There are a few guys the Philadelphia Eagles would be wise to hang on to, including Kelce.
Who knows why it’s still called ‘football season’ because you know just as much as we do that the NFL is a 12-month business, and for the Philadelphia Eagles, weekends aren’t recognized, especially during Spring and Summer.
You know where this is headed. It won’t be long before we’re talking about the scouting combine, the free-agency period, and the 2022 NFL Draft. By the time April gets here, some of the roster should have fallen into place. One of the huge questions this offseason, as it has been for a while, is about Jason Kelce and what he might be thinking.
We all want him back. The question is does he have another run in him? Nick Sirianni made his pitch recently, sending the franchise legend two kegs of beer as a show of goodwill and to let the future Hall-of-Famer know that he’s appreciated and wanted.
Heck, we wouldn’t care if the Philadelphia Eagles sent this guy two kegs a week for the entire calendar year. We don’t care if they beg. They should beg if necessary because just about everything short of placing a blank check in front of Jason Kelce is fair game if that means he’s back in an Eagles jersey for the 2022 season.
Then again, don’t rule that blank check idea out just in case we have to dig deep in the bag of tricks to keep this guy in the midnight green for another season. He’s without question one of the most important guys on the offense and a leader on and off the field.
And, while we’re on the subject, here are three more Birds that this team must exhaust every resource to re-sign. Someone get Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie on the phone immediately.
Boston Scott has earned his wings with this Philadelphia Eagles offense.
This is one of those statements that might get a few thumbs up while being a hard sell for some of the rest of you, but despite being ignored and buried on the Philadelphia Eagles’ depth chart at the beginning of the regular season, Boston Scott emerged as one of the heroes of the 2021-2022 season. You can even make the argument, whether you agree with it or not, that Scott had a better season than Miles Sanders.
Don’t get us wrong. We love Miles, but just look at what happened.
Scott racked up 373 yards rushing and another 83 yards on 13 receptions. That’s good for 4.3 yards per carry and 6.4 yards per reception. Sanders, on the other hand, bested Boston by tallying 754 yards on 137 carries (a 5.5 yards-per-rush average), but his 158 yards on 26 snags mean he trailed Scott in the yards-per-reception department.
Most importantly, Scott reached the end zone seven times while Sanders didn’t reach the end zone as a rusher or a receiver during the 2021-2022 regular season. What might have happened had Scott gotten the ball more?
Now, to some that might be conjecture, but it proves that Scott, while, quite possibly being the third back on the Eagles’ depth chart, is good enough to start in the NFL. He’s also durable. Rarely, is he injured, and you know what they say… availability is a skill.
Now, isn’t that someone you’d like to see on this team next season? We thought you might agree. Here are two other guys that fall under the same category.
Hasn’t Singleton demonstrated he’s important to this Philadelphia Eagles defense?
The Philadelphia Eagles’ lack of interest in shoring up the linebacker corps has been talked about semingly since Andy Reid was pacing the sideline. Occasionally, they’ve had some studs on the roster, Jeremiah Trotter for instance, but those times have been few and far between. You know the next narrative very well.
Philly hasn’t taken a linebacker in the first round of any NFL Draft since they took Jerry Robinson in 1979. They have, however, developed a solid core group of guys capable of wreaking havoc at the second level for years to come, even if they lose Genard Avery (another of their impending free agents in 2022.
Throw T.J. Edwards in the category of potential game-wreckers. Do the same for Davion Taylor, but Alex Singleton has been a nice find as well.
He struggled early in 2021, but that was a result of playing alongside Eric Wilson and trying to do too much in a Jonathan Gannon-led defense that had no clue what it was doing at various points during the first half of the season.
There’s enough tape to prove that Singleton can play though. He’s capable of starting, but if Philly adds another star in free agency or in the draft (or both), keeping him on the roster ensures that the Eagles linebacker corps elevates from being one that once had a ton of question marks to being one of the deepest, youngest, and most-talented units in the entire NFL.
The Philadelphia Eagles witnessed an amazing bounceback by Rodney McLeod in 2021.
It was a subtle move by Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, but safety/team captain Rodney McLeod enjoyed one heck of a bounceback season once Gannon found the proper rotation for his safeties. In the process, McLeod, Marcus Epps, and Anthony Harris all enjoyed some rather successful campaigns.
McLeod’s become quite the fan-favorite, both on the field and off. His philanthropy has made him an even more respectable figure in the community than he already was. It also earned him the Eagles’ nomination for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award last year during the 2020 season.
McLeod has only played a full season in an Eagles uniform twice since they brought him here, during his first season in 2016 and again in 2019. The final stretch of the most recent regular season however again proved how good a healthy Rodney McLeod can be. His two interceptions will be talked about for quite some time.
His first shifted the momentum in the second game versus the hated New York Giants during the second half, and the Birds never looked back after that. His game-ender versus the Washington Football Team at FedExField halted a last-second rally by the bad guys and, in essence, sent Philly to the postseason.
The Birds are in danger of losing a few of their leaders this offseason. Guys like Rodney McLeod have to be held onto.