The Linc – Don’t rule out the Eagles drafting yet another first-round WR

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 3/7/22.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Bold, outside-the-box offseason moves for all 32 NFL teams: Keep Jimmy Garoppolo, Trade Alvin Kamara, sign J.C. Jackson – ESPN
Get ready to draft yet another first-round receiver. The Eagles have three first-round picks, and there are a bevy of wideouts projected to go around the middle of the round such as Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson, Arkansas’ Treylon Burks, USC’s Drake London, Alabama’s Jameson Williams and (also) Ohio State’s Chris Olave. The team has tried to boost the wideout corps early and often over the past few years and has wound up with … Jalen Reagor and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. Now, DeVonta Smith’s rookie season was promising despite the run-heavy profile the team took on with Jalen Hurts under center. But whether you consider Hurts a long-term solution or not, the team needs more firepower to exploit teams that stack up against the run, as the Bucs did to Philly in the playoffs. Philadelphia continues to get perilously close to major star roster turnover as players like Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox get closer to retirement age. They already lost Brandon Brooks to retirement this offseason, and Kelce is a free agent. There are plenty of legitimate arguments for how they should spend their treasure trove of picks. But the best way to figure out what they have in Hurts is to put another top-notch wideout into the equation — perhaps teamed with a veteran free agent such as Smith-Schuster or DJ Chark Jr. to take some early snaps while the rookie adjusts to the NFL.

Will the Eagles draft a first-round WR for a third year in a row? Why value, need and resources are all factors – The Athletic
There are no lectures on resource allocation that would advocate investing first-round picks three years in a row in the same position. There aren’t many teams that want to follow the model of Matt Millen’s early-2000s Lions. But context matters. In an ordinary year with one first-round pick, it might not be as much of a discussion. There would surely be an edge rusher or a cornerback who presents value where they’re drafting. But the Eagles have three first-round picks, a luxury that changes the equation. General manager Howie Roseman will likely be active in trying to trade picks. Yet when handicapping where the value might be in the teens — the Eagles own picks No. 15, 16 and 19 — it would be impossible to avoid a conversation about wide receivers. With uncertainty about 2020 first-round pick Jalen Reagor’s ability to be a top-of-the-depth chart player after two seasons, the Eagles can use help in a group headlined by 2021 first-round pick DeVonta Smith.

Eagles 2022 free agency rumor and report tracker – PhillyVoice
Howie Roseman was given the opportunity to pour some cold water on Deshaun Watson rumors at the Combine, and he punted. “We have Jalen Hurts, who’s a 23-year-old quarterback, who led his team to the playoffs, and he’s going to get better and better and better,” Roseman said. “He’s going to do everything possible to get better, and we have to do our part in that. “In terms of players on different teams, no matter what position, don’t feel comfortable, can’t talk about players on other teams. “What’s going on in the league, I think that’s part of what we missed here the last couple of years. I think you kind of come here and you kind of start hearing some things about what’s going on at each position, and you just try to gather information. I’m not talking about the quarterback position, I’m talking about in general. You try to gather information about what’s going on and what opportunities there are to improve our football team.” By contrast, Dolphins GM Chris Greer emphatically stated that Miami is out on Watson, when they also clearly had strong interest in him a year ago.

QB Talk and More – Iggles Blitz
Amari Cooper could be in high demand. He is a terrific receiver. He’ll turn 28 in June so there should be plenty of good years left in his future. I don’t know that he makes much sense for the Eagles. Cooper wasn’t happy in Dallas because he didn’t get as many targets last year. Nick Sirianni thinks DeVonta Smith is a #1 receiver so the Eagles passing game will be built around him. Spending big money on Cooper would be awkward. He does add another receiver to the market and that could help the Eagles. DeMarcus Lawrence will turn 30 in April and hasn’t had double-digit sacks since 2018, but he remains a talented, disruptive pass rusher. He would be interesting if the cost was right. Interesting times down in Big D.

2022 Dynasty Fantasy Football Tiers: Wide Receivers – Sharp Football Analysis
DeVonta Smith had a strong rookie season with 64-916-5 to build off of. He proved he can be a lead receiver with a diverse route tree right away as he demonstrated in college. While the talent is clearly here to warrant consideration with the players in Tier 3, we still have to question whether or not his immediate situation is going to delay his fantasy stardom from matching that displayed talent. Smith played in an offense that was 29th in the league in pass attempts per game and was attached to a quarterback that was 28th in the league in expected completion percentage. That combination ended up placing Smith 52nd among receivers in receptions per game (3.8) and left us with a lot of lean fantasy weeks. With the Eagles likely to add another pass catcher while still remaining low-volume.

