The Philadelphia Eagles are a team seemingly without a paddle.
Just 3 years removed from the first Super Bowl in franchise history, they fired their head coach after going 4-11-1.
There are rumors the franchise QB Carson Wentz wants out and holes riddle the roster.
Owner Jeffrey Lurie and General Manager Howie Roseman have been constantly criticized by fans.
good now fire howie roseman @eagles https://t.co/mFdw3qJMGC
— FIRE HOWIE ROSEMAN ✨ (@meerkatttttt) January 25, 2021
All of this to say, the Eagles have a list of questions to answer this offseason.
Let’s take a look at 3 of the most pressing.
1. What to do with Carson Wentz?
Question number one is of course to decide how to handle Wentz.
There were rumors he wanted out, but those seem to have subsided with Doug Pederson being fired.
However, where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire, so the Eagles need to make a decision quickly.
Eagles still have every intention to keep Carson Wentz & have him be a major part of the team next year per @AdamSchefter
Also important to note Wentz has a contract structure that makes it very difficult to trade or cut with a $59.21M cap hit@6abc https://t.co/ATpNz9DlDH
— Jeff Skversky 6abc (@JeffSkversky) December 13, 2020
The biggest reason to keep him is the massive cap hit Wentz accounts for.
Whether he is on the team next year or not, he will count for a minimum of $34 million against the cap.
However, they would save a ton of money against the cap next season.
If the #Eagles trade Carson Wentz this offseason their projected cap space for the 2022 season goes from $50 million to $81 million
So much of the focus is on the dead-cap hit in 2021, but there are also very positive financial impacts of moving Wentz now
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) January 3, 2021
There is also the on-field aspect.
Wentz just played his worst season of football in the NFL.
He led the league in interceptions despite only playing 12 games while only completing 57% of his passes.
Wentz went 3-8-1 as a starter before getting benched for rookie Jalen Hurtz against the Green Bay Packers in Week 13.
The Eagles’ entire offense struggled with Wentz, averaging 21.1 PPG during his starts.
That would’ve been good for the 25th ranked offense in the NFL.
Wentz missed open receivers, rarely moved through his progressions correctly, and seemed flustered all season.
Now in his defense, he also suffered the most sacks in the league behind an offensive line hit hard by injuries.
He also had some of the worst weapons in the NFL.
Alshon Jeffrey and Desean Jackson were seemingly always injured, as was Zach Ertz, while rookie Jalen Reagor disappointed.
As of now, it seems the Eagles are set on keeping him as their starter.
They will hope a new coaching staff can unlock Wentz again this season.
2. Who will the Eagles Draft with the 6th Pick?
The compensation for their horrendous 2020 season is the 6th pick in the draft.
This will be the highest the Eagles have drafted since trading up to #2 in the 2016 draft to select Wentz.
Philly’s roster has countless holes, but it is also lacking in top-level talent.
Their two most recent All-Pro’s were both on the offensive line.
And they only had 3 players selected to the Pro Bowl in 2020 – all being linemen (2 defense, 1 offense).
The Eagles also have not had a 1,000-yard receiver since Jeremy Maclin in 2014.
Outside of Darius Slay, the secondary is another weakness that was consistently exploited by opponents.
Thankfully, there is top-level talent at both the receiver and corner position this draft.
Ja’Marr Chase, DeVonta Smith, and Jaylen Waddle are all highly rated prospects that would have an instant impact.
🚨 UPDATED: Top-100 Big Board 🚨
NFL Draft WR Rankings
1. Ja'Marr Chase
2. Jaylen Waddle
3. DeVonta Smithhttps://t.co/VA9BVnpLN9— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) January 12, 2021
In terms of corners, Patrick Surtain and Caleb Farley are both projected to be lockdown NFL corners.
2021 NFL Draft: Ranking the top five players at each position (CB):
1. Caleb Farley, VA Tech
2. Patrick Surtain II, Bama
3. Jaycee Horn, SC
4. Asante Samuel Jr, FSU
5. Tyson Campbell, UGAhttps://t.co/boWBm4m5qG— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) January 23, 2021
Philly will need to determine who is the best prospect by the time their pick rolls around.
3. Franchise Direction?
The final question this team needs to answer is what direction do they want to take?
Over the past 5 years, the Eagles have mostly focused on signing veterans to “prove-it” deals, hoping they pan out.
Ever since the Super Bowl in 2017, that strategy hasn’t paid off.
The team has been amongst the league’s oldest in terms of average roster age recently.
Because of this, they are lacking in youthful talent across the board.
Per Scott Spratt, the Eagles ranked 29th in terms of talent under 25.
Which team has the most talent under 25? 🤔@Scott_Spratt ranks them from top to bottom (E+): https://t.co/NEPY3FqjAY
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) August 8, 2019
They have also missed out on chances to develop young talent by refusing to bench their veterans.
The Eagles need to decide whether they’re going to continue playing veterans or try to develop their youth.
Veterans might set them up for better success in the short-term, but a youth movement will help them in the long run.
