2024 offseason, a lot of work to do.

[babyatemydingo]

17 minutes ago, Last Stand said:

We’ve also spent similar assets on LB that San Francisco and the chiefs both have. Their studs are 3rd and 4th rounders 

we’ve just missed unfortunately but dean and Davion Taylor were adequate assets spent

i think where the eagles fail here is not taking more swings in the 3-6 rounds every year until we find one. Eagles should be taking 1 LB a draft until we get a really good one

but the most egregious was missing on TJ Edwards. They actually found, developed a really good LB. 

I don't dispute that effective LB's can be had in later rounds.
But, so can safeties.

The Eagles have drafted four safeties in the last 10 years.
The Eagles have drafted six linebackers in the last 10 years.
Proportionally, that is about the same.
Clearly, neither position has been a priority.
Given that the Eagles have two safeties worthy of a roster spot and could add a third, that positon could be de-prioritized unless a player falls in their lap.

Conversely, the LB corps is a mess.
Cunningham, Leonard, Morrow and Bradley are all FA's.
Who do you want back?
Dean is semi-unknown.  They also have VanSumeren.
They NEED linebackers.
It is a much higher priority and thy can mitigate the safety need to address it.

Furthermore, to address your point, the 49'ers and Chiefs have prioritized LB over safety by more than a full round.
Let's look at the starters:

49ers:
LB - 3, 3, 5
S - 5, 8 (UDFA)

KC:
LB - 2, 2, 4
S - 2, 3

ADP:
LB - 3.3
S - 4.5

Finally, former UDFA, TJ Edwards, was signed 30 minutes into free agency and was paid top-30 money.
There is no way the Eagles would do that.

[Last Stand]

18 minutes ago, AZ_Eaglesfan said:

Howie has tried to get top of the market Safeties in the past from FA. I think their strategy in FA is more based in market value than positional tbh. They also try to fill holes in FA while drafting for weighted BPA and objectively our roster has a massive hole at LB and Safety(assuming Byard is cut cause he will be). I'd be a bit surprised if we chased a CB in FA considering it is pretty thin pickings and we are in a good spot to grab a CB in the first and have a ton of ammo in the second of the draft. LB and Safety there is a lot of names to pick from I'd definitely expect us to add one of each at this point. 

I agree with that. I think we could conceivably sign both a LB and safety personally

as long as it’s not the top market guy but I think this year there’s enough in that next tier that we can nab 2 guys

[downundermike]

1 hour ago, babyatemydingo said:

Why?
The Eagles have a plethora of needs and timing has a lot to do with filling them.

There isn't a guy at safety I'd consider in the first round which means it can wait.
There are six guys who'd fit into a rotation there and a couple more who could be developed.
Remember Jackson was a 4.

There are a ton of guys at CB and OL who merit that pick.
The Eagles are desperate at LB, too.
Sometimes, you have to draft where the depth is.

Not this draft specific, the Eagles as an organization need to stop devaluing LB, S and CB in the draft.

[Last Stand]

15 minutes ago, babyatemydingo said:

I don't dispute that effective LB's can be had in later rounds.
But, so can safeties.

The Eagles have drafted four safeties in the last 10 years.
The Eagles have drafted six linebackers in the last 10 years.
Proportionally, that is about the same.
Clearly, neither position has been a priority.
Given that the Eagles have two safeties worthy of a roster spot and could add a third, that positon could be de-prioritized unless a player falls in their lap.

Conversely, the LB corps is a mess.
Cunningham, Leonard, Morrow and Bradley are all FA's.
Who do you want back?
Dean is semi-unknown.  They also have VanSumeren.
They NEED linebackers.
It is a much higher priority and thy can mitigate the safety need to address it.

Furthermore, to address your point, the 49'ers and Chiefs have prioritized LB over safety by more than a full round.
Let's look at the starters:

49ers:
LB - 3, 3, 5
S - 5, 8 (UDFA)

KC:
LB - 2, 2, 4
S - 2, 3

ADP:
LB - 3.3
S - 4.5

Finally, former UDFA, TJ Edwards, was signed 30 minutes into free agency and was paid top-30 money.
There is no way the Eagles would do that.

I guess my issue with that is that TJ was worth signing. He had another 150 tackles again this year. I believe he was the biggest reason our defense for the first 11 games was struggling in the middle. If we had resigned Edwards you could’ve ran with nakobe and probably had more wiggle room there. 
 

