Philadelphia Eagles: Arguments for keeping Alshon Jeffery in 2020
By John Newman
Conclusion
In the minds of many, Jeffery’s injury history makes him unreliable, and this is a fan base that hasn’t gotten used to getting their hopes up, only to have them come crashing back down. There was the “Dream Team” gaffe, the NFC Championship Game losses during the Andy Reid era, and the failures of Chip Kelly as a head coach.
In the end, 2019 will be remembered as another example of missed opportunities. Multiple news sources and Zach Ertz stated that this one of the best rosters on paper coming into the season. Then, that roster was ravaged by injury and the team limped to a 9-6 record and an early playoff exit.
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It is easy to externalize frustrations on a single player when a season goes haywire. Sometimes, rather than looking at a failure holistically, it’s easier to single out one person and make them the scapegoat. Recently, some of that has fallen on ’17’. Roseman defended him after the 2019-2020 season.
"I think we forget some of the contributions to our team that Alshon has had. During our Super Bowl year, the injury he played with, not missing a game and the contributions in that Super Bowl game, and last year (2018) he had 11 catches during the playoffs, and even this year in his last game he had nine catches for over 130 yards in the Miami game. Alshon is a talented player and he loves being an Eagle and he loves this city"
Jeffery isn’t perfect, nor is he indestructible. None of us are. He’s faced injuries. Some have happened at the most inopportune times. His price tag is far from ideal, and fans would appreciate it if he refrained from airing the team’s dirty laundry in the future.
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Still, the idea of cutting or trading Jeffery this offseason is, in most cases, the result of emotional reactions. Looking at things with a more balanced perspective, it makes almost no sense to get rid of him, and that can be said from both a financial or a team-building perspective.
Getting rid of Jeffery would simply feed the desire for catharsis that some of this fanbase wants and has as a result of a disappointing 2019 season. Catharsis doesn’t help a team win games though. Players do, and we know a healthy Alshon Jeffery can help the Eagles do that.