Eagles news: Gardner-Johnson extension in peril, Philly meets with QB prospect

Rumors, behind-the-scenes access, and theories that never materialize… We must be in the right place. We’re smack dab in the middle of NFL Combine fodder, and the start of the new NFL league year is around the corner. That means we kick off another free-agency frenzy. Buckle those seat belts. We have much to discuss concerning the Philadelphia Eagles.

Fan favorites are probably going to end up on other rosters. The quarterback factory appears to be open for business gain. There’s no game to play on Sunday, but the Birds are as interesting as ever.

Eagles news: Wait! Is Philadelphia in danger of losing C.J. Gardner-Johnson?

Here’s something of note. Remember a couple of weeks ago when we were discussing C.J. Gardner-Johnson and those reports that he’d be franchised by Philadelphia if the two sides were unable to reach common ground on a long-term extension? Well, now there are theories that he might, indeed, land elsewhere.

Zach Berman of The Athletic reports the Eagles are in danger of losing him to a huge deal on the open market. This one sits behind a paywall, so we won’t share any quotes from his take here. This is what we can tell you however.

Philly’s brass is interested in gaining compensatory picks in 2024, and rather be aggressive in extending many of their starters from this past season (Javon Hargrave, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Isaac Seumalo, James Bradberry), the more realistic play may be to part ways and gamble on the compensatory pick formula to reward them in 2024.

The deadline to get these contracts hammered out is Tuesday. We should know a lot more about this one by then.

More Eagles news: Philadelphia reopens the quarterback factory.

Before we reach Tuesday’s deadline or the beginning of another free agency cycle, there’s still some work to be done at the NFL Scouting Combine. Workouts for defensive linemen, linebackers, specialists, defensive backs, wide receivers, tight ends, and quarterbacks are in our collective rear-view mirrors. Offensive linemen and running backs take the field on Sunday.

Philly has also been meeting with prospects during the NFL’s largest and best scouting opportunity. One of which is a quarterback, UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

https://twitter.com/RealD_Jackson/status/1631678140215963654?s=20

This Chip Kelly disciple shined during his on-field workout this past Saturday, displaying nice touch on the football both in intermediate and long throws. During the Bruins’ 13 games of this past 2022 NCAA football season, he completed just under 70% of his throws. 2,169 yards through the air, 27 passing TDs, and ten interceptions were the result.

He also picked up 645 yards and 12 more trips to the end zone on 118 rushing attempts and earned two Second-Team All-Pac-12 nods (2020 and 2021). He’d be a nice backup option for Jalen Hurts if Philly does indeed take a flier on him during the coming NFL Draft. Keep an eye on this one. It will be interesting to see if the Birds continue to show interest during the pre-draft process.