Philly Front Office

Are we feeling good? I think we are feeling good. Because we are feeling good, let’s hand out money like drinks at the bar. The Eagles have 4 starters set to become free agents at the end of the season. Let’s see what it might cost to resign these guys.

Zack Baun: Baun will be 28 years old coming off an absurd breakout season. He went from settling for a 1 year, almost minimum salary to buying from the top shelf. With career earnings of only around $6m so far, this is his one shot to get seriously paid. That being said, Vic Fangio is obviously getting the best out of him. That and some security might persuade Baun to take a small discount rather than wade into free agency and the uncertainty of the last few games of the season.

The inside linebacker market is a weird one. 4 years ago Fred Warner blew the roof off with a 5 year $95m deal with SF. Roquan Smith topped that 2 summers ago with a 5 year $100m contract. The only one even close to those two is Chicago’s Tremaine Edmunds at 4 years, $72m (massive $50m guaranteed) who signed the same off season as Smith. After those 3, the next highest is Patrick Queen at 3 years, $41m ($13m guaranteed) which was signed last year. I can tell you with almost absolute certainty that Howie is not giving out a contract anywhere near Smith and Warner. If Baun is looking for that, we will happily take our comp pick and hope Fangio can work new magic.

Edmunds and Queen are both former first round picks and 2-3 years younger than Baun when they signed their deals. Both had a track record of solid but not Smith/Warner level production, with Queen leveraging his contract year as his best year (second team all-pro). It should be noted that Edmunds was probably overpaid by a team that absolutely doesn’t know what it’s doing while Queen was probably underpaid by a team that does. If the Eagles and Baun are going to find common ground it is in this territory. A fair deal that the Eagles would actually offer is probably around 3/$45m or 4/$50m with around $30m guaranteed. I am all for players getting paid, but Howie would be going against character paying a linebacker anywhere near the top of the market. Queen is the closest comp despite being younger as they will have similar platform years without a long history of production.

Milton Williams: You might not remember the name Tom Donahoe but you know him and you don’t like him. He is the guy who refused to dap up Howie Roseman on draft night for selecting Milton Williams. He was later rightfully kicked to the curb. Imagine Howie extending his fist to you and you refuse to accept it. INCONCEIVABLE! Anyway, Williams will turn 26 shortly after the Super Bowl and has about $6m in career earnings as a 3rd round pick at the end of his rookie deal. He was always impossibly athletic for his size but is really putting it together next to Jalen Carter this season. He is going to get close to 10 sacks this season. This feels a lot like Timmy Jernigan playing next to Fletcher Cox in his prime.

The Defensive Tackle market has exploded the last few years and it will be especially tricky for the Eagles. With mid range contracts coming in at between $15m and $20m annually, we will have a decision to be make. In the summer of 2026, the Eagles are going to sign Jalen Carter to an absolutely MONSTER extension. Think 5 years, $150m-180m to become the highest paid DT in history. It is going to happen especially after likely DPOY consideration this year and next. That doesn’t mean there isn’t money for Williams, but it does mean that him and extension eligible Jordan Davis will not both be getting contracts. I can see a situation this off season where they offer similar contracts to both of them and whoever signs first gets the deal. Crazy as it sounds, that deal will probably be in a similar neighborhood but a little less to the one just signed by Christian Barmore and what SF paid Javon Hargrave. Those guys are getting around $20m per year. Expect a Davis/Williams extension to be around $15m-$18m. Neither are Barmore or Hargrave, but prices keep going up. Both have serious upside, but the Eagles might not want to put the resources into the position for Williams with Davis around while waiting another year to see if Davis reaches his potential. Although an early, low extension for Davis would be a very Howie move if they believe in him. Like I said, this one is tricky.

Josh Sweat: Sweat is interesting because he looked like he might be released last year, he has a big cap hit next year despite not having a contract, but has really come on as of late in this defense. The Eagles are also thin at Defensive End. While a return seemed very unlikely before, it might be in both parties’ best interests to find a suitable extension. Sweat has a previous injury history but has been very healthy in the league. He will likely get his second 10+ sack season this year, but is not some tormenting defender on the edge.

His cap hit next year if he were to leave is $24m. That’s crazy. It is also the reason he will most likely be resigned. He doesn’t exactly have a great comp out there save for maybe Yannick Ngakoue who put up sacks and not much else. Ngakoue had better production but seemed to always sign as a mercenary for around $12m per year. It seems like the Eagles don’t trust him completely but are better off as a team and financially keeping him. I can see him resigned for around $7.5m-$10m per year on a 2-3 year contract. His agent has to know he has us a little bit by the balls, so maybe that goes a little higher. Some how he is probably the most likely to be back of all our free agents.

Mekhi Becton: After busting out of New York (in a bad way), Becton enrolled in Stoutland University and has promptly excelled, resurrecting his career as a guard after dying as a tackle. Becton is the largest human being in the world (despite somehow being smaller than Jordan Mailata). He is going to have to decide whether he wants to cash in somewhere or stay in a good situation. He is a bit different from the other 3 on this list as he has already made a decent amount of money due to his high draft status.

There will probably be a deal waiting for him out there in the 3 year $30m-$40m range, a little higher than what the Giants just wasted on Jon Runyon. The Eagles will likely not pay that since they have Tyler Steen (who would have likely started over Becton had he not been hurt in the preseason), employ Jeff Stoutland, and are paying Landon Dickerson at the top of the guard market. It would not be hard to see Becton coming back on a 2 year deal for around $12m-$15m though. With his size and pedigree, he is insurance for any injuries in the front 5. Would he leave that much on the table? I don’t know if I would.

Prediction: Baun is coming back for 4 years and $52.5m with $30m guaranteed. Sweat will also be back at 2 years and $21m, lowering his cap hit. Williams and Becton are gone. It is a shame that Williams wasn’t extended this past summer. I think we all like him. Expect the Eagles to address offensive and defensive line depth on day 3 of the draft like they always do.