Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 3/8/22.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

Ron Jaworski has doubts if Jalen Hurts is ‘THE GUY’ - NBCSP
Ron Jaworski talks about having doubts about Jalen Hurts after seeing his performance in the playoffs and if Hurts could take the Eagles to the Super Bowl. [TRANSCRIPT: “I do not see the ceiling that high for him. I see a competent quarterback. I see a guy that’s going to play solid football for 10 years in this league. But do you want to be 10-7, 9-8, who do you want to be? What’s your record? Do you want to be a .500 team? Or do you want to be a Super Bowl team? I thought throughout the season, Jalen Hurts played solid football. The playoff game caused me pause. There were opportunities that were left on the field by the quarterback. So, now, hey, I love a lot of the things he does. He’s still a young, developing quarterback. I’ll leave that up to Howie and Nick to make that decision what they want to do. But you don’t go backwards with Hurts, he’s a solid NFL quarterback. But is the ceiling up here? I’m having a hard time buying into that.”]

What we learned in Indy: Eagles buzz, news, notes and thoughts from the combine - The Athletic
It’s harder to gauge what will happen with Deshaun Watson because that would require resolution on his legal status (and playing status), but I wouldn’t rule the Eagles out of that pursuit if Watson is cleared. Unlike teams that publicly (or privately) dismissed the possibility that they would acquire Watson, the Eagles are carefully (and perhaps purposefully) avoiding the topic. However, all of the above should not be interpreted as the team lacking conviction about Hurts. The Eagles seem even more bullish on Hurts this offseason than last offseason, when the coaching staff didn’t know him and Hurts had only started four games. There are important Eagles decision-makers who swoon over Hurts. His intangibles are often discussed, but it’s a relevant discussion because there’s a belief inside the team facility that whatever ceiling Hurts has as a football player, he’ll reach it. One can have a reasonable debate about how high that ceiling is relative to other quarterbacks, but this shouldn’t be viewed as a marriage of convenience simply because Hurts is the quarterback under contract. There is a strong belief in Hurts among Eagles officials.

What the Eagles should do at defensive tackle - BGN
OUTLOOK: The mechanics of the Eagles moving on from Cox this offseason aren’t exactly simple. I mean, it took a 25 minute and 34 second video from Over The Cap to explain how the Eagles trading or cutting him could impact Philly’s cap situation. The Eagles do have avenues to moving him but the guess here is the Birds end up holding on to Cox because they won’t receive an enticing trade offer that justifies a large dead cap number. In theory, Cox should still have some gas left in the tank entering his age 32 season. But, as we often point out here at BGN, there’s a lot of wear-and-tear on his body. Consider that Cox has logged 2,037 more career snaps than Brandon Graham, who is two years older than Cox and entered the NFL two seasons before him. Cox is hardly a bum at this stage but he’s just not the impact player the Eagles are paying him to be. He’s logged just 4.5 sacks in his last 22 games despite being the NFL’s eighth-highest paid interior defender. Not ideal.

Three free agents who make sense for the Eagles, version 4.0 - PhillyVoice
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). Christian 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.

NFL free agency 2022: Deepest and thinnest positions, teams that have biggest needs and who could sign quarterbacks, tight ends, corners - ESPN+
Teams that need to act in the safety market — Let’s start in the NFC East. Both starting safeties for the Cowboys and Eagles are free agents, while the Commanders are likely to cut Collins, who was moved to linebacker last season. Kam Curl will fill one starting spot for Washington, but that still leaves a minimum of five safety spots available within the division. I’ll be watching the Eagles closely because general manager Howie Roseman had a track record of spending up at safety in years past before giving corner Darius Slay a big contract.

Fifth-year option salaries set for 2019 first-round picks - PFT
22. Tackle Andre Dillard, Eagles: $12,604,000. [BLG Note: The Eagles better not pick this fully-guaranteed option up. This is top 17 tackle money.]

Tom Brady finds a home in Philadelphia ... for his newest TB12 location at the Navy Yard - Inquirer
As rumors continue to swirl around Tom Brady’s football future and whether he’s actually retired, it was announced Monday that the seven-time Super Bowl champ’s next stop will be … the Navy Yard? Brady’s TB12 health and wellness company opened a new location Monday inside the Vincera Institute at the Navy Yard. The South Philadelphia spot joins locations in Tampa, Fla., Boston, and Foxboro, Mass., and is the first site that is not in a city tied to Brady’s football career. The site is staffed by TB12 “body coaches” or trainers who teach the same methods centered on muscle pliability that Brady used throughout his career under the watch of Alex Guerrero, his business partner.

