Eagles New Roster Additions Making Them Immune to Super Bowl Jinx?
PHILADELPHIA – Maybe another receiver and linebacker would be nice adds for the Philadelphia Eagles sometime between now and the start of the regular season.
Is that being too greedy, though?
This is a roster now, after free agency and the draft, that seems to have everything it needs to dispel any talk of a Super Bowl jinx.
There have been just three teams who have won a Super Bowl a year after losing it - the 1971 Dallas Cowboys, the 1972 Miami Dolphins, and the 2018 New England Patriots, who lost in 2017 to the Eagles.
It’s not easy to even get back to the playoffs after losing a Super Bowl the season before.
Of the 56 Super Bowl losers, 39 came back to even make the postseason. The percentage isn’t terrible (69.9%) but it shows how much it can potentially take out of teams by going the distance but not being able to cross the finish line in the final game.
Look at last season:
- The Los Angeles Rams entered as the defending Super Bowl champions. They went 5-12.
- The Cincinnati Bengals lost to L.A. and started last year 0-2. They were 4-4 heading into November before righting the ship and reaching the AFC Championship Game, where they lost by three points to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Eagles, specifically general manager Howie Roseman, did all they could to immunize themselves against any sort of jinx.
There was alarm heading into the offseason with the Eagles having so many key free agents, but the GM eased that concern with a free-agency period and draft that should have the Eagles in the mix again for a Super Bowl appearance.
Here’s what Roseman accomplished, with players lost followed by his replacement:
DT: Javon Hargrave-Jalen Carter
S: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson-Sydney Brown
S: Marcus Epps-Terrell Edmunds
LB: T.J. Edwards-Nakobe Dean
LB: Kyzir White-Nicholas Morrow
RB: Miles Sanders-D’Andre Swift/Rashaad Penny
WR: Zach Pascal-Olamide Zaccheaus
RG: Isaac Seumalo-Cam Jurgens
Reserve OL: Andre Dillard-Tyler Steen
QB: Gardner Minshew-Marcus Mariota
The impact on the payroll is noticeable, too, and very important considering the Eagles’ recent contract extension with Jalen Hurts.
The saving is massive, as well, as former FanSided writer, James Nagle, pointed out.
Those 10 players accounted for $218.4 million. The 10 replacements account for $55.4M.
Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.
Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.
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