Free Agency Winners or Losers: Philadelphia Eagles Free Agency Grading

The Philadelphia Eagles went on a huge spending spree last year and it didn’t pay off quite the way the team hoped. Whether it was the shortened off-season, the offensive line coach becoming the defensive coordinator or just bad luck the Eagles struggled until the very end of the season when they got on the role.

This year they took a more lax, but not completely “hands-off” approach to free agency, will it pay off? Most of their moves were re-signing or extending their own players.

Eagles re-sign DeSean Jackson five year 48 million dollar deal with 15 million guaranteed. That’s not a lot of money for a guy who can be one of the most dangerous players in all of football. Now the question of course is with his new contract will Jackson get back to being more of a “team player”. He’s still not a guy who wants to go over the middle and injuries have to be a concern (like many N.F.L. players), but all in all a good deal considering how much players were getting on the open market like Pierre Garcon. Grade B+. If He’s the player he was two years ago it’s an A move, if not and is what he was last year it’s not quite as high. I think he’ll be better than he was last year.

Re-signing Evan Mathis. A really terrific move for a guy who played really well last year. They got him at a rate of 5 million dollars a year which is not bad for a player who had one of the best seasons in the league last year for an interior offensive linemen. The only question is whether he can play at the same level again. He will be 31 this year and has been a journeyman offensive linemen his career. Based on this year it’s an A. Moving forward the grade is a little lower. Grade B/B+

Trade for DeMeco Ryans

Ryans was a star two years ago, but tore his achilles and had a less than stellar year last year as he was recovering from injury. He has sizable base salaries over the next few seasons, but in order to get Ryans all they had to do was swap 3rd round pick and give up a fourth round pick. Trading a fourth round pick is not a big deal for a team that always has frequent draft picks. Love this move. A

Antonio Dixon-Re-signing. Dixon was a pretty good move for both. Dixon had a really good year in 2010, but only played in four games last year. This is a way for the Eagles to get a good year out of Dixon and Dixon to re-establish his value. Grade B

Signing Mike Gibson is a depth move. Grade C

Overall Free Agency Grade: B+

I thought the Eagles had a good year in free agency. They filled their biggest need today with DeMeco Ryans in exchange for what is essentially two fourth round picks. I think it was wise to take care of their own players this year which should go a long way to help develop team chemistry.The Eagles have all the talent in the world will this be the year they win the Superbowl?

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