Eagles Must Address Trio of Key Contracts This Offseason
PHILADELPHIA – There’s more on the offseason table for the Philadelphia Eagles than just the coaching staff, though that’s what is out front at the moment.
Soon, it will be time for general manager Howie Roseman to turn his attention to players and their contracts.
The Eagles have some key free agents to make decisions on, a list that includes:
- Defensive linemen Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham
- Reserve offensive linemen Sua Opeta and Jack Driscoll
- Running backs D’Andre Swift and Boston Scott
- All three linebackers – Nicholas Morrow, Zach Cunningham, and Shaq Leonard.
- Punter Braden Mann
There are others, such as receivers Julio Jones, Quez Watkins, and Olamide Zaccheaus, running back Rashaad Penny, and cornerback Bradley Roby who probably won’t return.
There are three who already have contracts but need to be on the Eagles’ radar this offseason.
Haason Reddick has a big salary cap charge entering the final year of his contract.
USA Today
They are Haason Reddick, DeVonta Smith, and Landon Dickerson.
Here’s a closer look at the three:
REDDICK. The pass rusher began this season making it known that he would like a contract extension after signing a three-year contract heading into 2022. He had a good case after putting up 19.5 sacks, including his postseason performance.
Reddick never made a big deal out of it. He practiced and he played and played well. Now in the final year of that contract, his salary cap charge is a monster this year at $21.8 million.
Surely a restructure with some added years for a player who will turn 30 in September and is playing at a very high level is warranted.
And Reddick, who is from across the river in Camden, N.J., would love to see it happen.
“Every time I get to wear that midnight green, every time I get to play in an Eagles uniform is always going to be special for me,” he said in the Raymond James Stadium locker room after the season ended against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “Whether we’re winning or we’re losing, a kid from the area, a kid who watched the Eagles will always be special to me.
“I was born and raised through the NFC East division, so for me, every chance, every opportunity I get to wear the Eagles uniform will always be special to me.”
DICKERSON. As a second-round draft pick in 2021, Dickerson is a bargain with a base salary of $1.8M in the final year of his deal. He was just named to his second Pro Bowl and said, “If it keeps snowing,” he’ll probably play in the game because it is in Orlando on the first weekend of February.
The offensive lineman has played too well and is too valuable to this franchise’s long-term success to let him enter the final year of his rookie contract as a lame-duck player.
Landon Dickerson is entering final year of his rookie contract
John McMullen/SI Eagles Today
Dickerson said on the team’s breakup day that he will let his agent handle those things but wants to stick around Philly for a long time.
“I would love to stay around here and have my whole career here,” he said. “Seeing a bunch of guys talk about it, they come back and talk about the worst thing they ever did was go to another team. I know it’s a business thing and you have to do whatever it takes to make the business succeed, but if it was up to me, I would hope to spend my entire career here.
“Absolutely love it here. Me and my wife love it here. It’s our home. We live here in the offseason. We’re not anywhere else. …I don’t plan on moving anywhere else.”
SMITH. The Eagles will certainly pick up the receiver’s fifth-year option sometime this spring. His base salary is just $1.05M, but he has a guaranteed salary of $3.4M and a cap charge of $6.04M this year.
Smith was the only Eagles player to show up in the playoff loss, catching eight passes for 148 yards. He’s just too good and too reliable to let wait for a new contract for very long. The sooner the better.
Some of what the Eagles choose to do here could be tied in with A.J. Brown, who has a salary cap charge of $12.4M this year that jumps to $26.5M in 2025.
Either way, Smith will get a new deal at some point. A team like the Eagles won’t let a player they traded up two spots to No. 10 with the Dallas Cowboys in the 2021 draft to get, which allowed Dallas to take Micah Parsons two picks later, walk away.
