March 07, 2016
Rick Scuteri/AP
Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse's numbers have improved each year he has been in the NFL.
Back in January, we laid out five free agents who may make sense for the Philadelphia Eagles when the new league year begins on March 9. Last week, we suggested five more. If you think I missed a positional group or an obvious player of interest below, I probably already covered them in one of those links. Here are our last five heading into free agency:
Brooks is an interesting case. He was not invited to the 2012 NFL Combine, but had an amazing pro day. At 6'5, 346 at the time, Brooks ran a 4.99 40, had a 32" vertical jump, he did 36 reps on the bench press, and look at what he did to this poor scout:
Lol.
One of the things the Eagles' offensive line has lacked for quite some time is an interior lineman who can move defensive linemen off the line of scrimmage against their will. At 6'5, 335, Brooks could be that for the Eagles. He will turn 27 in August, and played RG for the Texans.
Silatolu's college highlights at small school Midwestern State are hilarious. Defenders essentially bounced off of him like Christian Okoye in Tecmo Bowl. This is definitely worth a quick view:
In the pros, Silatolu's career has been stalled due to an ACL tear in his right knee in 2013, and then another ACL tear in his left knee in 2015.
If the Eagles still believe in their sports science initiatives, Silatolu is a player with some intriguing upside who could potentially be had at a low cost. Silatolu will turn 28 in September.
With free agent wide receivers, you really want to be careful not to pay 2's like 1's to play like 3's. It happens every year in free agency. However, if there were one player worth taking a chance on, I would go with Seattle's Jermaine Kearse. Over his four year career, Kearse's numbers have improved every season:
| Jermaine Kearse | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| 2012 | 3 | 31 | 10.3 | 0 |
| 2013 | 22 | 346 | 15.7 | 4 |
| 2014 | 38 | 537 | 14.1 | 1 |
| 2015 | 49 | 685 | 14.0 | 5 |
He has also been a very productive player in playoff games. Against the Panthers a few months ago, he had 11 catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns. In a playoff game against the Panthers the previous year, he had 3 catches for 129 yards and a TD.
In fact, Kearse has as many playoff touchdown receptions (six) over his career as the entire Eagles roster combined. (Brent Celek and Darren Sproles each have three).
Kearse just turned 26 in February.
As we've noted, the Eagles have essentially nothing in the way of depth at wide receiver:
| WR1 | WR2 |
| Jordan Matthews | Nelson Agholor |
| Josh Huff | Freddie Martino |
| Jonathan Krause | Seantavius Jones |
| Xavier Rush |
They're going to need to add a player there who can play special teams, and occasionally contribute in the regular offense. Unfortunately, there aren't many of those guys who exist in this free agent crop.
One player who might make sense is the Bears' Josh Bellamy. In 2015, Bellamy had eight special teams tackles. As a receiver, he caught 19 passes for 224 yards and 2 TDs.
Bellamy has great speed. At his pro day at Louisville in 2012 he ran a 4.38 40 time, so there could be some hope for him as a player who can stretch the defense.
Another player who could make sense for the Eagles is old friend Russell Shepard, who played for the Bucs in 2015. Over the last two seasons, Shepard has notched an impressive 24 special teams tackles.
To note, both Bellamy and Shepard are restricted free agents. Since both were undrafted, the Eagles would not have to give up any compensation to sign them, but their respective teams would have to option to match any deal the Eagles offered.
Please note the title of this article is "version 3.0." In other words, I'm running out of guys to profile. Abdullah turns 31 in July, so he is not an ideal fit for an Eagles team I suspect will once again try to begin rebuilding with youth. However, Abdullah played well last season and would make sense as a Plan B or C if other safety targets sign elsewhere. Obviously, having played for the Chiefs, Doug Pederson should have some kind of idea about his character, even if he didn't coach him directly.
