Geoff Mosher recently noted that there were several teams calling the Eagles to enquire about Jalen Reagor. It’s hard to believe and could well have been a report to drum up the market, but if there are conversations ongoing, Howie would be wise to at least listen to any incoming offers….but what action should the Eagles take?
Trade and find a shiny new toy
There are a plethora of shiny new wideouts in this year’s draft class, all with just as much potential as Reagor was once thought to have coming out of college They come in all shapes and sizes and with an arsenal of draft capital at his disposal, Roseman could very easily shift Reagor in a draft-day move that lands him more picks that uses the TCU product as a deal sweetener.
This is the smoothest option, as it turns the page entirely in one clean motion, expelling Reagor from Philadelphia and bringing in his replacement within a matter of days. However, that would require the Eagles GM admitting his booboo, which is something that he’s historically tried to avoid at all costs.
We can point to Andre Dillard’s declining trade value behind Jordan Mailata, or the fact that even after paying Derek Barnett $9M on an option-year, and still found a way to bring him back on a cheap contract. Roseman doesn’t like holding up his hands and admitting he’s made a mistake when it comes to drafting…and it would be shocking to see him do that here, even if it does make the most sense.
Push him behind Quez Watkins
Conversely, Sirianni could favor Quez Watkins in 2022, giving the speedster a window to shine as the team’s resident Z-receiver. He’s definitely earned that opportunity and it’s safe to say that his 647-yard season could’ve even better had he benefitted from consistent quarterback play.
The downside in doing this, from Howie’s perspective, is that it’s burying a former first-round pick behind someone selected in that very same class five rounds later. Optically, it makes him look bad and it’s not the first time that a situation like this has cropped up. We could point to the fact that Jason Peters was shoved out onto the field at LT until he physically couldn’t anymore, while the rest of the world yearned for Jordan Mailata. You could turn to the running back room a few years back, you could turn to the secondary when Ronald Darby was thrown back out onto the field to replace a relatively productive Rasul Douglas, the pattern goes on.
Hopefully, that mindset is changing as Howie evolves as a GM, but it’s really hard to imagine Reagor being demoted to WR4. If he’s not starting next year, he won’t be in Philadelphia because at least then Roseman can say he recouped something in return.
Let Sirianni work his magic
Nick Sirianni is the WR whisperer after all. The Eagles Head Coach has a long history in getting the best out of his wideouts as a WR coach and even Zach Pascal balled out under his former offensive coordinator in Indianapolis.
You can trace back to his days with the Chargers, where he helped Keenan Allen to a 1,393 yards, 6 touchdown season, or even with the Chiefs with Dwayne Bowe and Jonathan Boldwin. Sirianni hates Banana routes and loves making players better. There is no better coach to salvage Jalen Reagor than Nick Sirianni.
The idea of Jalen Reagor fielding punts and running routes for the Eagles in 2022 may not be the most appealing, but what other options do they have that don’t negatively impact a correlating aspect of the WR room?
Jalen Reagor is young and has flashed the potential we all know he has. Nick Sirianni was brought in as the WR guru. It’s time to consider Reagor his first reclamation project and his progress next year a true indicator of Sirianni’s ability to develop young talent.
Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire
