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The DiCecco Daily: Eagles Free Agent Fits Based On Cost, Need · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Welcome in.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: This is to check O Daily Andrew de Checo, and
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: today we're gonna talk about some free agent fits from
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: the perspective of cost and positional need. These are names
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: that they may not jump off the page if you're listening,
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: but they will make some sense as I start to
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: outline it.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: And you also have to put into.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Perspective the Eagles and how this off season may be
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: another one of maybe not maintenance like it was the
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: year before, but maybe something where they're obviously going to
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: have to be a little bit more cautious in how
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: they spend for external free agents, and they also have
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: to plan to keep their own in place for the
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: foreseeable future. Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, You're gonna have to
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: make decisions on Nolan Smith down the line. You're gonna
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: have to pay Jay Looks, Hunt Quinya and Mitch Cooper.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: De Gene.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: We're getting a little ahead of ourselves here, but those
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: are decisions that the Eagles are going to have to
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: keep in mind. So you can't just go on a
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: shopping spree, and that's where you have to get a
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: little bit more creative on the open market.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Now, the Eagles tried to do that.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Last year. There was an abundance of one year contracts.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Not many of them actually worked out, but I don't
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: view the processes flawed. The evaluation, however, yes, that leaves
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: something to be desired. But as it is the NFL,
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Scott and Combine is now in the rearview mirror, and
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: the offseason focus now shifts to free agency. We've talked
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: a ton about the challenges that lie ahead for the
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Eagles as they try to plan about retaining their lengthy
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: list of in house free agents, but it's also a
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: time to focus on some of the pending free agents
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: around the league who could be viewed as sensible replacements.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: With that being said, we'll start with end I did
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: not add kde Otten to this list of the tamph
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: Bay Buccaneers, but he would also be a player who
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: fits the bill. But I listed Chig Oconkwo twenty twenty
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: five team, the Tennessee Titans. I think Dallas Goddard likely
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: priced himself out of the Eagles range because of his
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: career season. He had sixty catches, a career high, eleven
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: touchdowns a career high. He's thirty one years old. He
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: does have the injury history. But there may be a
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: team that's willing to go two years, maybe three years,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: where the Eagles.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: May not want to go that way.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: It could be twelve or thirteen MILLI year versus the
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: ten that he had last year. All those things make
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: a big difference, and all it takes is one team.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: So for those reasons, you have to plan for other
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: options in the event that you can't keep Dallas Goddard
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: in Philadelphia. And I like a Conkwo quite a bit.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: He was a fourth round pick in twenty twenty two.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: He'll be twenty seven by the start of next season.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: He started forty two of sixty eight games and has
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: twoenty seventeen receiving yards and eight touchdowns, one hundred and
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: ninety four catches, six foot three, two hundred and thirty
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: eight pounds. He has alignment versatility, which I also think
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: is appealing, especially in a Shawn mannyon offense. And I
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: say Sewan Manny in offense, what we're expecting to be
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: the principles that Sewan Mannion is.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Going to to bring with him and implement.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: But he does have the athleticism, the run after the
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: catch ability, and I mentioned the versatility but I think
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: the Eagles could be an offense that maximizes the versatility
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: part of it, where I didn't think the Tennessee Titans
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: did a great job of really tapping into that element.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: And for what it's worth, Spotrack has Acquo's estimated market
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: value as at around.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Eight million per year.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: That certainly seems like it would be doable and fall
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: within that range, and Kate Otten is expected to fall
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: right around that price point as well.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Another tight end.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: This one is a bit of a different type of
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: tight end, but it's Charlie Kohler. Twenty twenty five team
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: was the Baltimore Ravens and had the Packers John Fitzpatrick
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: not suffered an achilles injury in late December, he would have.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Been on my list here.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: Big time blocking tight end six foot seven, has familiarity
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: with Sean Mannion and Ryan Mahaffey, the run game coordinator
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: and tight ends coach. But I didn't listen him here
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: because he tore his achilles. That's a lengthy timeline and
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: that was back in December, so he has a long
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: road ahead. That being said, Charlie Kohler is someone that
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: the Ravens drafted in the fourth round in twenty twenty two,
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: but he was used sparsely as a pass catcher in Baltimore,
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: had just four hundred and nine receiving yards and four
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: touchdowns on thirty catches over forty seven games. But it's
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: his tenacity and effectiveness as an inline blocker that makes
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: for an ideal matchup with the Eagles, a team that
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: is seeking balance when it comes to reshaping them. That's
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: also a low cost option that when you look at
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: the Eagles and what we're expecting to see is they
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: rebuild this tight end room, adding more balance, some more
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: well rounded players. I think it's fair to expect a
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: blocking tight end either free agency like a Charlie Kohler
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: or in the draft, maybe you double dip it tight end.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: Maybe you look at a Sam Rousch in the fourth
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: round out of Stanford. Maybe you look at a Tanner
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Kozil or a player of that mold that can help
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: you execute some different type of things offensively. The next
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: player is an offensive tackle justin school twenty twenty five
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: team Minnesota Vikings, which means he overlapped with Eagles offensive
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: line coach Chris Cooper for a year. This is the
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: sort of a well traveled guy. He can play left tackle,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: he can play right tackle. I kind of view this
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: similarly to the Kendall Lamb signing of last offseason, though
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: with a better expected return on investment. Nine years old,
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: he had nine starts last year for the Vikings. He
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: was a six round pick of the forty nine ers
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: in twenty nineteen, appeared in eighty three games twenty six starts,
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: and could function as a swing tackle on game day
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: if Fred Johnson.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Departs in free agency.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: I like the versatility, I like the cost, and I
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: like the familiarity with Chris Cooper, and those three talking
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: points could serve as the driving forces here as the
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: Eagles lack of experience step on the offensive line is
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: pretty apparent, and that would only be heightened if Fred
