Star NFL safety appears to have Eagles window shopping

It hasn’t been the mini-shopping spree that we expected. By now, some of us thought we’d see at least two or three of those 2022 NFL free agents we’ve been obsessing over in Philadelphia Eagles jerseys. The names on the wish list vary from fan to fan, but at some point, we’ve all expressed interest in everyone from Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner to Mike Williams and Marcus Williams and so on.

Nope, the Eagles didn’t get any of those guys. They made a few ripples in the pond by snagging Haason Reddick, but most of us have had to try our best not to nod off as they re-signed Derek Barnett, Greg Ward, Zach Pascal, and Anthony Harris among others. We’ve watched this team long enough to know that, at some point, the rumor mill will churn again.

It appears that it didn’t take long. Philly’s front office is reportedly back to doing their version of window shopping.

Add Tyrann Mathieu to a list of targets the Eagles are interested in.

It isn’t often that, in a sport where guys wear helmets, a defensive gem’s star shines so brightly that fans all over the country can identify said player without help. Tyrann Mathieu entered the mighty NFL as one of those microwavable stars that college football hands the pro game on a year-in and year-out basis.

Playing at LSU for the mighty Tigers, earning a nickname like “Honey Badger”, and being so brilliant that people actually considered you to be a serious Heisman Trophy contender while playing on DEFENSE will do that for you.

Now, entering his tenth NFL season, Mathieu remains unsigned as we roll into April. When you’re as good as he is, you don’t have to rush to make a decision sometimes. Get this though.

According to Spotrac, the Eagles are carrying over $36 million in dead cap money, and they have about $1.5 million in salary-cap space, but according to the following report from Jordan Schultz, Philadelphia “would love to sign Tyrann Mathieu”. Take a look.

Hey, you don’t expect executive vice president/general manager Howie Roseman to let a nasty little detail like the salary cap halt anything he’s up to, do you? From the outside looking in, this one looks like it falls under the category of ‘window shopping’ and one of those familiar stories that always seem to begin with Philly being in play to land a star before the tale ends with that star singing somewhere else.

During his first nine professional seasons, Mathieu tallied 610 tackles, 26 interceptions, and three Pro Bowl nods for his work in 129 career regular-season games (2015, 2020, 2021), but as nice as it would be to see him patrol the last line of defense for the Eagles, this seems like an adventure in fantasy land.