Reactions as five Eagles starters are projected to land elsewhere in 2023
Heading into the 2023 NFL offseason, it didn’t take much to convince us of two things. The first was this. Having a Super Bowl win in our back pockets already didn’t lessen the sting of the Philadelphia Eagles losing on football’s biggest stage this time around. We told ourselves that would make any loss less severe. That wasn’t true. Now there’s a desire to see Philly attack the offseason ferociously.
The other lesson learned was this. It’s going to be even harder to reach football’s biggest game this time around. The Birds need to iron out an extension for Jalen Hurts. Meanwhile, they have to make decisions on 20 impending free agents. They won’t be able to keep everyone. They will lose some of their starters.
Pro Football Focus recently shared their theories on potential landing spots for 50 of their top-ranked players who are expected to hit free agency. Five of them are Philadelphia Eagles. Let’s dig in a little further.
Pro Football Focus predicts what the landing sports are for four Eagles defensive starters who are set to enter free agency (and one from their offense).
PFF predicts all five of the Eagles on their list of the top 50 free agents land in other cities. Here’s where Arjun Menon and Brad Spielberger, the writers of this one, believe everyone should end up.
Javon Hargrave lands with the Chicago Bears (3rd)
After doing a little research, we feel like we can confidently state that you’d find a great deal of difficulty in finding a free-agent ranking of any sort where Javon Hargrave isn’t among the top ten names listed. He recently turned 30, but we’ve seen defensive linemen remain productive well into their thirties as of late. From where we’re sitting, this is one of the guys Philly should exhaust every resource to keep.
James Bradberry joins the Las Vegas Raiders (15th)
James Bradberry turns 30 in August. While signing him to an extension would mean Philly is home to two starting outside cornerbacks who are over that age, we can only think of two who are arguably better (Jamel Dean and Byron Murphy). That theory can also be refuted… maybe.
Call it a crazy hunch. Running it back with Bradberry is wise, but it seemingly makes more sense to let him walk and use one of those two first-round draft choices on a cornerback.
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson winds up in Cincinnati with the Bengals (25).
This one contradicts what we’ve been hearing about Philly’s plans for C.J. Gardner-Johnson. It’s been reported by reliable sources that the goal is to place the franchise tag on him if a long-term deal can’t be reached.
T.J. Edwards travels cross-state to land with the Pittsburgh Steelers (28).
T.J. Edwards had a rough go versus the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LVII. Do us all a favor though. Name an Eagles player on defense that didn’t.
While most would be in favor of keeping him around, us included, he may not be one of leadership’s top priorities. Don’t be shocked if he’s allowed to walk in one of the more difficult decisions Philly is forced to make, especially seeing as how Nakobe Dean is waiting in the wings.
Isaac Seumalo lands with the L.A. Rams (29).
It’s hard to overlook someone as good as Isaac Seumalo when Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Jason Kelce, and Lane Johnson are the other four starters on the offensive line. Quietly, Isaac has earned himself a payday, and it could behoove Philly to promote one of those young guys that they have been grooming.
They also predict Dalton Risner lands with the Philadelphia Eagles. That one placed a smile on our faces until we spoke with our friends at Predominantly Orange, FanSided’s site dedicated to the Denver Broncos. They believe he’s slightly overrated.
If they say it. That’s good enough for us. It won’t be long now. In a little less than a month, we’ll see how things play out. Time flies. The frenzy will be here before you know it.
