This week was a very busy one for the Eagles’ front office. The wheeling and dealing resulted in the team getting a wealth of young talent on the free agent market, clearing some salary cap space and gaining better position in next month’s NFL Draft. Whenever a franchise can accomplish all three of those feats in one week, you can mark it down as a win.
DeMarco Murray, Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso would be shown the door in what can only be considered a strong effort to once and for all get rid of the stench of Chip Kelly. This coupled with the fact that the trio just did not work out made and easy decision to cut bait and see what kind of compensation you could get for them. And what the Eagles got was a lot, multiple picks including a spot in the top 10 in this year’s draft at 8th overall.
The key pick ups were upgrades to a beleaguered secondary that was on the field way too long and as a result gave up the 3rd most yards in the entire league, and an offensive line that struggle to protect and create holes. Leodis McKelvin who played under Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz in Buffalo was signed to 2 year deal as well as Rodney McLeod formerly of the Rams who inked a 5 year contract. Brandon Brooks was lured away from the Texans to bolster the O line, his deal will see him net $40 million over the next 5 years. All in all with little over a week of free agency behind us things are looking up in the city of brotherly love.