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Johnson and or Brett Toath tests the open market. Moving
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: on cornerback, cornerback is pretty weak in this free agent class,
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: especially where you're looking at the range in which the
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: Eagles are expected to spend, So like, I don't view
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: any of the top end players, and I even think
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: someone like like a Josh job or Jalen Jalen Watson
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: from the Chiefs might command a.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Little bit more than what the Eagles may be willing
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: to spend.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: Monterrek Brown from the Jags may may surprise and get
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: a little bit more then his name might suggest, because
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: I think while outsiders look at name value NFL, in
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: the NFL world, it's about what you've done and what
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: you're going to do. You don't pay somebody for what
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: they've done. You pay for what you're expecting them to do.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: And so I look at someone like a Job or
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: Jalen Watson who's played very well, and there's still another
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: level where those players can go, and it's going to
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: take the right system, the right coach. I get all that,
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: but I had to look a little bit further down
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: the list, and.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: These names are not appealing.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: I'm not you always temper your expectations when you're going
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: with a player like this, But I went with Cam
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Taylor Britt of the Bengals and this was a second
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: round pick in twenty twenty two. He started forty of
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: his forty seven games, two hundred and three tackles, thirty
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: eight pass defense, seven interceptions, and a pair of force fumbles.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: He actually took two interceptions back for touchdowns, so you
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: like his ability to make plays on the football and
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: if the Eagles are trying to seek an upgrade over
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: adri Jackson, he may be it. Maybe it's a change
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: of scenery that works for him, because his play has
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: been a radic over his four seasons with the Bengals.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: He's coming off a challenging twenty twenty five campaign that
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: included a benching and ended with a season ending foot injury.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: But maybe, as I said, the twenty six year old
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: might benefit from a change of scenery learning under cornerbacks
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: coach Roy Anderson and Joe Casper, two coaches who are
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: rooted in player development, and that might be the kind
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: of reclamation project that you buy low on.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: You get him in there and maybe that one year
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: proven deal.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: He comes in there with a chip on his shoulder,
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: looking to prove himself, and he get the best version
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: of him. It's as I mentioned, he's coming off a
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: season ending injury, so all that needs to be taken
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: into account as well. And then the other player on
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: this list, and I mentioned him a couple times on
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: this podcast, but I'm going to do it again because
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: I don't hear his name mentioned all that much. Joshua
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: Williams of the Kansas City Chiefs. He's not a household name.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: He was a fourth round pick from in Kansas City
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two out of Fayetteville State. But he
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: was a key secondary depth piece in his first three
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: seasons before his duties really shifted almost exclusively to special
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: teams in twenty twenty five. For context, Williams, who's twenty
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: six years old, logged more than four hundred defensive snaps
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: twice in those three seasons that I mentioned, and over
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: three hundred in the other. He accounted for always seventeen
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: defensive snaps last season compared to two hundred and fifty
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: six on special teams. The special teams value is important
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: to note here, though, guys, because the Eagles didn't receive
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: those contributions from holdovers Jacory and Bennett and mac McWilliams.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: And if you're going to be on the roster, you
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: have to be able to help on special teams. He
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: can certainly do that, But I also think that his
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: length at six foot three, one hundred and ninety three pounds,
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: he's a better pressman corner, but he can also He's
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: also done some good things in zone. I think there's
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: a little bit of an untapped ability there that again
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: you get him in there with Roy Anderson and Joe Casper.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: The Eagles pride themselves on player development. Maybe you're able
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: to get him in there for one point five million
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: a one year deal and you get the best version
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: of him in a new situation.
• 10:26
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  Speaker 2: But I think when you look at his special teams performances,
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: at worst you're getting a high end special teams performer.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: You're also getting someone who I think could fill that
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Isaiah Rodgers type of role. And if for nothing else,
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: you're bringing in more competition to compete with Jacory and
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: bennach Heeley Ringo. Dori Jackson might be a second wave,
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: third wave free agent guy. You can also bring him back. Well,
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: the Eagles did a nice job of sort of protecting him.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: It was a combination of the Eagles finding ways to
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: give him some help on that side of the field,
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: but also pressure from the defensive line and edge rusher
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: certainly helped. But A Dory made some plays on the
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: football as well. Let's not forget his interception against the Chargers.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: He got a number of pass breakups down the stretch there.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: He deserves a lot of credit as well. I think
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: to purely look at it and say he got help.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: Fangaio at JUSI gave him some help. That pass rush
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: was getting home, so we didn't have to stand back
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: there for an abnormal amount of time. And cover and
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: get exploited. I think that's taking away from some of
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: the strides that adri Jackson made late in the season.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: But those are just some of the names that I
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: was looking at and kicking around and identifying as fits
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: for the Eagles as they looked to fill out the
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: roster before the draft. And I think that of the
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: players that I mentioned, they all do make some sense.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Jalen Naylor is a wide receiver with the Minnesota Vikings.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: I believe that in free agency there may be a
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: team that gives him a larger role. So I think
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: he's actually going to get more money than maybe someone
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: like a Jahan Dotson. I think there's a world where
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: that happens, and so I don't know how like while
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: I believe he would be a really good fit for
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: the Eagles as the third receiver, can do some blocking
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: and can stretch a team vertically, I don't know if
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: they're going to be willing to spend what he might command,
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: and it's not going to be absorbitant, but it's it
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: is probably a little bit more than I envision the
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Eagles being willing to spend for that position. I think
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: the draft will be the most logical place to address it,
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: and maybe more of a low cost free agent to
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: supplement that group that's going to do it. For this
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: edition of the Czech O Delhi, I'm Andrew Decheko, and
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: I will catch you all on the next one.