Three free agents who make sense for the Eagles, version 4.0

Christian Kirk (Age: 25), WR, Cardinals (5'11, 200)

The Eagles could use a slot receiver, and Kirk is one of the best in the NFL. He has been a steady performer for the Cardinals since entering the league as a second-round pick in 2018.

Those 77 receptions and 982 yards led the Cardinals in 2021. He ranked 13th in the NFL (all players) in yards per target (9.5), and 7th among receivers in catch percentage (he caught 74.8 percent of his targets). 

Kirk also has a connection to Eagles receivers coach Aaron Moorehead, whom he played for at Texas A&M and enthusiastically endorsed after Moorehead was hired by the Eagles.

He would be a substantial upgrade over Greg Ward, but he might be costly. The two recent free agent receivers who are probably the closest comps to Kirk are Curtis Samuel and Nelson Agholor. 

Samuel signed a three-year, $35 million contract with Washington in 2021, while Agholor signed for two years, $22 million with the Patriots. Kirk will no doubt be expecting to eclipse those numbers this offseason, so if the Eagles were to have interest they might have to splurge a little. 

Kemoko Turay (Age: 26), Edge, Colts (6'5, 252)

Turay was a 2018 second-round pick out of Rutgers who has had a disappointing start to his NFL career, mostly due to injuries. He missed 12 games in 2019 due to a gruesome broken/dislocated ankle, which also hampered him in 2020, when he missed 9 games. During the 2021 offseason, Turay had a second surgery on that ankle, which appeared to have worked, because he reportedly had an excellent training camp.

During the 2021 season, Turay had 5.5 sacks and 8 total QB hits in just 224 snaps. I cut up those 5.5 sacks. As you can see, he has some explosiveness. (He's No. 57, rushing from the LDE spot.) 

If Turay is fully healed, he can be a late bloomer of sorts in the NFL, and obviously coming from Indy there's the Jonathan Gannon connection.

In addition to finding top level talent at edge rusher this offseason, the Eagles also need depth. Turay is probably only a situational pass rusher right now, but at a minimum he could be quality depth with a chance to be a difference maker if he is truly recovered from his ankle injury.

Marcus Maye (Age: 28), S, Jets (6'0, 207)

Maye was scheduled to become a free agent last offseason, but the Jets franchise tagged him, and he ruptured his Achilles in early November, missing the final 9 games of the season. He had missed two games earlier in the season as well.

Heading into 2022 free agency, Maye will likely seek a one-year deal, try to rebuild his status as a top NFL safety, and then hit the free agent market again in 2023, when the salary cap is expected to rise substantially (and players will be more likely to cash in on free agency).

The Eagles have brought in a string of (likely) one-and-done Band-Aids at safety in each of the last three years: 

1. 2021: Anthony Harris and Andrew Adams
2. 2020: Will Parks
3. 2019: Andrew Sendejo

Philly could be a spot where Maye and the Eagles mutually benefit from a one-year rental arrangement, sort of like they did with Steven Nelson last season. Maye would theoretically be a better player than Harris, Adams, Parks, or Sendejo. He'd likely cost a couple million more than the $4 million the Eagles paid Harris last season.

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