14 Philadelphia Eagles to potentially become free agents

Perhaps, one of the few disappointments the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans are going to have to deal with, heading into the off-season, is they won’t be able to take the entire 2017 roster into the 2018 season.

It’s one of those issues we seem to have been discussing for quite some time. The Philadelphia Eagles shouldn’t be able to be major players during the free agency period. Fortunately, Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman managed the cap beautifully in 2017, and he added key pieces to Philadelphia’s roster, running back LeGarrette Blount, defensive end Chris Long and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery for instance.

Then, right after that, he traded for defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan, cornerback Ronald Darby and running back Jay Ajayi, and just like that, the Eagles were a Super Bowl contender. By the time the season ended on February 4th, Philly was raising the Lombardi trophy. Most of their starters are still under contract for the 2018 season. Prior to all of their financial issues, Roseman made a point to extend the Eagles’ young core players, and this past season, extensions were given to Jeffery and Jernigan.

Now comes the fun part. The Eagles have 14 players on the current roster who are set to become free agents if deals can’t be reached, and then, they have several more players who they’ll need to sign once the 2018 season ends. Those players include Ronald Darby, Jay Ajayi and Brandon Graham.

First thing’s first though. Howie Roseman has a ton of work to do, and 14 players on the current roster are set to become free agents.

Philadelphia Eagles

Here are four names that almost leap off of the page on the Eagles list of guys who may walk.

The most notable names of the list include four guys who made huge contributions to the Eagles Super Bowl run in 2017. Linebacker Nigel Bradham, running back LeGarrette Blount, cornerback Patrick Robinson and tight end Trey Burton all spent time in the starting lineup during 2017.

Bradham, thanks to an almost empty cupboard at linebacker, seems like the deal the Eagles have to get done. Robinson (who led the team in interceptions) Blount, and Burton are all important, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where they all return, if any of them. No one’s ruling anything out though. This is Roseman we’re talking about.

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Here are the other ten names.

Running back Darren Sproles has expressed interest in returning. His career ended thanks to injury, but he’s also aging. Corey Graham and Jaylen Watkins provided depth at safety. Dannell Ellerbe was signed late in the season out of necessity when injuries continued to deplete what Philly had at linebacker. Najee Goode is another of Philly’s linebackers, but he may be deemed as expendable.

Next: Analyzing the Eagles' backfield for 2018

That leaves kicker Caleb Sturgis whose season ended on September 12th, 2017. He’s probably lost his job to Jake Elliott. Then there’s offensive tackle Will Beatty, defensive end Bryan Braman, defensive tackle Beau Allen and running back Kenjon Barner.

Like Blount, Burton and Robinson, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where any of those guys return. We’ve been wrong before though. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.