Philadelphia Eagles: More Questions Than Answers On Free Agency Day One

The new face of the Philadelphia Eagles? Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Eagles made a splash on day one of free agency.

It was a a shock move to rival the Eagles’ unexpected capture of Nnamdi Asomugha in 2011, although yesterday’s moves are likely to have more far reaching consequences for the Philadelphia Eagles than the doomed capture of Asomugha.

Here’s what we know so far:

1) The Nick Foles era in Philadelphia is over. Foles is a good quarterback. He’s been a model professional during his time in Philadelphia and has landed in a situation where he is wanted by his Head Coach and General Manager. I’m sure that every Philadelphia Eagles fan would wish Foles good luck for his future career, even if he never quite convinced the fan base that he had what it takes to become the franchise quarterback that every team looks for.

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2) Byron Maxwell is an Eagle. The former Seattle Seahawks cornerback will take to the field wearing midnight green in 2015. Maxwell was the one of the top cornerbacks on the open market and arrives with a six year deal. Hopefully, the Eagles have filled one of their starting cornerback slots for years to come with this signing and Maxwell can step out of the shadows of Seattle’s legion of boom to become a number one cornerback in his own right.

3) LeSean McCoy is no longer an Eagle. Amongst yesterday’s news, the official confirmation of the McCoy – Alonso trade almost got lost. It is still one of the more stunning moves of the offseason so far, as the Eagles gave up, arguably, their most dynamic offensive player to capture the 2013 defensive rookie of the year. This could well be a masterstroke by Eagles Mastermind Chip Kelly (a term that I suggest should replace Head Coach as Chip Kelly’s job title for the foreseeable future). It completes one of the best front sevens that the Eagles defense has boasted in years, of Fletcher Cox, Bennie Logan, Cedric Thornton, Connor Barwin, Mychal Kendricks, Kiko Alonso and Brandon Graham. The Eagles defense is close to being set for 2015.

4) The Eagles gave up a lot to get Sam Bradford. It definitely feels like Chip Kelly overpaid here. The price given up seems so exorbitant and unnecessary that it almost begs fans and media to ask why it happened? There’s some speculation that the move to grab Bradford from the St Louis Rams may just be the first step in Kelly’s plan to move up for Oregon QB Marcus Mariota in the draft. If that happens, then I vote for changing Chip Kelly’s job title to “Nutty Professor”. For now, we should probably assume that Bradford is Chip Kelly’s starting quarterback for 2015. If that’s the case, then the Eagles have a good starter in Bradford, as long as he can stay fit. Bradford is a player who can make every pass in the playbook and knows the NFL business, after a busy few years in St Louis. If he can stay fit, then the Eagles have an interesting player to build around. However, the way the the Eagles offseason has gone so far, I would not be surprised if Bradford ends up in a Tampa Bay or Tennessee uniform in 2015.

5) Day two has started with a bang, as Chip Kelly made it ten former Oregon Ducks on the roster by signing former New York Giant Walter Thurmond. Should be interesting as Thurmond and Eagles cornerback Brandon Boykin traded verbal blows last season ahead of their meeting.

The mantra for Philadelphia Eagles fans so far has been “In Chip We Trust”. Fans stuck to that as McCoy was traded. Fans stuck to that as wide receiver Jeremy Maclin departed to join Kansas City. The Bradford trade seems to have been a step too far for some fans.

In my view, we should remember that it is only March 11th. There’s a long way to go until the draft. There’s an even longer way to go until the season starts. The 2015 season can’t really be judged until December, or hopefully February. It is important that fans remain patient. In the future, I have no doubt that this offseason will be remembered as one of the most pivotal offseasons in Philadelphia Eagles history. Let’s hope that it is remembered as being the first step on the journey to a World Championship.

Next: Sam Bradford: Is He Philadelphia Eagles End Game?

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