Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 3/29/22.

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

Five takeaways from Howie Roseman’s owners meetings press conference - PhillyVoice
3) The Eagles feel that they need to get more targets for their skill position players. One of the logical theories of Eagles free agency is that wide receivers don’t want to play in Philly because the Eagles were the most run-heavy team in the NFL a season ago. Roseman acknowledged that ultimately they want to pass the ball more. “I think when we look at our skill position guys, and we look at DeVonta Smith, and I’m not speaking out of turn — this is after my conversation with Coach Sirianni and our coaches, obviously this is lockstep with them — DeVonta Smith had 118 targets,” Roseman said. “I think I’m right on that number, but if I’m wrong I apologize. (It was 104, so apology accepted.) “When you look at the players in Coach Sirianni’s offense and the No. 1 receivers in the league, you’re talking about guys getting 150 targets. When you talk about Dallas Goedert — and obviously we had Zach — he had 84 targets last year (it was actually 76). Guys who are tight ends of his caliber, you’re talking about guys who are getting 120 targets per year. Even when you look at Quez, I think he had 60 targets (62, actually). “And so we believe, in those three guys specifically the first two guys, they’re going to require, as their skill sets continue to get better and better, and as they get more comfortable in the offense, they are going to require more targets. “So I think we have to look at, we’re kind of saying, can we also satisfy players who are going to gobble up a lot of targets while we’re trying to satisfy these young players that we think have a chance to be exceptional players.” The bigger takeaway here is probably that the Eagles do not want to be the run-heavy team that they were a year ago, long-term.

Why 3 first-round picks has changed Eagles’ free agency process - NBCSP
While it seems possible the Eagles won’t use all three first-rounders — at least not at Nos. 15, 16 and 19 — Roseman on Monday made it seem like he’s preparing for that possibility. Or at least for the possibility of leaving the draft with a haul of players who will be ready to play from Day 1. “I think the other part of this is when you have the amount of high picks we have, we don’t want to block these players from playing,” Roseman said. “We don’t want to get in a situation where we’re drafting guys in the first, second, sometimes even the third round and they don’t have an ability to play because you’re wasting a contract year. That gives us the opportunity to draft guys and to play early in a contract, which we think is an important part of the team-building process we’re in.” [BLG Note: Will be thinking back to this quote if they draft an edge rusher who’s stuck as DE5 behind Derek Barnett. And/or a promising DT being behind Fletcher Cox.]

Howie Roseman speaks: Eagles GM on the team’s lack of offseason moves, Jalen Hurts’ status and more - The Athletic
Barnett has 21.5 sacks and 76 quarterback hits in five seasons with the Eagles. He also had more roughing-the-passer penalties than sacks in his contract year last season and was tied for the most penalties in the league among defensive ends. Roseman admitted that Barnett expected a different outcome in free agency. When the market didn’t provide what Barnett sought, the Eagles viewed him as part of a pass-rushing group that would be bolstered by Reddick and the return of Brandon Graham. “For us, understanding that that’s where he was thinking and it got to a point where it’s a huge priority to us to have a wave defensive line, that’s really good,” Roseman said. “We know we can count on him.”

6 things to know about new Eagles linebacker Kyzir White - BGN
Chargers fans, including me, are quite dumbfounded that the team did not re-sign White, especially after seeing him sign for a very manageable $5 million. Without White, the Chargers’ linebacker room is extremely shallow and almost devoid of any really impactful talent. As it stands, you’re looking at Kenneth Murray, Drue Tranquill, Nick Niemann, and Amen Ogbongbemiga. That’s an issue. While the team has made a handful of very smart moves to reinforce the unit ahead of this upcoming season, it just seems so questionable that they are completely ignoring an entire position on the field. If you believe in the old saying, “You’re only as good as your weakest player,” then the Chargers aren’t doing themselves any favors by moving on from White.

