Philadelphia Eagles: Is It Their Time To Spend Money?

We know you can’t buy a Lombardi Trophy. Many teams tried it, including our Philadelphia Eagles. But you can’t win one without spending, either.

The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl XLIX, edging out the Seattle Seahawks 28-24. It was the fourth time the Lombardi goes to the Pats, to Tom Brady, to Bill Belichick. All of them have four more than the Philadelphia Eagles.

Another NFL season goes by and the pill gets tougher to shallow – the Philadelphia Eagles have won zero Super Bowls. The last time they were crowned NFL champions was in 1960.

I know this doesn’t help survive a Monday, so I’ll stop.

This time every year, we wonder what do the Eagles need to go all the way. What do the teams that play in the Super Bowl have that the Eagles do not.

We usually come up with “better defense”, “better special teams”, “better quarterback”, etc. There is truth in those remarks, but we have seen team win with average quarterbacks (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2003), less than average special teams (Green Bay Packers, 2011) and good but not great defenses (New Orleans Saints, 2010).

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What has become apparent to me is that you need to invest not only in young talent, but also to proven veteran players and that costs a lot.

After the 2011 “Dream Team” fiasco, the Philadelphia Eagles have been very cautious with their salary cap management. Year after year, they are among the teams that rank high in cap space available. This allows them to go after any of the high-priced free agent players they want to, but they prefer to sign players that offer better “value for money” than the cream of the crop.

For example, last year they signed Malcolm Jenkins while Jairus Byrd was available. In all fairness, they got more from Jenkins than the Saints got from Byrd.

But if we take a look at the Seahawks, the Patriots, the Denver Broncos, the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens (teams that recently won or played in the Super Bowl), it appears that you can’t “moneyball” your way to a Lombardi trophy.

All those teams but Seattle rank lower in available cap space than the Philadelphia Eagles do – you can see for yourself. And the Seahawks rank higher just because they have 24 (!) upcoming free agents.

The Eagles are trying to pay their own guys first and foremost and not to throw a boatload of money at a free agent player. They want to reward those who have helped the team and not pay someone big bucks because he was good while with another team, with the risk of being a non-factor for the Birds (Nnamdi Asomugha, Ronnie Brown).

However, if you don’t take risks, you won’t go far. The Seahawks risked when they paid Michael Bennett, who had not impressed during his first stint in Seattle. They risked when they signed Cliff Avril, the most highly regarded free agent defensive end of the 2013 offseason.

The Patriots paid Darrelle Revis when he was cut from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And the Denver Broncos offered Peyton Manning everything he wanted, despite the fact he had not thrown a football for a year.

The Eagles need to take risks this upcoming offseason. They should stay true to their culture and pay their best players, but they must bring in free agents that can make a difference on the field – even if these players demand a big contract.

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