At a projected $225M salary cap in 2023, the Eagles are 14th in effective cap space with just over $8M free.
I’m not going to cover any new ground on their expected free agent priorities and who they may bring back – David did a really good deep dive here where he looked at who will likely return and not. But my key assumptions for the offseason are:
Jalen Hurts gets his extension: It will be a big deal ($42M+ AAV) that will be an impact from 2024 on, so the Eagles keep one last year on a cheap QB deal.
Restructure options are limited (but possible): Darius Slay and Lane Johnson are the only two big cap hit players in 2023. The Eagles need to be careful with either as Lane is already signed at $23M a year through his age 35 season and while Slay is still one of the best CBs in the league, corners notoriously age quickly.
They don’t have the room to bring everybody they want back: C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Javon Hargrave, James Bradberry, Marcus Epps, and T.J. Edwards are all players the Eagles will want back. Add in BG and Kelce who need to be Eagles if they want to come back. There’s no way they can sign all of these.
2023 draft priorities
It is still very early for the 2023 offseason and a ton will change, but I have started to build my horizontal draft board with an eye on what the Eagles will likely do. Below is my view on expected roster needs from right to left and how the Eagles prioritize positions in the draft from top to bottom.
Defensive Line
DL is the obvious priority in this draft with Fletch likely leaving, Hargrave hopefully coming back and uncertainty on BG. And this perfectly aligns with where Howie wants to invest and considering what it costs in free agency to sign a top lineman.
What would I do: Like every other person on the planet, I dream of having Will Anderson or Jalen Carter in midnight green. And it wouldn’t be crazy to double up on DL. At the top, depending on where the Saints pick lands the best available of Will Anderson, Jalen Carter, Myles Murphy, Bryan Bresee, or Tyree Wilson would be the right pick. I’m not going to write the same stuff that everybody else has on this group, but will throw a few double-up candidate names below that I like.
| Siaki Ika, Baylor | Dreams of Jordan Davis and Siaki in the middle of this line for years… | End R1-R2 |
| Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas St | With an almost a 40% true pass set win rate, Felix is one of the most productive pass rushers in this draft class. | End R1-R2 |
| Nolan Smith, Georgia | Would his size and now torn pec drop him? Much is made of his size but he still generated a 30% win rate on true pass sets and is a solid run defender. He would fit in a Haason-type role. | R2 |
| Jaquelin Roy, LSU | Miss out on Jalen Carter with the top pick? Jaquelin would pair really nice on the Eagles interior. His stats this year are down as he has been playing more NT this year but last year playing primarily as a 3-tech he had a 25% true pass set win rate. | R3 |
Jaquelin Roy against Alabama’s 5th-year senior and 2023 draft prospect Emil Ekiyor on way to his best game of the year, logging 5 pressures.
Cornerback
Corner is an interesting debate as fans seem to be on polar opposite sides more than any other position, with many not seeing it as a need and expecting either Bradberry to be re-signed or Zech to step in and the others wanting to invest high.
I see it as a need. Beyond the question on whether they can return Bradberry or not, my issue is very few rookie corners can be counted on to step in and start year 1 and people forget that corners over 30 notoriously get old seemingly overnight. This is as much about Bradberry as it is about having an heir to Slay.
I prioritize corner as it has become very expensive to replace in free agency (Bradberry aside, thank you Giants). But I really believe Howie sees it differently. He values the position, but I think he sees the lower hit rate in the draft and gets known quantities via free agency or trade (Slay, Steven Nelson, Bradberry) and loads up on cheaper options hoping some hit (Zech, Kary Vincent, Tay Gowan, Josiah Scott, Avonte Maddox). He has never used a 1st on a corner and only used three day 2 picks. Could I be wrong here? Sure.
What would I do: I don’t see this as good of a corner draft as the past two years, especially at the top end. I do really like Christian Gonzalez, they he would have to fall and be a value for the Eagles to take him. I would, however, look to use a day 2 pick here.
| Christian Gonzalez, Oregon | One of the best zone corners in the draft, if he somehow falls in the 1st he is about the only CB I can see taking on day 1. He has size (6’2″, 200), speed (GPS-measured at 23mph), and one of the better tacklers in the draft. | Back of round 1 |
| Devon Witherspoon, Illinois | My favorite in the draft considering EDP, another good zone corner that Philly would love with how aggressive he plays. He has good feet, stays low and changes direction better than the corners ahead of him. Nobody in this draft gets his hands on the ball more than Devon with 14 forced incompletions and a 26% forced incompletion rate. | R2 |
| DJ Turner, Michigan | He will drive Michigan Twitter nuts at times with some notable blown coverage, but he has the raw traits. He should be a testing freak with a supposed sub 4.3 40 and 6.3 three-cone. I thought I would hate his game against Ohio State last year but he stayed with their big receivers. | R3-4 |
There are better clips showing Devon’s coverage but this one is too good.
