PHILADELPHIA – It’s easy to see why the Eagles sat on the sidelines while the top wide receivers signed new contacts worth $20 million per season.
The Eagles didn’t trade for Tyreek Hill or Davante Adams, or sign a free agent like Allen Robinson or Christian Kirk.
Instead, the Eagles signed Zach Pascal, who will make 10 times less than any of them. Pascal signed a one-year deal for $1.5 million, with incentives that could bring that up to $2.5 million.
Kirk, like Pascal a slot receiver, signed a four-year deal with Jacksonville for an annual average value of $18 million per season.
That says everything about how the wide receiver pay scale has taken off, and the Eagles’ strategy to address a position that still clearly needs to be addressed, even with Pascal.
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Let’s start with the pay scale.
The Eagles reportedly tried to trade for Atlanta’s Calvin Ridley, who would count $11 million against the salary cap. That fell through when Ridley was suspended for this season because he bet on NFL games.
The Eagles reportedly went after JuJu Smith-Schuster, who signed with the Kansas City Chiefs for one year and just under $11 million.
That likely was the top end of what the Eagles were willing to spend on a wide receiver during the offseason.
So they stayed away from Adams, Hill, and Amari Cooper, who was traded to Cleveland for a fifth-round draft pick. All make $20 million or more per season. They never had the chance at Chris Godwin or Mike Williams, who stayed with their current teams for $20 million or more per season.
No doubt, general manager Howie Roseman and chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie spit out their coffee when they saw Kirk sign with the Jaguars for an average annual value of $18 million per year.
Pascal isn’t nearly as good as any of those receivers. Nor is he as good as some aging veteran receivers still available like Julio Jones or A.J. Green.
But Pascal does fit in with a team that still needs a top wide receiver to pair with DeVonta Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert.
The two combined for 120 catches for 1,746 yards last season, or 39% of the Eagles’ receptions. The coaching staff raves about the potential of Quez Watkins, who had 43 receptions for 647 yards last season, as a No. 2 wide receiver.
So the only way the Eagles would be palatable for a top receiver who cherishes targets and receptions and touchdowns – and what wide receiver doesn’t? – would be if the Eagles threw the ball a lot more.
But Hurts isn’t Justin Herbert or Matthew Stafford or Aaron Rodgers and never will be. The Eagles attempted just 494 passes last season, the fewest in the NFL.
Pascal, then, made sense as a reliable slot receiver. He’s also familiar with head coach Nick Sirianni, who was the Colts’ offensive coordinator from 2018-20. Pascal had his best seasons under Sirianni, with 41 receptions for 607 yards in 2019 and 44 receptions for 629 yards in 2020.
Pascal dipped to 38 catches for 384 yards last season with Carson Wentz as the Colts’ quarterback.
Pascal didn’t mention Wentz when asked what went wrong last season, but the Colts made it clear that Wentz was a big part of the problem.
“Everybody has a lot of questions in regards to last season,” Pascal said Thursday. “As a team, we didn’t reach our goal. It didn’t end well. Everybody felt that pain. Regardless of the season, we all learned from it. I can’t put a finger on what happened.”
Colts general manager Chris Ballard certainly did, saying after the season that Wentz needs to, “make the layups; just make the layups.”
The layups, in large part, are the underneath passes to the slot receiver.
Several weeks later, the Colts traded Wentz to Washington. It’ll be Wentz’s third team in three seasons. The Colts, meanwhile, will have their fifth different quarterback in five seasons.
So will Pascal, who said he has never had the same quarterback two years in a row, and that goes back to his days at Old Dominion.
Hurts has his faults, too. He only completed 61.3% of his passes. That ranked 26th in the NFL, just behind Wentz, who completed 62.4%.
But there are two major differences.
The first is that Hurts’ accuracy issues were on deep passes. The second is that many times, Hurts’ checkdowns turned into a running play. And Hurts led the NFL in rushing with 784 yards last season.
Pascal is also known as a good blocker for a receiver.
“I go into every season not trying to think of a role, but just being able to do whatever they ask of me,” Pascal said. “If that’s to go block 50 people, then I’ll go block 52 people. If they tell me to make a couple catches, I’m going to make the spectacular catches, or whatever they need me to help.”
He is also known as a good route-runner. Pascal said he learned that from Sirianni in Indianapolis.
“Nick is very detailed in his routes, and how he wants his plays going,” Pascal said. “From your foot pointing to the right, to your foot is supposed to be pointing to your left. Having a guy like that who can be on you, and coach you, on the small details, it leads to success.”
Does Pascal’s signing make up for missing out on the premier receivers? Clearly, no.
But the Eagles still have options.
They could try trading for someone like Miami’s DeVante Parker, who counts about $9 million on the Dolphins’ salary cap. Parker will likely see a diminished role with Hill joining Jaylen Waddle, who had 104 receptions last season as a rookie, and tight end Mike Gesicki.
But the easiest way for the Eagles to upgrade is the draft. And yes, Pascal’s signing makes it more and more likely that the Eagles will use a first-round pick on a wide receiver for the third year in a row.
They missed with Jalen Reagor in 2020 before hitting with Smith last spring. This year, the Eagles have three first-round picks, so they can still address other needs in addition to wide receiver.
So it’s possible that the Eagles could end up with someone like Alabama’s Jameson Williams, USC’s Drake London, Arkansas’ Treylon Burks or Ohio State’s Chris Olave.
Unlike the top receivers, a draftee can’t turn down the Eagles.
Eagles bring back Barnett
The Eagles are bringing back defensive end Derek Barnett, who signed a two-year contract Thursday.
Barnett, the Eagles’ first-round pick in 2017, has been mostly a disappointment. He had a career-worst 2.0 sacks last season while making $10 million in the final year of his rookie contract.
Barnett likely signed for less than that in order to return.
Barnett was plagued by penalties last season, committing a team-high eight. Four of them were 15-yard personal fouls.
After Barnett committed a penalty against Dallas last September, Sirianni was caught on camera mouthing, “It’s always him.”
Barnett has 21.5 sacks in five seasons. He’ll likely remain part of a rotation at defensive end that includes free agent signee Haason Reddick, Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat, who tied for the team lead in sacks last season with 7.5.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
