The Philadelphia Eagles had another successful season in 2018, although it didn't end as they wished. It was another season where they saw Carson Wentz go down with injury, only for Nick Foles to come striding in to save the day.
They made another playoff push despite the injury to Wentz. It seemed like deja vu to Eagles fans as they just saw this story play out in the previous season.
The only difference was that this time around, the Eagles came up short of winning the Super Bowl by losing to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Divisional Round.
Fast forward to now, and Foles has moved on to the Jacksonville Jaguars. As a result, this means that the Eagles are committed to Wentz for the foreseeable future.
Philadelphia has also spent this offseason trying to reload for the 2019 season. Hopefully, Wentz can remain healthy for the birds of prey in the upcoming season.
The additions to the team should help improve the roster and the future of the organization. Here are a few takeaways from this free agency as it pertains to the Eagles.
3. Eagles Want to Maintain Their Mantra of Getting After the Quarterback
In the past few seasons, Philadelphia has boasted one of the best defensive line groups every season. That will likely hold true for the Eagles in 2019 after their additions in free agency.
The Eagles made an easy decision to retain Brandon Graham before he hit free agency and also went out and got Malik Jackson in free agency.
They also brought Vinny Curry back to Philadelphia after playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2018. Curry played for the Eagles from 2012-2017.
Heading into 2019, the Eagles' defensive line is Derek Barnett, Fletcher Cox, Jackson, and Graham. All are fully capable of rushing the passer and creating pressure.
In 2018, the Eagles ranked eighth in the NFL with 44 sacks as a team. They like to get after the quarterback and they want to keep that a recurring theme in 2019 according to their free agency signings.
2. The Eagles Aren't Fully Committed to Nelson Agholor
The Eagles owe Nelson Agholor nearly $9.4 million in 2019. They have been rumored to shopping the young wideout throughout the league, with no buyers as of yet.
Agholor has been inconsistent so far in his career since being drafted by the Eagles in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft. His production hasn't lived up to his draft position as he heads into the last year of his contract.
When the new league year began, the Eagles were able to acquire DeSean Jackson from the Buccaneers. Of course, Jackson was beloved by the people in Philadelphia during his six-year tenure with the franchise.
After acquiring the deep-threat wide receiver via trade, the Eagles gave Jackson an extension through 2021. Consequently, this shows that the Eagles aren't committed to Agholor moving forward.
Unless Agholor has a breakout season in 2019, we'll likely see Agholor in a new uniform at the beginning of the 2020 season.
1. Howie Roseman Does It Again
Heading into this offseason, many Eagles fans were wondering how their cherished team was going to get out of the cap space trouble they were in.
Philadelphia had nearly $2 million to spend when the offseason began. Just leave it for Howie Roseman to work his magic to find ways to free up money.
Now, the Eagles have $25 million in cap space left over (12th most in NFL). This is after they signed multiple free agents to improve their roster.
One may ask, how were the Eagles able to get out of the hole they were in financially? Roseman and company were able to restructure certain contracts with players to free up money.
For example, the Eagles restructured Lane Johnson's contract to help create more cap space. Johnson was heading into the third year of his five-year contract and was owed $15.2 million this season.
Instead, the team restructured it to where they turned some of his 2019 salary into a bonus—essentially freeing up money. Extending Jason Kelce also freed up money after giving him a new deal.
When you're a team who is paying a ton guys a lot of money, you have to find ways to get creative with freeing up cap space. Roseman has shown yet again that he is masterful when it comes to finding different ways to free up money when there doesn't seem to be much of any.
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