Philly Front Office

A few years ago Howie Roseman seemed to have no real interest in drafting guys from the SEC, at least not the powerhouses of Georgia, Alabama, and LSU. Jalen Mills (2016) and Bennie Logan (2013) were the last LSU guys, Freddie Milons (2002) and Tony Johnson (1996) were the last from Alabama, and Brandon Boykin (2012) and Jeff Owens (2010) the last from Georgia.¹ I’ve never heard of half of them and none were drafted in the first two rounds. Reggie Brown was the last in 2005 and I couldn’t find ANY first rounders. How is that possible? Do you know how many National Championships those teams have won in the last 20 years? HALF OF THEM!!!

Then something changed.

Since 2021, we have drafted nine guys from those three schools including seven in the first three rounds. Wouldn’t you know it, we have been to two Super Bowls since then. DeVonta Smith and Landon Dickerson were immediately plucked from National Champion Alabama in 2021 and then Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, and Kelee Ringo from 2022 and 23 National Champion Georgia. As much as I love our Alabama guys, we are here to talk about the Bulldogs. Those Georgia defenses were some of the greatest we have seen in a long time. Howie decided to just get as many of them as he possibly could.

After slow starts for Dean and Smith, those two now join Carter as elite building blocks for the future. Davis less so, but the coaching staff believes in him, and he still has the athleticism that can’t be taught or even imagined for a guy his size. It seems like he is part of their future plans. Speaking of those future plans, here is what to know going forward.

Jordan Davis

Because he was drafted in the first round in 2022, Davis has an option for a 5th season. The Eagles will have to make that decision before May 1. If they pick it up, this is projected to come to around $11m. That’s a fine price to pay for Davis assuming he keeps improving, but still not a guarantee. Coming off his 3rd year, he is also up for an extension. I talked about this before, but this is no sure thing for Davis. Because of his mercurial career so far from chasing down running backs to being a non-factor at the ends of games, normally the Eagles would only consider an extension if it was a good deal for the team.

However, Davis could be an interesting test case. Since he is the first of the Philly Bulldogs to be up for an extension, might they throw him a (I am not sorry for the pun) bone as a show of good faith to the others? If they view Davis as a $10m per year guy, might they push it up a little bit to get a deal done? I don’t know. Milton Williams is almost assuredly gone and Moro Ojomo was clearly the backup last season. Someone will need to step into Williams’s snap void. Do they want to lock up Davis before they put him in that spot or wait to see if he blows up or flames out? There is also the possibility that a high draft pick is used on a defensive tackle. There are a lot of moving parts for Davis in the next two months.

Nakobe Dean

Dean getting injured completely changed the Eagles off season. A healthy Dean means Zack Baun does not come back. Now Baun is the priority. A torn patellar tendon comes with an estimated recovery of 6-12 months! For everyone assuming he will be back for camp, that is on the quick end of the recovery timeline. Just ask the Sixers if this is something we should take for granted. There is a possibility that Dean either is not effective when he returns or even misses the whole season. This absolutely sucks for everyone involved (except Baun I guess).

Dean was in line for a solid extension, probably around the 3 year, $41m contract signed by Patrick Queen last year. So, what happens now? Throwing Davis some extra extension money is one thing, but extending Dean would mean a lot more. He became the captain of this defense, a role he has had with his Georgia teammates for basically 5 years now. They will all be looking to see if the Eagles take care of their guy. On one hand, you could probably get him at a discount. On the other, he is now considered injury prone as an already small linebacker and they have no idea if he can return to the level he was at before getting hurt. It would be almost unprecedented for Howie to not only pay a linebacker, but do so after an injury. I would not be surprised if they did for the Captain though. Could they do 2 years and $12m as a pillow to the next real extension?

Jalen Carter

One of the reasons you extend Nakobe Dean is because of Jalen Carter. Carter is a defensive force who should be a front runner for DPOY next season. He is an absolute game wrecker who just made Milton Williams and Josh Sweat a ton of money. His presence regularly takes up two linemen and funnels traffic to his teammates. Williams and Sweat could never be doubled because that would leave single coverage against Carter. Good f’n luck. The Eagles need to keep him happy without catering to him. A great way to do this is to keep Captain Dean on him.

Carter isn’t eligible to be extended until next off season, but the negotiations are basically already done:

Carter’s Agent: I want 5% more than whatever Parsons or Chase get this off season.

Howie: Done.

He is going to be the highest paid non-QB in football by this time next year, likely exceeding $200m in total salary and $120m in guarantees.

Nolan Smith

Full disclosure, I wrote this whole article just to talk about Smith. Writing about Carter is honestly easy considering he is the ceiling. With Smith, there is some room. Coming out of college, his pressure numbers compared favorably with Micah Parsons. After his first season though, he looked like a bust. He barely had any counting stats through the first 4 weeks of this season. Then he started steadily improving. The final 16 weeks of the season including playoffs he had 10.5 sacks, 12 tackles for a loss, and 16 quarterback hits. That’s a menace right there.

How do menaces get paid? Handsomely. In the next year, Smith could earn himself quite a bit. If he continues what he did this year and gets to let’s say 12 sacks with similar peripheral stats to last year, that is a $100m player. He will be 25 years old and hitting his prime at a premium position. Maxx Crosby went 7, 8, and 13 sacks before getting 4/$94m three years ago. Bradley Chubb had similar numbers but was regularly injured before getting 5/$110m. The Giants gave Brian Burns 5/$141m while bidding against themselves in a colossally stupid move. Crosby and Chubb money is the range for Smith if he keeps it up.

HOWEVER, if Smith completely breaks out this season, all bets are off. 15-20 sacks move him into another stratosphere. Josh Hines-Allen came off okay production to have an 18-sack 4th season and secure Brian Burns money. Something similar will be what Smith’s agent is looking for. It won’t be top of the market Bosa money, but it will probably be around $30m per season.

Kelee Ringo and Lewis Cine

Cine was “cine’d” (again, not even close to sorry) late in the season after being let go by Minnesota and then Buffalo. He is a former 1st round pick but has suffered significant injuries his whole career. I don’t know how he is now, but he was a freak athlete coming out of college. The thought is that if he can regain his pre-injury form anywhere it would be next to old friends in a superior organization like Philly. He is a wild card, but also a lottery ticket.

Ringo has unbelievable speed, but it hasn’t translated yet to the football field. He is still a solid option as a backup corner though. Assuming Isaiah Rodgers is the 3rd CB after Mitchell and DeJean, Ringo will have to make the most of limited opportunities this season to earn an extension and promotion next year.

What to Expect

Part of me thinks it is unfair to these guys to think of them as a group rather than individuals. But then you hear stories of them communicating almost telepathically on the field and spending Christmas together and you see it’s a brotherhood. These guys genuinely like each other and stick together. Howie knows this and will probably do what he can to keep them as Eagles collectively. Last year was huge for the Philly Bulldogs, and next year could be even bigger.

1. I didn’t bring up Ohio State. The last Buckeye drafted by the Eagles was Brian Rolle in the 6th round in 2011. The last in the top two rounds was Keith Byars in 1986! ↩︎