How free agency has changed the first-round strategies of 8 teams in the 2022 NFL Draft - PFF
While the Eagles may not have invested a ton at the position, it has never been their philosophy to allocate a lot of resources at off-ball linebacker. The team has never paid an off-ball linebacker more than $8 million per year and hasn’t used a top-100 pick at the position since selecting Jordan Hicks 84th overall in 2015. It’s hard to envision Philadelphia using a top-20 pick at the position this season, even with three of them at their disposal. Edge defender now seems less likely after the Eagles signed Haason Reddick to a three-year, $45 million contract in the first wave of free agency and also brought back their 2017 first-round pick edge defender Derek Barnett on a two-year deal. Wide receiver and cornerback appear more likely at this juncture, with a handful of options likely available. The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson reported that the Eagles are one of a handful of teams potentially interested in trading with the Miami Dolphins for big-bodied, jump ball wide receiver DeVante Parker. Parker has the second-most contested catches in the NFL since 2019 ( 104), and USC’s Drake London had the second-most contested catches among Power Five wide receivers in 2021 (28), routinely going up over defensive backs and making plays on the ball in the air. Philadelphia is clearly looking to add a weapon with this skill set to pair with 2021 first-round wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Will they use a first-round pick on a wide receiver three years in a row?

NFL Power Rankings 2022: Post-free agency 1-32 poll, plus predicting next offseason move for each team - ESPN
19. Philadelphia Eagles. Next offseason move: Bolster the secondary. With Rodney McLeod and Steven Nelson no longer under contract, the Eagles are still without a starting safety and starting cornerback for 2022. They took a swing at a couple of the top free-agent safeties, but were unable to land one. Instead, they brought back Anthony Harris on a one-year deal. While that helps fill out the secondary picture, it doesn’t complete it. Cornerback Darius Slay still needs a counterpart. The Eagles seem to like a few of the young CBs on the roster like Zech McPhearson, Tay Gowan and Kary Vincent Jr., but need to continue to add. They’ll look to the second wave of free agency and the draft — where they hold three first-round picks — to address those needs.

2021 Failed Completions: The Bell Tolls for Roethlisberger - Football Outsiders
And, on that note, we can run our table of successful completion percentage—the percentage of all pass attempts that end as successful completions. This is where we count all failed completions as incomplete passes, removing some of the empty passing calories from completion percentage around the league. [BLG Note: Jalen Hurts ranked 28th in successful completion percentage ... immediately below Carson Wentz and only above Tyler Huntley, Daniel Jones, Ben Roethlisberger, Sam Darnold, Justin Fields, and Zach Wilson.]

‘Extended Period’ Overtime is Gaining Momentum - MAQB
In the morning column, we raised a less-discussed overtime idea called “continuation,” and I now think there’s a chance it’ll get traction in Tuesday’s discussions on the two existing overtime proposals, one made by the Eagles and Colts, the other by the Titans. My understanding is it’s now being called “extended period” overtime, and it was discussed at the highest levels of the league on Monday. For those who missed it, the idea, which is being introduced to a lot of the coaches for the first time this week (but has been floating around for a while), would be to play overtime in a sudden-death format and transition into overtime from regulation the same way you’d go from the first to second quarter or third to fourth quarter. In other words, if the game’s tied and a team has the ball at, say, its own 48 as time expires on regulation, the “fifth” quarter starts with the ball there, and the same down-and-distance. The concept is that the possession, then, is earned, the coin toss is taken out of it and the extra period is being played within the context of the four-quarter game that just ended. So if a team is facing fourth-and-2 from the other team’s 48 with five seconds left in regulation, there’s a real decision to be made—the wind could even affect that one. Anyway, I like the idea and can see why it’s gathered some late momentum. We’ll see if it’s too late. I think it might not be.

