With the NFL Draft coming up at the end of this month, I wanted to take a look at the NFC East and evaluate how each of the four teams; New York Giants, Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles, and Dallas Cowboys, should approach their off season before the NFL Draft. I still have to go through the Cowboys and Eagles.
Seeing as the Philadelphia Eagles went 9-8 in the 2021-22 season, they don’t seem to have as many holes as the Giants and Commanders. It helps when you have two first round drafts picks to address some of their biggest needs.
The recent trade with the Saints makes it clear that this is Jalen Hurts‘ job to win or lose. Moving from the 15th, 16th, and 19th picks in this year’s draft to the 16th and 18th this year and the Saints’ 1st round pick next year gives the Eagles plenty of picks to move up for a guy like Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud.
While they do have a great TE with Dallas Goedert, I’d like to see one of their other five TEs step up as a TE2 like what Goedert used to be when Zach Ertz was on the team. Jack Stoll and Tyree Jackson are the two most likely to do this. Last year, both were rookies and still managed to get playing time in a majority of games. Stoll not only played in 16 games, but got the start as TE2 in five of those 16. Both were mainly used for their blocking prowess, but its like they say: “The best kind of ability is availability.” Getting playing time to block also gives them a chance to become easy check down targets for Hurts to use.
Free Agency Signings
Of Philly’s 10 signings so far this free agency, eight of them have been on the defensives side of the ball with the three biggest being Haason Reddick, Derek Barnett, and a new deal for Fletcher Cox. It’s never a bad thing to strengthen your defense with three former first round picks.
Reddick and Barnett were even from the same class! Their two offensive moves so far were resigning Boston Scott and adding Zach Pascal from Indy. Two offensive pieces that are good enough to start, but who are going to be the lead. The rest of the Eagles signings are similar in strong depth pieces, but not elite stars who will shut down opposing offenses.
Looking at who is still available in free agency, the Philadelphia Eagles should make a strong push for Tyrann Mathieu. Most teams should try and sign Mathieu. He is one of the top safeties in the league and should receive calls from most teams. The Eagles spent most of last year with a three way rotation at safety and could look to sure up a one-two punch with Mathieu and Rodney McLeod.
Another player who could help the Eagles would be Ereck Flowers. While the Eagles did have the 4th best offensive line according to PFF, they did start 15 different players last season. Adding Flowers would help their depth at both Guard positions and take away a key player from a division rival. Flowers could easily become a starter if either of the current starters just don’t cut it during the summer and pre-season.
NFL Draft
This year, the Philadelphia Eagles have two 1st round picks, and two other picks inside the top 100. They also have pick 101. Six picks practically inside the top-100 gives them numerous opportunities to strengthen their defense and build on the offense. With how the current NFL Mock drafts are looking, we very well could see the Eagles draft a defensive player like Trent McDuffie or Nakobe Dean and a WR like Treylon Burks or Chris Olave in the first round.
With the rest of their picks inside the top 101, I would like to see the Eagles go BPA (Best Player Available) to add depth across the board. Overall, the Eagles have a good starting lineup, but need depth. Every year there’s a team that gets wrecked by injuries. I hope its not the Eagles, but depth is a good thing for a roster. The biggest need for depth on this rooster is probably at Center and at wide receiver. They need to address both of these this year.
Moving Forward
This team is ready to compete. We saw that all of this past season. Going 3-3 in that division doesn’t seem like much, but one of those losses came in a game against the Giants where the total score was 20 combined points. They swept Washington last season and managed to score 47 total points between their two games against the Cowboys. They made an effort against the Bucs in the first round of the playoffs, too. That game just showed that the Bucs were the best defense against the run. The Bucs allowed a total of 1,741 rushing yards against them in all 19 games they played. That’s a whooping 91.6 rushing yards a game! In direct comparison, the Philadelphia Eagles had only one game with less than 91 rushing yards and it was their last game of the regular season.
The Philadelphia Eagles are on the verge of being a Super Bowl contender again! This season is make or break for Jalen Hurts career as an Eagle. He needs to improve on his passing efficiency if he wants to keep his job. The Eagles are likely to build around their quarterback in this draft to give Hurts the best chance to succeed. If he fails, they are primed to make a move to trade up in next year’s draft to try and get their future franchise QB for a loaded team. I expect the Eagles to not only make the playoffs this year, but have a good chance at winning the division over the Dallas Cowboys.
Hunter Greene
Hunter started writing for The League Winners in the summer of 2021. Hunter has been playing fantasy football for about a decade, starting in middle school. Now he’s a professional landscaper and avid Colts and Purdue fan.