Philadelphia Eagles 2015 Mistakes To Avoid

Dec 14, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back

(32) is congratulated by wide receiver

(18) after scoring a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field. The Cowboys defeated the Eagles 38-27. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

III. Failing To Maintain And Upgrade In Free Agency

At this time a year ago, the Philadelphia Eagles were faced with wide receiver coming off injury, while wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Riley Cooper had just completed career seasons.   So… the Eagles signed Cooper to a cut-proof contract, Maclin to a one-year contract, and Jackson was outright cut.    In the NFL Draft, which was known to be thick with receiver talent, the Eagles picked up Jordan Matthews in the second round and Josh Huff in the third round.

In the defensive backfield, the Eagles let Patrick Chung return to New England, and signed former New Orleans safety Malcolm Jenkins.   In addition, the allowed safety Nate Allen to test free agency before resigning him to a one-year contract.

Did the Eagles upgrade or even maintain?  Well, only to the extent that they made moves.  The depth hoped for when the team signed cornerback Nolan Carroll never seemed to materialize on the field, particularly in the latter part of the season after inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans was injured.

So what did the Eagles do wrong?   Free Agency is a time to plug roster holes.  The team was far too focused on an edge rusher and simply failed to see opportunities that the off season presented them.   Cornerbacks did not hold up for the Eagles in 2014, and yet some high quality talent was available: Aqib Talib, Darelle Revis, Alterraun Verner,  Vontae Davis, and Antonio Cromartie were all available and were signed elsewhere.

So it’s more than a tunnel vision focus.  It requires “peripheral” vision.    Unfortunately the Eagles have not shown much propensity to fix or upgrade a range of positions.   In recent years, the results of off season have been limited to one or two areas – and sometimes in situations where more numerous and other positions seem to fail.   We can take heart this year in the knowledge that, for the most part, the Eagles “must upgrade” list has shrunk to a manageable number of areas.

Next: Drafting For Need