How much better can DeVonta Smith be in Year 2? – NBCSP
Also, keep in mind the Eagles threw the ball an NFL-low 494 times this year, just 29.4 pass attempts per game, their fewest since 1992. The Eagles ran the ball so much there just weren’t that many opportunities for Smith to catch the ball. For the sake of comparison, Justin Jefferson had just over 1,600 receiving yards, but the Vikings threw the ball more than 100 times more than the Eagles. That’s a ton more opportunities. Something else that limited Smith was the Eagles’ desire to force-feed Jalen Reagor, with disastrous results. Reagor had 57 targets, and if those targets had been spread evenly over players who can actually catch a football and make plays — Smith, Dallas Goedert, Quez Watkins, Kenny Gainwell — it would have helped the entire offense, Smith included. The Eagles tried everything to involve Reagor, and that won’t happen in 2022.

A Peek Inside The Journal Of Aidan Hutchinson, And What We Learned At NFL Scouting Combine – FMIA
It was close. Miami was 9-8 and San Francisco 10-7, but the Niners made the playoffs and went all the way to the NFC title game. That gave them the 29th overall pick. Miami, out of the playoffs, would pick 15th. Think about the difference made by one regular-season win and some playoff success. Huge. Roseman gets his share of guff as Eagles GM, and some is deserved. But by apparently holding firm on which pick he wanted a year later, his call was prescient. A 14-spot difference in the first round is big. Think of it this way: The well-worn NFL Draft Trade Value chart places a point value on each pick for the purpose of evaluation trades. Look at these numbers: Value of 15th pick: 1,050 points. Value of 29th pick: 640 points. Difference: 410 points. So, 410 points is the exact value of the 49th overall pick in the draft. Some recent 49th picks: Chase Claypool, Dallas Goedert, Max Unger, DeSean Jackson. That’s value. Now the Eagles have the 15th (via Miami), 16th (via Indianapolis) and 19th picks and control the middle of a first round that’s not great at the top. (It’s possible Philly could try to trade down and acquire a prime pick in the second round.) The Eagles would have had less control with only two picks in the middle of the first round instead of three. Philly projected right on the trade, and it could pay off in April.

Doug Pederson impressing the Jaguars by “just coming in and being me” – Big Cat Country
When Pederson was asked about what he has done to impress Khan and Baalke in the short period of time since he was hired on Feb. 3, Pederson had this to say: “I think just coming in and being me,” Pederson said. “The relationship that Trent (Baalke) and I have built and continue to build every single day. I think it speaks volumes what our owner has said and he really has given the confidence to Trent and I to really build this thing. Not to say we can’t continue to add value in the personnel department, we could still do that. At the same time, it shows the confidence (Khan) has and really me just being me from day one and showing people there who I really am.” As for what role Pederson will have in personnel decisions, he will of course have a say in the players the Jaguars are bringing in this offseason through free agency, the NFL Draft or trades, but the Jaguars will have a “collaborative” process between Pederson, Baalke and others in the personnel department.

Carson Wentz Was Who He Was . . . Or Was He? – Stampede Blue
There are so many variables in football that it is easy to cherry-pick your way into thinking and excusing anything (even that Jacoby Brissett would have led us to the playoffs if he hadn’t been injured), but that way lies madness. At some point, you have to stop reaching into the infinite bag of “what-ifs” and “yeah-buts” and simply believe what the numbers have been telling you all along: Wentz had almost no chance of becoming a top tier QB in Indianapolis, because his career numbers in Philadelphia showed us he was not a top tier QB. No deeper analysis needed. I don’t know who will be under center next year for the Colts, but unless they are a rookie, my best guess is that his 2022 will look a lot like his career average numbers. I also bet a lot of people will be surprised if that happens.

Report: Dallas Cowboys asked DeMarcus Lawrence to take a pay cut, he said no, his future now in doubt – Blogging The Boys
It is true that releasing Lawrence could save $19M against the salary cap (a post-June 1st designation would leave $8M in dead cap space next season), but at what other cost? The Cowboys are already on the precipice of watching their top wide receiver walk away. Why would they purposefully, willingly, and consciously do this at the all-important position of pass rusher? While many will argue that Lawrence is actually not that impactful due to his lack of sack numbers, most would agree that this team is worse without him. Cutting him as well as Amari Cooper in an offseason directly preceding a year where so much is on the line would be unwise.

Giants 2022 free agency: Are the Giants, Mitchell Trubisky a perfect match?- Big Blue View
NFL insider Tony Pauline reported Sunday that the Giants will “very likely” target Trubisky and could give him the opportunity to compete with Daniel Jones for the starting job. […] The money part remains the biggest issue. The Giants remain $20.198 million in effective cap space over the salary cap, per Over The Cap. Moves are coming, but it is hard to see the Giants being able to spend big money. Besides, would ownership go along with spending fairly big money to create a quarterback controversy that might spell doom for Daniel Jones? Co-owner John Mara had indicated when Brian Daboll was hired that he expected Jones to remain the quarterback in 2022.

NFL Daily Kickoff, Monday- Aaron Rodgers has deals in place when he decides + NFL Combine wraps up – The SB Nation NFL Show
In today’s episode, Mike Florio says Aaron Rodgers has deals in place with three teams if he wants to leave the Packers, the Combine goes out with a bang, and the Chiefs could lose a major defensive piece to free agency.

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