February 15, 2016
Michael Perez/AP
The Eagles' salary cap is a factor in their offseason moves. How will their quarterbacks factor in?
Among the most useful websites for any NFL fan is overthecap.com, which shows detailed breakdowns of every player contract in the league. This year, they are publishing offseason previews for each team. On Friday last week they turned their attention to the Eagles. Even if you don't agree with their recommendations on what the Eagles should do this offseason, it's a very in-depth look at their salary cap position.
Here's what they had to say about the Eagles quarterback situation:
If Bradford leaves that probably puts the Eagles into the market for Chase Daniel or a similar low cost player with a bit of upside. There is the rumor that the Eagles are considered bringing back Nick Foles who they traded to the Rams last year. Foles would cost the team $7.75 million if they acquired him which would be an affordable option. I could see the logic in that even though Foles was so bad for the Rams last year. He is familiar with the organization and one year at $8 million is probably a better value that Bradford at $16. There is also no long term commitment with Foles.
Of note is that Bryce Johnston contributed to the piece. Johnston used to run eaglescap.com, which is now defunct. Typically, when national sites make ambitious attempts to do deep-dive analysis on all 32 teams, they can end up being awful, because it's impossible to know all 32 teams the same way each teams' most hardcore fans will. However, they did a good job here.
Obviously, with a new coaching staff, we all have to start over at square one and begin to figure out what traits Pederson and his crew will prefer at each positional group. Tommy Lawlor of IgglesBlitz took a swing at it at quarterback.
Pederson has talked about how he values the QB being able to make adjustments while at the line of scrimmage. That worked very well for the Chiefs this past season so I’m sure that is something he really wants. No rookie QB is ready to make a lot of adjustments, but some do that better than others.
Cal offensive coordinator Tony Franklin gave Jared Goff the freedom to change plays at the line of scrimmage. Cal did run a spread attack, but valued the QB being able to read the defense and make adjustments. I don’t think Carson Wentz and Paxton Lynch have as much freedom.
Wentz does play in more of a conventional offense so getting to the line, reading the defense and changing plays/protections/routes should come easier to him than someone playing in a spread attack that is built more around quick reads and sideline adjustments.
Tommy also mentioned Stanford's Kevin Hogan as an option later in the draft, and identified a mid-round DE target I hadn't heard of yet.
According to Geoff Mosher, the Eagles have not yet engaged in talks with Walter Thurmond:
No extension discussions have taken place between #Eagles and pending free agent S Walter Thurmond, per source. Likely to talk at Combine.
— Geoff Mosher (@GeoffMosherNFL) February 13, 2016
My best guess is that Thurmond is playing elsewhere in 2016. Personally, I think he's a slot corner, not a safety, and his 2015 season was a bit overrated. He showed the ability to cover slot receivers, but was often ineffective as a tackler in the run game.
According to Don Banks of Sports Illustrated, he is.
See if this sounds familiar: In 2013, Kelly took over a last-place Eagles team that has gone 8–8 and 4–12 in its past two seasons, missing the playoffs after a sustained streak of postseason appearances. There were question marks at quarterback in Philly, but Kelly took a little Michael Vick and a little Nick Foles, and wound up leading the Eagles to a 10–6 record, the NFC East title and a playoff berth.
In 2016, Kelly takes over a last-place 49ers team that has gone 8–8 and 5–11 in its past two seasons, missing the playoffs after a sustained streak of appearances. There are questions at quarterback in San Francisco, with Kelly having the option of trying to fix the struggling Colin Kaepernick, draft a first-round passer at No. 7 or perhaps toss the keys to veteran Blaine Gabbert, who played surprisingly well in Kaepernick’s relief at the end of last season.
Ergo, is there a bounce-back 10–6 playoff season in store in San Francisco with Kelly’s first-year magic being repeated? It’s not out of the question, but the 49ers play in perhaps the toughest division in the league and have plenty more holes to fill than just the quarterback slot (like receiver). Still, Kelly is the only new coach in this year’s contingent with a 10-win season to his credit in the NFL, and he’s got two of them. The league’s other two re-tread hires—Cleveland’s Hue Jackson and Tennessee’s Mike Mularkey—can’t say that. Giving Kelly personnel authority turned into an unmitigated disaster in Philadelphia, but the man can coach and his 49ers offense could become top-five material with him calling the plays.
The idea that Chip Kelly is a good coach at this level, after what we just witnessed this past season baffles me. In Kelly's first season with the Eagles, opponents were often ill-equipped to deal with the Eagles' fast-paced offense. However, as they always do, defenses caught up, and Kelly was unable to stay ahead. He was over-matched for nearly the entirety of the 2015 season.
As Banks noted, the Niners play in the toughest division, however, what is understated is just how bad the Niners are. Evan Silva of NBC's Rotoworld believes they have the worst roster in the NFL.
Working on NFL roster breakdowns & there isn't one worse right now than #49ers. No QB, no pass rush, no WRs, no OL, no CBs. Disaster.
— Evan Silva (@evansilva) February 6, 2016
Look at this roster. He's probably not wrong.
Pederson ranked third on Banks' list.
This tweet from Zach Berman is a little old (h/t BGN), and so is the content of the tweet, but apparently Sports Illustrated rated quarterbacks in order of attractiveness in 2014:
SI published a study that rated the attractiveness of 32 QBs in 2014. Those surveyed weren't crazy about Bradford: pic.twitter.com/5Po6Y4scZ8
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) February 6, 2016
Notes (And yes, I'm comfortable enough in my manliness to analyze that list):
• According to those rankings, Doug Pederson is going from first (Alex Smith) to worst (Bradford).
• Cam Newton continues to be underrated.
• Ben Roethlisberger is a mutant. How is he not lower?
• Peyton Manning's head is enormous.
• Somehow, this guy finished 12th:
My girlfriend's notes:
• Aaron Rodgers is too low. "He has beautiful eyes."
• Tom Brady is too high. "I despise Tom Brady and his personality ruins it for me, and that's all I see when I look at him."
• She thinks Foles is too high. "Oh my God, Nick Foles is sixth? Whoever made this list has never had to watch him play football." When I said that had nothing to do with his physical attractiveness, she replied, "Sorry, the sh**ty quarterbacks are the least attractive. It's a balance of how good you look and how good you are at your job."
• Andrew Luck's voice is a turn-off. "Whoever put Andrew Luck in the top half of this list has never heard him speak."
• She felt bad for Sam Bradford. "Bradford is ranked a full five people after Andy Dalton? That has to hurt. Bradford is very goofy looking, but how is he dead last?"
This is how I picture Bradford reacting while reading my girlfriend's analysis of him:
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