3 Reasons 2020’s Philadelphia Eagles continue to spiral out of control

2. The Philadelphia Eagles are loyal to a crippling fault.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way, but here we go again, with the Eagles signing aging veterans to wealthy contracts. Why? It’s simple. Howie Roseman has a compulsive desire that certain players remain on the team. He just gets attached to guys.

Now, loyalty isn’t always a bad thing. Still, when you sign players like Brandon Brooks, Lane Johnson, and Alshon Jeffery to giant backloaded contracts, all of whom have had injury issues in the past few seasons, it becomes a recipe for disaster.

Thanks to the dead cap money from previous players’ deals and the current, almost unmovable contracts given, this team is in deep trouble for possibly more than just next season. The Eagles’ misuse of resources has prevented them from being able to bring in a mix of veteran and young talent.

The misuse of financial resources isn’t the only issue in the loyalty of the current veterans on this team. That displaced loyalty has also put blinders on coaches and the organization, and as a result, the development of younger players gets overshadowed by the desire to get old guys healthy and back on the field. Think about it. Had it not been for injuries, would we have ever seen what Greg Ward, Jordan Mailata, Jack Driscoll, or Travis Fulgham had to offer?

This current 2020 season is a perfect example of that. How is Alshon Jeffery taking snaps away from John Hightower? How is Jason Peters starting over Jordan Mailata? How is Avonte Maddox starting over Michael Jacquet? The ITI staff doesn’t, unfortunately, have any other answer to that, and the eagles don’t either, unless, of course, the answer to the question is dumb and blind loyalty.