With the Super Bowl now behind us, it’s time to get our diaries out and circle some key dates during the upcoming NFL offseason. Here’s all you need to know about the months ahead and how the key dates pertain to the Eagles.
The NFL Combine: March 1-7
With the Senior Bowl and Shrine game in the books, all eyes turn to the NFL Combine. This is a huge event for all NFL teams, as it’s where they get to see how this years’ prospects test athletically, as well as holding meetings. For the Eagles, this is arguably even more important.
There has been a real push over the last two years to find athletic freaks of nature who maybe have less playing experience, trusting in their coaches to develop them into football players. Instead of looking at collegiate production, the Eagles placed their resources into analytics to find explosive athletes such as Milton Williams and Landon Dickerson.
I expect that trend to continue this season and beyond. The 2021 draft class was a home-run hit, which is even more staggering when you remember how the combine didn’t even happen last year. Howie will absolutely want to double down on his strategy in 2022.
Franchise/transition tag deadline: March 8
This likely won’t impact the Eagles too much as their pending free agents should be fairly affordable.
Legal tampering (free agency): March 14-16
This one is quite important. The new league year begins on March 16th, and pending free agents are still contracted until 1PM PST that day. However, from the morning of March 14th, interested teams can start putting feelers out.
There are plenty of names that should draw Howie Roseman’s attention this offseason. From names like Allen Robinson at wide receiver, to Marcus Maye at safety, the Eagles could be really aggressive and find some new cornerstones to build around and hold the fort while young talent develops, just as they did in 2016 and 17 with Rodney McLeod and Alshon Jeffery.
New league year: March 16
Crack open the champagne!
Offseason programs receive the green light: April 18
This isn’t to say that the Eagles will start their workouts on this day, but it’s the first day that the team is permitted to get the gang back together.
The Eagles took full advantage of their extended window last year so it would be unsurprising to see them get in as early as possible.
Restricted free agent deadline: April 22
Circle this day. Believe it or not, the Eagles do have some tricky decisions to make when it comes to their RFA’s.
Boston Scott
Alex Singleton
Greg Ward
Jason Croom
Nate Herbig
The big name here is obviously Jason Croom Nate Herbig. The former UDFA has blossomed under the tutelage of Jeff Stoutland and is now a valued depth piece on the offensive front. Retaining his services should be a priority.
Outside of that, you can definitely make cases for Jason Croom Geg Ward and Alex Singleton to return. Boston Scott has proven time and time again that he can be a valuable cog in the Philly rushing machine and his place in the pecking order should remain, provided the team bring him back.
Jason Croom
April 28-30, NFL draft
With three first-round picks at his disposal, Howie Roseman will walk into the final weekend of April with the world at his feet. The Eagles could do so many different things from this position and frankly. nothing is off the table.
Buckle up for what could be the most important draft in recent memory.
Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire
