having played for Pederson, Daniel would have a leg up on Bradford, in that he already knows the offense. Certainly, competition can often bring out the best on players, but again, it's a really high cost for this particular duo.
Grade: Incomplete. We'll wait and see what the Eagles do in the draft to get a better idea of their overall plan at quarterback.
In summary, we really don't have much in the way of criticism for the moves the Eagles have made so far. They did a tremendous job getting rid of bad contracts, while filling in gaping holes with players who make sense. Well done, Howie.