Steelers to sign former Eagles linebacker Genard Avery to one-year deal - Behind The Steel Curtain
If you are looking for a playmaking defender, Avery isn’t that guy. In 2021 he played in 16 games, starting 12, and notching 1.0 sack, 43 combined tackles, 4 tackles for loss and 2 quarterback hits. This isn’t to suggest Avery isn’t a good player, but someone who will have to be utilized for his strengths. It is unclear how Avery will truly help the Steelers’ defense in 2022, but considering he is listed as a defensive end, it is a safe bet he could be the team’s needed depth at outside linebacker behind the likes of T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Derrek Tuszka. In other words, Avery could fill the role Taco Charlton filled in 2021.

The Dallas Cowboys have addressed all but one of their major needs this offseason - Blogging The Boys
As it stands offensive line is the biggest position of need for the Cowboys and the best answer for that might in fact come during next month’s draft. This week we launched a series on the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel (make sure to subscribe which you can do right here) called ‘Mock Draft Monday’ (a name that nobody has ever used before!) where we run through mock drafts to figure out options that would work well for the Cowboys. When Dallas was on the clock we were fortunate enough to be sitting in a spot where Tyler Linderbaum, Kenyon Green, and Zion Johnson were all there. Obviously this was just one exercise and one of many ways that things could play out a few weeks from now, but seeing a world where Dallas has options should make us all feel better about the glaring need at left guard at the moment.

Are the 2022 draft options at QB as dire as they seem? - Hogs Haven
So there you have it, a crop of quarterbacks with no clear cut frontrunner, a host of comps to middle of the pack NFL journeymen - though, to his credit, Dalton has accrued a 77-69-2 career record spanning over a decade - and several NFL teams still in need of a QB upgrade. As I watch more film, and read up on each of the prospects, my sentiments are beginning to crystalize around one of the potential options, but I’m curious to hear your thoughts about this group in the comments.

2022 NFL free agency: Patriots to host Jabrill Peppers, per report - Big Blue View
Peppers was voted a team captain on the special teams unit in 2020, and signing with the Patriots would reunite Peppers with Joe Judge. The big question, at least from the Giants’ perspective, the size of a potential contract. Former Giants departing in free agency haven’t received the kind of big contracts that earn their team significant compensatory picks. The biggest contracts signed have been Evan Engram (one year, $9 million), Austin Johnson (two years, $14 million), Lorenzo Carter (one year, $3.5 million), and Keion Crossen (3 years, $9.5 million). A good contract for Peppers could help tip the financial scales more heavily in the Giants’ favor in the complicated compensatory pick formula.

Daniel Jeremiah’s top 50: 2022 NFL Draft prospect rankings 3.0 - NFL.com
5) WR Garrett Wilson - Wilson is a highly competitive wideout with route polish and excellent run-after-catch ability. He doesn’t have elite speed, but gets to his top speed very quickly in the route. He is very crisp at the the top of routes, creating a lot of separation. The Ohio State product makes several plays above the rim and really plays much bigger than his size (6-foot, 188). He does have a few concentration drops, but I believe that is correctable. Wilson is at his best after the catch, as he can make defenders miss, power through tackles or utilize a stiff arm. I love his competitive nature. Overall, Wilson has a complete skill set and reminds me of Stefon Diggs.

Kyle Hamilton Is the Best Player in the NFL Draft. Why Won’t He Be the No. 1 Pick? - The Ringer
The league has historically overlooked safeties, and appears poised to do so again in April’s draft. But a closer look reveals the value of the position is on the rise—and Hamilton is the perfect prospect to maximize a defense.

Peyton Manning wants Tom Brady to give back his retirement gift - SB Nation
Peyton Manning reached out to Tom Brady when he announced his retirement, giving the NFL legend a nice hand-written letter and a bottle of wine. Now he wants it back.

Monday Football Monday #81: SB Nation NFL Show Oscar Awards - The SB Nation NFL Show
Pete Sweeney, RJ Ochoa and Raichele Privette make their case for teams and players that should win best actor, best supporting actor and best film from the NFL offseason.

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