The curious case of the Cowboys and Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, & Dalton Schultz - Blogging The Boys
Feel disappointed in Amari Cooper if you will, but he is far from the problem that the Cowboys need rescuing from. They are an organization that chases their tail in every single instance of this variety only to complain about how it never stopped moving. In a few weeks time the Cowboys are very likely going to have handed contracts to Michael Gallup and Dalton Schultz that feel like overpays. They will be overpays, but that is no fault to either player. They are doing what they can to make the most money possible. We can all empathize with that. Where we have a right to be frustrated is with the Stephen Jones of the past as he is the one who made this bed that we all have to lie in. By procrastinating and putting these things off the Cowboys only created a situation that was untenable that they only exacerbated by revealing the true nature of. This situation would be volatile and difficult for them to win (the negotiations with Gallup and Schultz) regardless, but with every leak they have they put themselves more and more behind the eight ball.

Combine thoughts: James Bradberry, Saquon Barkley, prospect notes - Big Blue View
The Giants are still $20.198 million over in effective cap space, per Over The Cap. Like it or not, want to or not, the Giants will have to do what they have to do in order to get under the cap. One of those things they almost certainly have to do over the next nine days in trade Bradberry, their best cornerback. Doing so would save them $12.136 million over the cap. There is no other single move they can make that would bring them that much cap relief. They could save more ($13.5 million) if they waited until the draft or made him a post-June 1 cut. Doing that, though, is not going to help them get under the cap in the next nine days. There has been much speculation about what the Giants can get for Bradberry. Maybe the best they can do is a third-round pick. Maybe it’s a fourth-round pick. Whatever it is, the Giants almost certainly have to take it — and they pretty much have no choice but to do it in the next nine days.

About Washington’s linebackers - Hogs Haven
Personally, I think the Commanders will be using their first-round pick on a quarterback, whether in trade for a veteran or in April’s draft. I don’t think the team has the luxury of picking a linebacker earlier than the 2nd round. With clear needs at free safety and linebacker, I think the team needs to use veteran free agency to find a starter at (at least) one of those two positions. If they get only one clear starter, then they need to and to get at least a serviceable player at the other position (I’m talking linebacker & free safety here) ahead of the draft so they aren’t forced into over-drafting a player to plug a roster hole.

2022 NFL free agency: Players who could be overpriced, underpriced - NFL.com
Justin Reid — Reid’s coaches have spoken highly of his leadership, toughness and intelligence. His rangy play early in his career made me believe he was headed for future All-Pro nods. Coming off a down season for a down franchise, now would be a great time for someone to buy low. Then again, teams should have options ...

NFL suspends Calvin Ridley for the entire 2022 season - The Falcoholic
To say we’re shocked by this is an understatement, given that there had no been no leaks that we’re aware from Ridley, the team, or the NFL that suggested that this suspension was forthcoming. We were preparing to find out whether the Falcons would deal Ridley for picks and cap relief or bring him back in hopes of a bounceback season in 2022, but now neither of those things are going to happen. Atlanta will go into the 2022 season now with a decimated wide receiver depth chart, likely with a little more cap space with Ridley’s salary coming off the books, and without Ridley. We’re hopeful both team and player come out of this situation better off than they were before, but man is this rough.

26 Questions About Calvin Ridley’s Suspension for Betting on the NFL - The Ringer
14. Why does it seem like the league has put more effort into investigating Ridley’s bets, for which no game “was compromised in any way,” than into investigating whether Dolphins owner Stephen Ross attempted to pay former Miami head coach Brian Flores to intentionally lose games?

NFL Mock Draft: Compete first round after the NFL combine - SB Nation
The big movement in this mock isn’t really movement at all. I still have Malik Willis being selected by the Washington Commanders at No. 11, but now he’s the first quarterback off the board. This really feels too low, and honestly, I could see several teams in the Top 10 like Carolina, Atlanta or Denver all selecting him — or a dark horse trading up when the dust settles. Let me put it this way: I think the absolute floor for Willis is that No. 11 pick. The Commanders are in dire need of a QB, and Ron Rivera made a career for himself in Carolina with Cam Newton at the helm, so he’s accustomed to rolling the dice on mammoth upside at the position, rather than waiting for a perfectly polished product.

Monday Football Monday #78: Top 5 Free Agents List - The SB Nation NFL Show
Pete Sweeney and RJ Ochoa are joined by Raichele Privette to compile a list of the Top 5 Free Agents about to hit the open market. They also share their thoughts on who should fall under honorable mentions.

What you need to know about Biden’s free rapid test program - Vox
The Biden administration’s website for free Covid-19 rapid tests is open for new orders. The government page, covidtests.gov, first arrived amid a shortage of rapid tests and a surge in Covid-19 cases fueled by the omicron variant. Now, nearly two months later, anyone who already ordered four tests can now order another four tests. This change means that a household can order eight free tests in total.

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