Philly Front Office

The buzz around the NFL after the first week of free agency has been that the Eagles have lost EVERYONE on defense. I have been doing my best to calm everyone down, but people out there see us as having lost a step. Lost a step to who exactly? Who actually got better this week?

There are 8 contenders for the Eagles throne anyway, not in any order: Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, Lions, Vikings, Rams, Packers, and Commanders.

Sorry San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Cincinatti, and the rest, you’re out. None of these teams added anyone of note except the Texans who traded for CJGJ.

• The 49ers just hemorrhaged most of their team in a cost cutting move to finally pay their QB. The still have one more year of him on a cheap deal, but the actual cash expenditure is going to hit their wallets immediately. The rest of their team got old quick. This will be a soft rebuild year for them even if their fans don’t know it yet.
• Houston is going to try and run CJ Stroud with no one playing offensive line. “Their absence is noticeable, Cotton.” He is a dynamic playmaker on a cheap contract, but they are not helping him. The defense is a SERIOUS contender, but without a line they are DOA.
• Dallas is doing its best to mismanage a great run of good drafting by paying all of their talent one or two years too late. The one guy they paid early, Zeke Elliot, is the one guy they shouldn’t have. Now they are in a standoff with Micah Parsons. Congratulations Jerry, you haven’t learned any lessons.
• The Bengals saw what Jerry Jones was doing and thought “now that guy knows something.” They are going to end up paying top dollar to two receivers while allowing their QB to get killed and their only good defender to walk. Even if Trey Hendrickson ends up getting a contract extension, it will be so high that the rest of the defense will suffer. They are a dumber version of the Cowboys, just with maybe the best QB in football.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs had a serious offensive line problem during the Super Bowl. They had no answer for the Eagles four man rush. To fix this, they let go of their best lineman, Joe Thuney. Not what I would have done! They are bringing back Trey Smith and have Creed Humphrey, but who is playing tackle and the other guard? They signed SF backup Jaylon Moore for 2/$30m. That’s a big bet on a backup. They have Kingsley Suamataia and Wanya Morris, but they both stink. There is not a ton of money to spend now, and big financial problems are coming in the future. Unless they absolutely nail this draft, they are in trouble. At least they have access to players that the Eagles would never even consider. They did lose Justin Reid in the secondary, that should help them with the Bills and Eagles, right?

Buffalo Bills

The Bills have made a ton of moves, but they are mostly extending half their team, including Josh Allen, rather than adding anyone. The only noteworthy addition is Joey Bosa. He replaces an aging Von Miller on a pretty cheap deal, 1/$12.5m. This is objectively a good move when you consider they keep losing to the Chiefs. But also…is that it? Look, the Bills are good. Did they improve though? Not much.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens need to add another dimension to their offense that seems to get stagnant in the playoffs. Their defense also didn’t have the regular juice you come to expect. The answer…add a completely washed Deandre Hopkins. They lost NT Michael Pearce to retirement and starting CB Brandon Stephens to the Jets. The Ravens are the same team but slightly older and slightly worse.

Minnesota Vikings

This is the wildcard. They spent a ton of money and added a ton of talent, like Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, Will Fries, and kept Byron Murphy. This is probably the offseason Washington should have had. The big problem though is the QB. Sam Darnold is gone to Seattle, leaving JJ McCarthy as the new signal caller following a lost rookie season. By all accounts they like what they have in him, but if he doesn’t have it, then they don’t have it. It is as simple as that.

Los Angeles Rams

The Rams reloaded big time the last two years through the draft. All of a sudden, they went from old and rebuilding to young and rebuilt. We forget that the Eagles were about to lose to them in the snow if not for Jalen Carter. They added Devante Adams but also cut Cooper Kupp. That does not seem like a big upgrade. Their real problem was their defense. Granted, they are young and ascending, but they needed to invest in DT or LB to help slow down Philly. They knew the assignment, getting Poona Ford from the Chargers. He is a wide DT but short and good at gathering up blockers. They are probably the 3rd best team in the NFC.

Green Bay Packers

Jordan Love might be Justin Herbert light and I do not mean that as a compliment. He is a gunslinger who doesn’t move well and can’t win big games. He also got hit a lot last year. To fix this, they got him no receiver help and overpaid a not very good guard in Aaron Banks. I don’t understand what they are doing.

Detroit Lions

Detroit mostly stayed the same and that’s fine. They are similar to the Bills in that regard. Their only real move was essentially trading Carlton Davis for DJ Reed which is about a push. Health is their biggest concern. A few years of drafting well and not overpaying mediocre free agents leave them as the closest competitor to the Eagles.

Washington Commanders

Everyone’s darling is not better than last year. Even if you want to give them the full benefit of the doubt with additions of possibly washed Deebo Samuel and Leramy Tunsil, how have they fixed their problems? The Eagles absolutely torched them on defense last year scoring 114 points in 3 games (one with a backup QB). To help this, they replaced Jonathan Allen with Jevon Kinlaw (who stinks) and got rid of Jeramy Chinn. Washington has a 24-year-old revelation at QB and have saddled him with near the end vets. This would be fine if they were only using cash, but they are trading good draft picks for these guys! They fully believe they were a couple plays away from the Super Bowl rather than an incredibly lucky 6th seed. They also have Josh Harris as an owner. He clearly knows how to lead a professional sports team (throws up).

Philadelphia Eagles

I’m sorry, but none of these teams did anything to move past the Eagles. The Rams will improve and the Lions are already good, but no one is considerably better. Even with losing 4 starters on defense, the Eagles are still the class of the league. Remember, the guy we needed to keep, Zack Baun, we kept. The talent that was lost was not elite, just good. The elite talent is only entering its second and third years in the league. This defense will be even better than last year. Also, we are loaded with draft picks and have young ascending talent at literally every position. Good luck everyone.