Running Back
RB should clearly be a need as I doubt Miles is re-signed at somewhere in the $5-7M a year range. The Eagles need to save somewhere on positions and it should be here. As much as everybody loves Bijan and Jahmyr, both will be gone by early R2 at the latest and just aren’t worth that capital.
What I would do: I just wrote on running backs here with why I look at elusiveness ratings and some backs I like. Every year there are good backs available R3 or later and there are four I really like right now.
| Tank Bigsby, Auburn | My favorite in the class given EDP. 83% of his yards come after contact and he just keeps having big games. My only concern is fumbling – he looked to have cleaned it up but had another this past week vs. Texas A&M. | R3 |
| Zach Charbonnet, UCLA | Yes, he plays in the PAC-12 but when a week under 150 yards is a disappoint, there is something here. A tall back but his contact balance continues to impress me. But would Howie take a Chip guy? | R3 |
| Eric Gray, Oklahoma | I didn’t have Gray in my last article as I hadn’t watched him at that point. He gets some player comps to Miles Sanders and played in the backfield with Eagles practice squad back Kennedy Brooks. But he should be a target – he has the best explosive rush rate in this draft. | R4 |
| Miyan Williams, Ohio State | I still don’t understand why Miyan isn’t talked about more, except that he’s overshadowed by TreVeyon Henderson. One of the few backs in this class above 220 lbs, he has one of the best broken tackle rates in this draft. | R5-6 |
Unlike most years, I have watched more RBs than any other position so far this year. I keep coming back to Tank.
Offensive Line
OL is a sneaky need. Who knows if Kelce returns, but the Eagles have his successor already. Seumalo may not come back as he is a free agent and Driscoll can fill in there but they don’t really have a swing tackle.
What would I do: Guard is actually the cheapest position to get in free agency, so this is always fixable and they could just bring Seumalo back if the price was right. It is hard to take a tackle-only anywhere high as they will sit behind Lane and Mailata since both are committed to for years. Last year I loved UGA’s Jamaree Salyer for his ability to play across the OL and while there isn’t that same versatility this year, there are some names I could see the Eagles taking if they fall to the right spot
| O’Cyrus Torrence, Florida | O’Cyrus is big – think of Landon Dickerson with an extra 15 pounds. as allowed 0 sacks in 1,420 college pass snaps and in his first year in the SEC, has done this with no penalties. Many have O’Cyrus as a R1 guard, but not many guards are taken in the 1st – in the last 5 years, 7 guards have gone in the 1st with three of them being in 2022. He is worthy of a 1st, but if he falls he would be another great building block on the Eagles line. | R2 |
| Cooper Beebe, Kansas State | Projected as a guard in the NFL, he is the one that has good versatility, playing four positions across the line with over 350 snaps each at LT, LG, and RT. | R3 |
It should be illegal to allow the Eagles to have Mailata, Landon, and O’Cyrus all on the same line.
Safety
It really comes down to if the Eagles bring back Epps and C.J. Gardner-Johnson on if this is a need. Howie has not invested in safety – K’Von in the 4th in 2020 is the highest safety Howie has drafted since Jaylen Watkins in 2014. So while I really like Texas A&M’s Antonio Johnson, I just don’t see them taking somebody high. I haven’t looked deeply at safeties yet but there is one that I :
| Tyler Nubin, Minnesota | For safeties, I want to see players that play in a deep alignment a lot but still can close and impact the short passing or run game. It is why I liked Lewis Cine and Kerby Joseph last year and this year, Tyler is one of the best in this draft. He plays deep 60% of snaps but has by far the highest adjusted run stop rate (8.4%). Add in a 17% forced incompletion rate and 4 interceptions this season and he is the most productive of the safeties in this class. Right now his ADP is in the 130s but I expect that to rise. | R3-4 |
Draft Board
Below is the beginning of my horizontal draft board. Positions are in priority order from left to right and players are slotted into the expected rounds they will go in (which will change).
| DL | CB | RB | OL | S | |
| R1-early | Will Anderson Jalen Carter Myles Murphy | ||||
| R1-late | Siaki Ika F. Anudike-Uzomah | Christian Gonazlez | |||
| R2 | Nolan Smith | Devon Witherspoon | O’Cyrus Torrence | ||
| R3 | Jaquelin Roy | Tank Bigsby Zach Charbonnet | Cooper Beebe | Tyler Nubin | |
| R4-5 | DJ Turner | Eric Gray Miyan Williams |
And as a bonus, a quick mock using the above:
R1 – Jalen Carter, DT
R1 – Felix Anudike-Uzomah, EDGE
R2 – Devon Witherspoon, CB
R3 – Cooper Beebe, OG
R4 – Eric Gray, RB