April 10, 2021
There were a few things worth noting this week related to the Philadelphia Eagles that probably weren't worth their own articles, so we'll just round them up and cover them here. Good? Good.
Before the Eagles' final game against the Washington Football Team, it was revealed the Schwartz would be stepping away from the Eagles, and possibly retiring. I can't say that I know Schwartz all that well on a personal level, but covering him for the last five years, retirement felt unlikely to me.
He's back sooner than expected, as he'll be working as a defensive consultant for the Titans in 2021.
John McMullen wrote an appreciation piece about Schwartz for PhillyVoice that's worth checking out, in which he notes that "Schwartz may never be romanticized the way Buddy Ryan, Jim Johnson, or even Bud Carson are by the Philadelphia faithful, but he accomplished what they never could in an era where defensive football is not exactly encouraged."
But beyond the Super Bowl run in 2017, Schwartz is an accomplished defensive coordinator with a quality history of results when he has just focused on the defense. His DVOA rankings in those seasons, since 2007:
| Year | DVOA rank |
| 2007 (Titans) | 1 |
| 2008 (Titans) | 5 |
| 2014 (Bills) | 2 |
| 2016 (Eagles) | 4 |
| 2017 (Eagles) | 5 |
| 2018 (Eagles) | 15 |
| 2019 (Eagles) | 12 |
| 2020 (Eagles) | 15 |
Understandably, the Eagles' defense hasn't been elite when their secondary has routinely become depleted each season, and Schwartz has been handicapped by roster holes otherwise, notably at linebacker. To finish in the top half of the league in DVOA in 2018, 2019, and 2020 despite the Eagles' injury issues is no small feat.
There were things that could be nitpicked at times about his style of calling games, but the results speak for themselves. We'll see soon if "the grass is greener," so to speak.
The money details:
Some recent contracts signed:
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 8, 2021
Lions CB Quinton Dunbar: $137.5K to sign, $990K base salary
Cardinals QB Colt McCoy: $137,500 to sign, $1.075M base salary
49ers QB Nate Sudfeld: $990K base salary ($252K guaranteed), $137.5K available via incentives
It's a veteran salary benefit contract, which means that Sudfeld will count for a measly $850,000 on the Niners' cap in 2020. In that same tweet above, Colt McCoy's contract is mentioned as well. He'll count for $987,500 on the Lions' cap, just FYI. I'll resist the urge to point out that is was wholly illogical for the Eagles to pay a backup quarterback anything more the types of deals that Sudfeld and McCoy got with next to no cap space in a non-contending season.
The Eagles' 2021 opponents had a combined record of 117-155 (0.430) in 2020, which gives them the easiest schedule in the NFL. The next-closest team is the Dallas Cowboys, whose 2021 opponents had a combined record of 122-148-2 (0.452) in 2020.
Here are the Eagles' opponents, and their 2020 records. I also went ahead and added in point differentials.
| Eagles opponents | Record | Point differential |
| Cowboys | 6-10 | -78 |
| Cowboys | 6-10 | -78 |
| Giants | 6-10 | -77 |
| Giants | 6-10 | -77 |
| WFT | 7-9 | +6 |
| WFT | 7-9 | +6 |
| Saints | 12-4 | +145 |
| Buccaneers | 11-5 | +137 |
| Chiefs | 14-2 | +111 |
| Chargers | 7-9 | -42 |
| 49ers | 6-10 | -14 |
| Falcons | 4-12 | -18 |
| Panthers | 5-11 | -52 |
| Raiders | 8-8 | -44 |
| Broncos | 5-11 | -123 |
| Lions | 5-11 | -142 |
| Jets | 2-14 | -214 |
| TOTAL | 117-155 | -554 |
They only have three games against teams that had winning records in 2020.
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