Avonte Maddox extension doesn’t seem to be an Eagles priority
If the 2021 Philadelphia Eagles regular season were to end today, they’d be just about as close to being at square one in the roster-building process as a team could be. One might assume that if they take about ten minutes and scout their own talent, they’d find some building blocks, Avonte Maddox being one of them, but they don’t seem to be in much of a hurry to extend him.
As recent as last week, Maddox was quoted, in a sit-down with members of the Philly media, that contract negotiations between his camp and the Eagles hadn’t started yet.
Now, on one hand, that makes sense. This team has been known to hand out deals or exercise options a little too quickly and, at times, long before they needed to do so, thus getting burned in the process. Take a look at what’s gone on recently with the careers of Derek Barnett or Brandon Brooks if you need proof of that statement.
On the other hand, Maddox appears to be evolving into one of the better slot corners in the game, so one might imagine that a team that needs as much help as it can get from a talent standpoint, especially on the defensive side of the ball, would want to lock up as many of their better players as they can.
Sure it’s early, but are we to assume that Avonte Maddox might not be in the Eagles’ long-term plans? It’s definitely a question that’s worth asking.
What should we make of knowing Avonte Maddox hasn’t earned an extension?
As you know, Avonte Maddox was a part of the same draft class that introduced us to Dallas Goedert, Jordan Mailata, and Josh Sweat (2018). So far, Mailata has earned his coins (four years, $64 million). So has Sweat (three years, $40 million). Goedert, like Maddox, is among a group of 20 Birds that Philadelphia’s leadership will have to make decisions on at season’s end.
That includes 12 unrestricted free agents, six restricted free agents, and two exclusive rights free agents. Again Goedert hasn’t been given a deal at the time of this story being written and published, but he’s, no doubt, someone the Eagles will want to hang on to. That’s obvious. Maddox might be another story.
light. Related Story. Regrading Howie Roseman’s 2018 draft class
The Philadelphia Eagles are paying a lot of money to Darius Slay. They have what might wind up being three first-round draft choices in the 2022 NFL Draft and 11 picks total. With that type of capital, one might venture to assume that Maddox’s status with the team might be in question.
Keep in mind the fact that this team has lined its cupboard with a lot of young talent at the cornerback position recently (Zech McPhearson, Josiah Scott, Andre Chachere, and Kary Vincent Jr. for instance). Call it a crazy theory, but paying somewhere around five million or more to a slot corner that Philly found in the fourth round may not be a part of the business model.