The Eagles and the rest of the NFL will begin the frenzy of free agent signings and trades on Monday at noon with what’s called the legal tampering period.
Nothing is official until Wednesday at 4 p.m., when the new league year begins.
For the Eagles, that gives them a few more days to decide the fate of several of their own free agents, including defensive end Derek Barnett, safeties Rodney McLeod and Anthony Harris, and cornerback Steve Nelson.
It’s possible that none will return.
In addition, the Eagles currently have about $17.3 million in salary cap space, but that was before center Jason Kelce signed a new one-year contract to return. That actually might lower the Eagles’ salary cap hit for 2022, while guaranteeing Kelce money in 2023.
The Eagles can free up many more millions by restructuring other contracts.
Still, the Eagles do have room to trade for a star player or sign a player or two with what they currently have.
Here, then, is a tracker of all of the Eagles’ activities as the new league year gets set to begin:
No trade likely for Deshaun Watson
Eagles GM Howie Roseman has made it clear that Jalen Hurts is the starting quarterback. He has also said he will explore any avenue possible of improving his team.
So, yes, it was reported that Roseman looked into trading for Watson, as far back as last year. Watson was not criminally charged for sexual assault by a grand jury on Friday, paving the way for him to play in 2022, although he could face an NFL suspension. Watson also faces 22 civil suits for sexual misconduct.
Still, the Eagles are reportedly not one of the teams in the running. It’s possible that the Eagles did background checks on Watson and weren’t comfortable with the allegations. It’s also possible that Watson made it clear that he won’t waive his no-trade clause to come to Philadelphia.
Either way, it appears that the Eagles will go into 2022 with Hurts, and use the draft picks and free agent money to improve the team around him.
Will Fletcher Cox be traded?
The Eagles are reportedly taking calls on Cox, their top defensive tackle for the past 10 seasons. But the Eagles will take a $25 million dead money hit if they do trade him. Still, it was something they looked into last October, so it’s not surprising that they would do so again.
After all, they took an NFL-record $34.7 million dead money hit last year when they traded Carson Wentz to the Colts. But the rest of Wentz’s salary is off the Eagles’ books. And that would be the case beginning in 2023 if they trade Cox.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
