It’s not like the Philadelphia Eagles didn’t know this was coming.
On practically any list of the top free agents that would be available when the so-called legal tampering period started Monday, there were two Eagles defensive players in the top five. Defensive tackle Milton Williams and defensive end Josh Sweat were two of the very few impact players to reach free agency. The Eagles simply couldn’t afford to sign them before they hit the market. They have a lot of stars to pay including Saquon Barkley, who just got a new two-year, $41.2 million extension.
And still, when Williams and Sweat agreed to big deals elsewhere in the first few hours of free agency on Monday, it had to sting. Williams agreed to a $104 million, four-year deal with the New England Patriots. Sweat followed that up with a $76.4 million deal over four years with the Arizona Cardinals, via ESPN, reuniting with his old Eagles defensive coordinator and current Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon.
On top of losing those two, former Eagles cornerback Darius Slay agreed to terms with the Pittsburgh Steelers via Fox Sports. Slay was cut last week by the Eagles, who had to save some salary cap space and didn’t want to have Slay’s $16 million on the books.
The Eagles will be fine. Nobody is crying for them. But it was a lot to lose in a few hours off a championship defense.
Eagles lose 3 key defenders
The Eagles had a defense that finished first in the NFL last season and had a Super Bowl performance that will go down as one of the best ever. Their first half dominance against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs will live on for a long time.
Sweat and Williams were a big part of that game. They combined for 4.5 sacks and it could be argued they were the Eagles’ two best defensive players that day. Sweat got some Super Bowl MVP votes.
Slay made three Pro Bowls in his five seasons with the Eagles and was a big part of shutting down the Chiefs’ offense as the Eagles took a big lead into halftime.
But time moves on. At 34 years old, Slay was deemed too expensive for a secondary that hit big on draft picks of Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in last year’s draft. Williams is an exciting talent but also was the team’s third-best defensive tackle behind Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis. Sweat had 39 sacks the last five seasons and while every team needs as many edge rushers as it can get, the Eagles have options there too.
Decisions needed to be made, and it gets harder with other teams wanting to pick away at the Super Bowl champion’s roster.
Eagles’ roster is still deep
The Eagles have been fantastic at player acquisition, which put them in this month’s enviable catch-22. The Eagles won a Super Bowl because they had an embarrassment of riches, and they couldn’t afford to keep everyone because they have an embarrassment of riches.
The players who left will do well for their new teams. Williams can finally show what he can do as a full-time player, for a Patriots team that thought he was worth $26 million a year. Sweat gives the Cardinals a pass rusher the defense desperately needed to go to a new level. Slay is aging but hasn’t fallen off yet and can help a secondary that was looking for depth.
They would have been valuable to the Eagles too, but it’s difficult to keep everyone together year after year. The good news for Eagles fans is they can trust general manager Howie Roseman to replace all of them.
