4 ways Eagles can avoid disaster during 2022 NFL offseason

The Eagles can’t emotionally overpay for aging veterans.

Often, we’ve debated, publicly and in our conversations among friends, about contract extensions. Should they be a reward for what the player has already done, or should they be drawn up based on what’s believed to be fair compensation when we evaluate potential?

In the Eagles’ organization, we’ve seen both. With Dallas Goedert being firmly entrenched as Philly’s top tight end now and with Avonte Maddox proving, in 2021, that he should be a part of this team’s long-term plans, Philadelphia’s leadership structure, as they should have, inked both to extensions to keep them around for a while.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge Howie Roseman’s other side though, that guy that admittedly falls in love with some of the veterans and inks them to deals that always seem to come back and bite the organization in its arse. That’s how you get locked into bad contracts with Alshon, Jason Peters, and Brandon Brooks, so while we’re here, let’s talk about a couple of players that the media and this fan base loves unconditionally: Brandon Graham and Rodney McLeod.

It doesn’t take much to find people who will support arguments for keeping them around and allowing them to walk. Both are in their 30s. Both have made a lot of money in their Eagles careers, but here’s the bottom line, as much as it pains us to say it.

This Eagles team has finally found a healthy balance of young stars and proven veterans whose voices still matter in the locker room. If the old guys can still contribute, they should be around. If it’s been deemed that they can’t, it’s time to move on.

Some have argued that it wouldn’t hurt to let McLeod test free agency and bring him back for a smaller price tag if he doesn’t find a new home during the free-agency signing period. Can you blame anyone for making that statement?

Rodney wants to be here. Truthfully, we all want him here, but you’ve heard the statement more than once. ‘Football is a business’. It will be interesting to see what Philly’s plans for Rodney are as we move towards the middle of March.