I do believe Edwards was worth resigning. Us signing a LB this off-season is basically to rectify that and that’s my issue.

i agree with a bit of howies philosophy but letting a top 5 player on the defense who’s 26 walk isn’t good imo. CJGJ is an *** and we tried to resign him but I just didn’t like losing out on Edwards and CJGJ 

hell Alex singleton is still playing well in Denver lol. We keep letting good LBs walk. That’s why we have a hole. Were double dipping in bad with LB. Letting good ones walk and completely missing on their replacements

[babyatemydingo]

8 minutes ago, downundermike said:

Not this draft specific, the Eagles as an organization need to stop devaluing LB, S and CB in the draft.

True.

However, I wouldn't call the CB position a non-priority.

I just think they've had it filled sufficiently for a while., hence half of the roster being DB's.

[AZ_Eaglesfan]

4 minutes ago, babyatemydingo said:

True.

However, I wouldn't call the CB position a non-priority.

I just think they've had it filled sufficiently for a while., hence half of the roster being DB's.

They will invest in CB. They just missed when they drafted them high or the players they wanted weren't available. But they have put a lot of money/draft capital into the position outside of the draft and been regularly linked to prospects during the draft.

They wanted Horn/Surtain in 2020 and if we don't trade for AJ Brown I think McDuffie is an Eagle.

Safety they have shown they are willing to invest in, just not as much in the draft for whatever reason. LB is the one spot they have essentially just never shown they are willing to actually put resources in. We will see if that changes.

[UndyTaker]

2 hours ago, AZ_Eaglesfan said:

I do wonder how much having Fangio will change our strategy in FA.

 

2 hours ago, Last Stand said:

The main thing from my end is we need to add a safety and linebacker in free agency

theyre so important for his system.

This team needs better play from the safety position and better linebackers regardless of who our DC is or what scheme we run. Theyre so important for....defense.

[UndyTaker]

 

[UndyTaker]

 

[IrishHooligan00]

Stop w/ the TJ Edwards is a top LB BS. His Coverage was total crap this season. 

Allowed 82.8% Passing Completion
Targeted 87 Times and Allowed 72 Catches for an Average of 8.9 Yards a completion
3 INT / 7 PD / 0 FF / 2 FR / 2.5 Sacks.

Now for the money it wasn't bad to attempt to resign, but lets stop acting like Edwards would of fixed this shipwreck of defense that we had.

[Last Stand]

50 minutes ago, IrishHooligan00 said:

Stop w/ the TJ Edwards is a top LB BS. His Coverage was total crap this season. 

Allowed 82.8% Passing Completion
Targeted 87 Times and Allowed 72 Catches for an Average of 8.9 Yards a completion
3 INT / 7 PD / 0 FF / 2 FR / 2.5 Sacks.

Now for the money it wasn't bad to attempt to resign, but lets stop acting like Edwards would have fixed this shipwreck of defense that we had.

 He would’ve though? He made a major difference in 2022. The difference between having decent to good play from LB vs having utter trash is a chasm  the size of the Grand Canyon

there isn’t a gluttony of elite LBs in the nfl. It’s easily the weakest position right now league wide. Having legitimate starting caliber players there is different than having an undersized injury mess and 2 off the street guys. 
 

Edwards doesn’t need to be Fred Warner to make a difference here. Sheer competency would’ve been enough. Edwards is more than competent. He’s good. He’s not roquan smith but he’s a legitimately good LB. There’s like maybe 5 guys who can stop the run and pass at an elite level, if that. 

[4for4PhillyFan]

Convinced the Eagles will target a player like Wilkins before they do the sensible thing and address the back end.   Wilkins is more on brand for them, especially with Fletcher most likely leaving.  

[Danger]

Who do y'all want as QB2 for 2024? I like Tanner McKee but I don't think it's time for him this season.

Darnold seems like a reasonable choice IMO, but I know everyone will have their own ideas. 

[Last Stand]

2 hours ago, Danger said:

Who do y'all want as QB2 for 2024? I like Tanner McKee but I don't think it's time for him this season.

Darnold seems like a reasonable choice IMO, but I know everyone will have their own ideas. 

Interesting. I think tanner will get a crack at it but likely against a veteran they bring in. I’d be fine with darnold. Apparently they tried to sign Andy dalton. I think I’d like that to help Jalen with acclimating to aspects of Kellen Moores system. 
 

I think someone like dalton could be a very strong presence in the room for a Jalen and McKee group 

[Last Stand]

On 2/18/2024 at 6:37 AM, 4for4PhillyFan said:

Convinced the Eagles will target a player like Wilkins before they do the sensible thing and address the back end.   Wilkins is more on brand for them, especially with Fletcher most likely leaving.  

If not for Milton Williams I’d think this was a great signing. Wilkins would be the best DLman on the team. But I’m just not sure the resources are smart.