Eagles Dealing with a Perception Problem at WR

Publicly the Eagles claim they don't see a problem as receivers with options default to other destinations

In what's become a recurring theme in the Eagles' offseason, a member of the organization's brass has given a vote of confidence to projected second-year starting quarterback Jalen Hurts.

"I don't know that we've ever wavered from the level of commitment that we've had in Jalen," GM Howie Roseman told reporters gathered at the NFL's spring meetings in Palm Beach. "When we say he's our guy and he's our starter and we've gotta do whatever we can to give him a chance to reach his potential. I don't think that's changed one bit."

It's changed at moments, though, whether it's the five minutes to check in to see if Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson might change their minds about coming to Philadelphia or putting quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson on a spring tour worthy of The Rolling Stones with the latest stop in Chapel Hill, N.C, to see possible first-round/second-round bridge pick Sam Howell on the very same day Roseman was offering up the latest platitudes to Hurts.

Then you have the inability to give Hurts "whatever we can to give him a chance to reach his potential," which has basically amounted to the pedestrian Zach Pascal at receiver after runs at Christian Kirk, Allen Robinson, and Robert Woods were derailed by money, the stigma of competing with the Super Bowl champs, and player empowerment, respectively.

There was also some bad luck thrown in as well when a potential trade for the talented Calvin Ridley was blown up by a gambling app.

There is a chicken and an egg dynamic going on when it comes to the Eagles and receivers with options on the open market, one that is directly tied to the perception of what the offense is right now, something a number of agents have addressed freely behind the scenes.

"Right now it's a tough sell for them at that position," a veteran agent told SI.com's Eagles Today. "[Receivers] with options are probably going to go in a different direction until they change the perception."

Roseman balked at that notion.

"[DeVonta] Smith had 118 targets," the GM said in South Florida. "When you look at the players in Coach Sirianni’s offense and really the No. 1 receivers in the league, you are talking about guys getting 150 targets. When you talk about Dallas Goedert, and obviously we had Zach [Ertz], but (Goedert)  had I think 84 targets last year. Guys who are tight ends of his caliber are getting 120 targets a year. Even when you look at Quez [Watkins] he got 60 targets.

"So we believe those three guys, specifically the first two guys, they are going to require as their skillsets get better-and-better, and as they get more comfortable in the offense, they are going to require more targets."

Howie Roseman

In some ways, Roseman's defense points out the problem as he acknowledged Smith and Goedert - by far the Eagles' top two receiving threats - got fewer targets than players with similar job descriptions in other cities.

"When we look at it, we are kind of saying, can we also satisfy players who are going to try to gobble up targets, when we are trying to satisfy these young players that have a chance to be exceptional players in this league?” Roseman asked rhetorically. “I think for us, we are looking at how do we get these guys the ball more? How do we get them more targets? So where does that leave everyone else after that?"

Maybe the better question is how does that spin align with the Eagles' well-reported interest in players like Ridley, Kirk, Robinson, and Woods?

"That doesn’t mean we can’t use more weapons, more good players, we are always looking for that, but I think that has been a big offseason focus," said Roseman. "Going back, watching those guys and saying, man, when you talk about guys who can really make a difference in the passing game in our offense, we have these guys in our offense who are just taking these steps to be at the level of the guys that maybe people are talking about in this league being really good already.”

Give Roseman an A for effort but along with the bigger-name receivers the Eagles have taken aim at they were also far along with Richie James, a former seventh-round pick out of Middle Tennessee coming off his rookie contract with San Francisco after missing the 2021 season with a knee injury.

The main thought with James and the Eagles was pumping up the return game with his 4.48 speed and the ability to make things happen on both kicks and punts.

During his first three seasons, James returned 51 punts for 373 yards and 47 kickoffs for 1,081 yards (23.0-yard average), including a 97-yard touchdown in his rookie season when he was named to the Pro Football Writers of America All-NFC team as a returner.

The 26-year-old also got an opportunity on offense with the Niners in 2020 and showed some juice with 23 receptions for 394 yards, 17.1 yards-per-receptions.

James' decision ultimately came down to the Giants and Eagles, according to a league source, and the shifty 5-foot-9 wideout chose New York late last week, on the surface a team demonstrably worse than the Eagles right now but also one with far more serviceable bodies at WR (Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney, Sterling Shepard, and Darius Slayton).

Reports: We've agreed to terms with WR/Return Specialist Richie James Jr.

📰: https://t.co/zndm6c7ssR pic.twitter.com/O0i24lFGRt

— New York Giants (@Giants) March 25, 2022

This was not a money decision either as James got a one-year contract for the league minimum ($1.035 million) from the Giants.

There are always a number of reasons a player could tilt in one direction. In this case, perhaps the Eagles made it known to James their interest was purely as a returner and the NYG offered at least a chance to compete in the slot.

Who knows?

But, whether Roseman wants to admit it or not, the Eagles have a perception problem at the WR position right now.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen