February 26, 2024
NFL free agency is just around the corner, and while the Philadelphia Eagles may not be strong candidates to go on a splashy shopping spree, they'll have more ability to spend than they did a year ago, when players left in droves. Here are three free agents who make sense.
Around the trade deadline, I had heard from a few sources that the Eagles were sniffing around Panthers linebacker/safety hybrid Jeremy Chinn, but Chinn suffered a quad injury, thus ending the Eagles' pursuit.
Dugger is a linebacker/safety hybrid in the same mold as Chinn, but he's a better player. His stats the last three seasons:
| Kyle Dugger | Tackles | INT | FF-FR | TD |
| 2021 | 92 | 4 | 0-1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 78 | 3 | 1-1 | 3 |
| 2023 | 109 | 2 | 1-0 | 0 |
Two of those three INTs in 2022 were pick-sixes. Here's one:
Kyle Dugger walks in for the pick-six ‼️
— NFL (@NFL) December 18, 2022
📺: #NEvsLV on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/SuNPv0yZ94 pic.twitter.com/a36pvmm0qi
Aaaand the other:
.@Patriots take the lead on a pick-6!
— NFL (@NFL) January 1, 2023
📺: #MIAvsNE on CBS
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/b9AODMuLy1 pic.twitter.com/XZGMmfPCGj
He also nearly had a couple of pick-sixes in 2021. I guess we'll show those, too.
Kyle Dugger has the @Patriots in scoring position 🙌 #ForeverNE
— NFL (@NFL) November 14, 2021
📺: #CLEvsNE on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/W523lSwB1t
And the other:
Kyle Dugger has the @Patriots in scoring position 🙌 #ForeverNE
— NFL (@NFL) November 14, 2021
📺: #CLEvsNE on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/W523lSwB1t
Dugger a ball hawk, and a physical run defender. He will likely be one of the top earning safeties on the open market.
If the Patriots franchise tag Dugger, it will cost them a little over $17 million, so that feels unlikely.
The Eagles feel like a certainty to sign some kind of safety, whether that's a player in their prime coming off their rookie contract, or some veteran Band-Aid on the downside of his career.
From the Eagles' perspective, the argument for the Band-Aid is if they feel that Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown are the future of the position in Philly. Brown tore an ACL in the final regular season game against the Giants, and his health will be in question through 2024 training camp. Adding a 30+ year old guy like Eddie Jackson, for example, would in theory buy Brown some time to get right.
The argument for spending on a clearly good player in his prime is if you have any doubts as to whether Blankenship or Brown don't become what the Eagles hope they will be. Both have shown promise, but neither has proven yet to be a good NFL starter. Realistically, it's more likely than not that at least one of them will disappoint.
Should the Eagles add an already proven player like Dugger and all three of Dugger, Blankenship, and Brown pan out, then having three good safeties would be a good problem to have, even if that's the reason not to sign an expensive free agent. With Dugger's linebacker versatility, Vic Fangio could surely find plenty of playing time for all three guys.
The Eagles tried to add a top of the market safety in 2021, but they whiffed on guys like Marcus Williams and Justin Reid. Otherwise, the last time they splurged on a free agent safety was Rodney McLeod, which worked out. Here are the cheap safeties the Eagles have signed since McLeod:
If you go cheap at safety, there's a good chance that guy is going to suck, so you may as well just pony up and make sure you fix the position.
Brown has been in the NFL for six seasons, and it took him a little while to become a productive receiver.
| Noah Brown | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| 2017 - Cowboys | 4 | 33 | 8.3 | 0 |
| 2018 - Cowboys | 5 | 54 | 10.8 | 0 |
| 2019 (DNP - knee) - Cowboys | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 - Cowboys | 14 | 154 | 11.0 | 0 |
| 2021 - Cowboys | 16 | 184 | 11.5 | 0 |
| 2022 - Cowboys | 43 | 555 | 12.9 | 3 |
| 2023 - Texans | 33 | 567 | 17.2 | 2 |
Of course, he and Kellen Moore were in Dallas together for six seasons.
But it was 2023 when Brown had something of a breakthrough season. He had 33 catches for 567 yards (a very good 17.2 YPC) and 2 TDs in just 10 games. He had two monster games in a pair of Texans shootout wins:
He has good size at 6'2, 215, and plays like it.
2023 season advanced metrics amongst 80 WRs w/ at least 50 targets:
— Anthony Cover 1 (@Pro__Ant) February 20, 2024
-6th in yards per target
-4th in yards per catch
-12th in first down %
-17th in QB rating when targeted
-19th in avg depth of catch
-20th in EPA per target
-31st in yards per route run
As you can see in the bottom tweet above, he made the most of the opportunities that came his way, unlike Quez Watkins.
In 2023, Brown's snaps were about 40:60 slot vs. outside, so, you know, he can do both. For the Eagles' purposes, with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith also playing some in the slot, that's a perfectly fine ratio.
Al-Shaair was a 49ers undrafted free agent signing who started 48 games in San Francisco in his first four years. He left for Tennessee in free agency in 2023 and racked up 163 tackles, fifth-most in the NFL. He's a run-and-hit WILL linebacker.
Should we bring back Azeez Al-Shaair 😳?
— Chris - NFL Content (@chrissantosss_) February 17, 2024
Dude balled for us in the past & was ballin on the Titans this year. He had 163 Total tackles, 84 solo & 79 Assists as well as 2 Sacks. #49ers #FTTB #FreeAgency pic.twitter.com/XHzmgycOXF
The Eagles need linebackers (#analysis), and Al-Shaair is an ascending player entering his prime.
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