With the conference championships almost upon us, and nine teams looking for Head Coaches, the NFL offseason has begun for the Philadelphia Eagles. The joys of making the playoffs means they aren’t in the running for any new Head Coach, Howie Roseman is nestled safely at the top of the food chain, and questions just won’t stop about what kind of QB Eagle fans want as their starter.
There’s plenty of time for that though. And the rest of the NFC East has been busy….well some of them at least. Let’s take a look at where the NFC East is at, now two weeks from it’s last two teams being eliminated in the playoffs.
Washington Football Team
We’re nearing the February 2nd deadline for when the WFT is going to come up with a new name. Some leaks have shown the “Commanders” as the top choice.
Of course, Washington Redskin-alums have been notified of the finalists and it seems that all of them are pretty pissed.
So not only is the name dumb, it’s pretty much pissing off everyone surrounding the franchise.
Pretty much a great summary of the Daniel Snyder-led WFT.
Dallas Cowboys
The Eagles playoff game may have been ugly, but at least it wasn’t Dallas-level ugly.
Falling 23-17 to the San Francisco 49ers at home, committing a team record high in penalties, only to then commend the fanbase for throwing garbage at refs is pretty much on-brand for the Mike McCarthy-led Cowboys.
Of course, there is reason to be concerned if you’re a follower of Philly.
With Sean Payton “retiring” for the upcoming 2022 season, it opens the door for him to come back with Dallas being the #1 option here.
No matter which way you slice it, Payton coaching the Cowboys wouldn’t be very good at all for the Eagles. Mike McCarthy has had issues as a HC for a long time now. Payton has been known to get the best out of his players and take talented teams to new heights.
He may have had his issues in the playoffs, but a lot of those losses were outside of his control. If the Cowboys end up firing McCarthy and bringing in Payton, that’s like trading in a Ford Explorer for a Maserati.
Definitely worth something to keep an eye on here.
New York Giants
If the Giants had decided to go with an internal hire for their GM job, like Kevin Abrams, I would’ve said this team would be nothing to worry about for a looong time. There’s a lot of front office decay in NY.
But then they hired Joe Schoen from Buffalo and it seems the moves haven’t stopped with New York.
Putting it lightly, Schoen was a fantastic hire for the Giants. He’s had an excellent draft pedigree, his free agent signings have worked and the trades Buffalo has made has put them on the cusp of the Super Bowl the last few years. Sure, he hasn’t been the GM, but being second in command to Beane and the FO is something to certainly brag about.
The Giants nailed the GM hire.
When it comes to the coaching staff, it gets a little murky, but it seems that either Lezlie Frazier, Brian Daboll, or Brian Flores is going to be the selection there.
John Mara, Owner of the Giants, shot down any talks about trading for Deshaun Watson so the speculation surrounding Flores and him might be gone.
It’s important to understand what’s going on there for a couple of reasons. First, if Brian Daboll becomes the next HC of the Giants, the G-Men gain one of the brightest offensive minds in football with a roster full of talent across the skill positions. It also means that Patrick Graham, the current Giants DC would most likely stay. Not good news for Philly as Graham has certainly had their number the last couple of years.
BUT, if a guy like Lezlie Frazier is the pick, it’s not hard to envision a scenario where Graham goes elsewhere and the Giants let Frazier run the defense on his own. Frazier isn’t a terrible coach and the Bills defenses have all ranked highly since his hiring, but his track record in Minnesota wasn’t good. It’s fair to question if the Bills defense is more about McDermott than Frazier.
Why should Eagle fans care about this? Patrick Graham is a good DC. If Jonathan Gannon leaves for a Head Coaching job elsewhere, it opens up a very important coaching job. Graham has made middling Giants talent look awesome at times (they were top 10 in the league last year). It’s fair to say Graham’s pedigree would be EXACTLY what Philadelphia needs if Gannon ends up going.
All in all, it’s still early in the offseason for the NFC East. The Cowboys are still crying over their conspiracies, the Football Team is pissing off everyone associated with them, and the Giants are genuinely improving.
Time will tell just how much the NFC East is going to improve as the weeks go on.
Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire
