Free agency is just a few short days away and although much of the excitement this week is surrounding the NFL Combine and how the Eagles will wade through free agency waters, there are some names from last year’s team who could be set for a surprise return.
Mike Wallace, WR
The Eagles still need to find a deep-threat solution. Since 2016, many have tried and many have failed. From Dorial Green-Beckham and Bryce
Wallace signed a $2.5M deal last year on a prove-it basis but spent the season on Injured Reserve. Now 33-years old, this could be the last rodeo for one of only 10 active NFL players with 8,000 career receiving yards and 500 career receptions.
It’s easy to sit back and speculate how effective Wallace would’ve been, but he had a great offseason and rapidly built a strong relationship with Carson Wentz. If the team can’t afford to hang their hat on a name like John Ross via trade, or Mack Hollins due to the uncertainty of what he’ll bring, keeping Wallace in the fold could potentially allow the team to develop a true ‘speed guy’, whether that be through the draft or another method. It would be cheap to do so and take the weight off of a young player being dropped into a starting role right away.
Richard Rodgers, TE
Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert were the stars of the show last year, but remember at the start of the season when Joshua Perkins was seeing extensive game action, with the results being somewhat hit-or-miss? Well, that was because the Eagles lost Richard Rodgers to injury. Even when returning late in the season, Rodgers was almost a non-factor, playing in just 3% of offensive snaps.
However, midway through the season, the Eagles started to lean on jumbo formations more heavily. 12-personnel looks became the foundation for an offense that started to really force the running-game into existence, but one can’t help but wonder how much losing Celek and Burton really hurt the positional group.
The Eagles found a huge weakness against the Patriots in Super Bowl 52 and ran an abundance of 13-personnel groupings to exploit that. They simply didn’t have the talent to bring that level of tight end dominance to the table reliably last year.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see Rodgers, a player who has evolved into a reliable blocker on top of his 1,173 career receiving yards, return to the action. The Eagles traditionally like to keep 3-4 TE’s on the roster and only
Chance Warmack, OG
The redemption ride hasn’t exactly gone according to plan for the former first-round pick, but that doesn’t mean his tenure in Philadelphia has been unsuccessful. Warmack is a wily vet who now has six years worth of experience under his belt and although he was unable to win out a starting role, that experience could be more valuable than ever.
The injury to Brandon Brooks may keep him sidelined for a portion of the regular season and with Jason Kelce reportedly contemplating retirement, a shift to center for Seumalo leaves just Stefen Wisniewski and Matt Pryor at guard.
Warmack is still a former top-10 draft selection, working under an offensive line coach who got the best out of him at Alabama to push him into such high regard. If offensive line depth is going to be key for the Eagles in 2019, schematic experience and a sense of stability will be cherished. Warmack will bring both to the table at a relatively cheap rate.
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
