Is Philadelphia experiencing buyer's remorse with Vinny Curry?

There’s a slight chance that overpaying for Vinny Curry wasn’t as detrimental as we originally thought (at least we hope so).

Just how bad was the Vinny Curry deal? During last year’s off-season, fans of the Philadelphia Eagles saw executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman place the team into position to land a much-needed franchise quarterback, and it seemed, at the time, to be the icing on the cake for a successful string of business moves.

The 2016 off-season:

Most of us breathed a sigh of relief when we saw Roseman toss out a few contracts that kept the core of the team and its’ future in tact. That included a brand spanking new deal that would keep one of the team’s defensive ends, Curry, in Philadelphia for an additional five years. It would also make him extremely wealthy for his remaining days on Planet Earth.

Vinny Curry’s massive extension:

According to Spotrac.com, Curry’s five year deal, valued at $47.25 million, included a $10 million signing bonus. It also guaranteed he’d make $23 million. His base salary in 2017 will be around $7 million, and that’s a long way of saying, unless the light switch turns on next season, Curry isn’t just wealthy. He’s overpaid and wealthy.

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Unless the Eagles trade back somewhere or orchestrate a deal in the coming month or so to acquire more picks, they’ll enter the 2017 NFL Draft with eight. At least two of those will need to be used on fixing the cornerback position. They’ll need to address their issues at running back. The Eagles, outside of safety (where there’s still an issue about depth), have a difference maker at every level of the defense. They also have a need at every level of the defense.

Questions at defensive end:

Losing defensive end and fan favorite Connor Barwin means the team will run with Brandon Graham and Curry as their starters. It also means one of those eight selections will now be used to address uncertainty at the defensive end position.

We’re all satisfied with Graham. Curry still has a lot to prove if we’re being honest. It’s going to be difficult for him to hide considering the high price tag that he carries. His coaches seem to be satisfied with him. They’re all in agreement that he’s developing nicely. We keep hearing he’s making the most of opportunities when he’s on the field. This has been said by both head coach Doug Pederson and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

Next: Eagles 7 Round Mock Draft

Yes, they’re paid to coach. We all know that they know more about the game than any of us. It’s, still, truly hard to know what either one of them is thinking or looking at when they’re evaluating him. The rest of us just don’t see it. We’re not even sure what he did to prove he was worthy of an average salary of $9.45 million in the first place.

Next: An argument for trading down

Conclusion:

Curry plays along a defensive line that, not only, includes Graham. It has one of the great young talents in the NFL, defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. The presence of Cox and Graham means Curry will get opportunities, but unfortunately, that isn’t good enough. With what he’s being paid, Curry needs to be creating those opportunities on his own.

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Is Philadelphia experiencing buyer’s remorse with Vinny Curry?

By Geoffrey Knox | Mar 20, 2017