What Wide Receivers Could The Eagles Target in Free-Agency?
By Tim Kelly
Regardless of whether or not you agreed with the Eagles decision to release DeSean Jackson last off-season, it was fair to think that if Jeremy Maclin had a big year, the Eagles receiving corps wouldn’t see much of a drop-off.
Maclin stayed healthy in 2014, coming off of a torn ACL, and posted a stat-line of 85 catches for 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns–all of which were career-highs. While Maclin’s 2014 was more impressive individually than Jackson’s Pro-Bowl 2013 season, a variety of factors contributed to a drop-off from the rest of the receiving corps.
The first factor was that regardless of whether Nick Foles or Mark Sanchez played Quarterback, neither played as well as Michael Vick and Nick Foles did in 2013. Foles left touchdowns on the board and turned the ball over more times in seven and a half games in 2014 than he did in 11 games in 2013. Sanchez may have run the offense at a higher-pace, but he committed frustrating turnovers and the Eagles all-but head to throw out the section of the playbook that involved throwing the ball more than 15 yards down-field with him at the helm.
The second factor was that despite Maclin having a better individual season than Jackson did in 2013, his speed wasn’t respected by opponent’s in exactly the same way that Jackson’s was. That’s not to say he wasn’t better or that team’s didn’t gameplan for him in different ways, but team’s not game-planning for Jackson to stretch the field kept Riley Cooper from getting open the way that he did in 2013.
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In 2013, Cooper actually caught less passes than he would in 2014, but did so at a 17.8 yards-per-catch clip. Cooper, finished the 2013 season with 47 catches for 835 yards and eight touchdowns. After that season earned him a five-year extension, Cooper saw 11 more targets in 2014, and caught eight more passes. Unfortunately, those receptions only amounted to 577 yards and three touchdowns. Up until Week 16, Cooper had just one touchdown.
Cooper’s numbers may not put in perspective exactly how poor of a season he had. Pro Football Focus, one of the most respected Football websites on the internet, ranked Cooper as the worst starting receiver in the NFL in 2014, which kind of drives home how ineffective he was.
Next season, Cooper will enter year-two of a five-year/$22.5 million deal. The exact terms of the deal aren’t necessarily important. What is important is that Cooper’s deal had just $8 million guaranteed. Unfortunately, the deal was not front-loaded. Cooper made just $1.8 million of the $8 million that the Eagles need to pay him for the total of the deal in 2014. So if the Eagles released Cooper this off-season, they would still owe him $6.2 million. Next year, Cooper will make $4.8 million, which means that after 2015, $6.6 million of the $8 million guaranteed in Cooper’s deal will be paid off. If the Eagles choose to move on from Cooper after next year, they may very well be able to do so. But for 2015, it appears that Riley Cooper will be an Eagle.
That said, knowing that they may only have to bite the bullet for one more year with Cooper and that he clearly isn’t good enough to be the team’s number two receiver, the Eagles may be able to backload a deal with a free-agent to find a better number two receiver to be able to pair with Maclin, assuming they re-sign him.
Jordan Matthews appears likely to stay in the slot for 2015, and Josh Huff–as frustrating as he was at times–seems like a player likely to get a bigger role in his second season. With those two continuing to develop, Maclin hopefully back in the fold, and Riley Cooper sliding back into a smaller role, the Eagles seem to be one more weapon away from having one of the league’s best receiving corps.
Per Spotrac, here the 2015 Free-Agent Wide Receivers.
PLAYER | POS. | AGE | FROM | TO | 2014 CAP HIT | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wes Welker | WR | 33 | DEN | TBD | $7,647,059 | UFA |
| Reggie Wayne | WR | 36 | IND | TBD | $6,166,668 | UFA |
| Jeremy Maclin | WR | 26 | PHI | TBD | $5,468,750 | UFA |
| Eddie Royal | WR | 28 | SD | TBD | $5,000,000 | UFA |
| Nate Washington | WR | 31 | TEN | TBD | $4,800,000 | UFA |
| Michael Crabtree | WR | 27 | SF | TBD | $4,770,443 | UFA |
| Demaryius Thomas | WR | 27 | DEN | TBD | $4,700,000 | UFA |
| Hakeem Nicks | WR | 26 | IND | TBD | $3,975,000 | UFA |
| Dez Bryant | WR | 26 | DAL | TBD | $3,148,500 | UFA |
| Miles Austin | WR | 30 | CLE | TBD | $2,000,000 | UFA |
| Cecil Shorts | WR | 27 | JAC | TBD | $1,541,845 | UFA |
| Denarius Moore | WR | 26 | OAK | TBD | $1,478,513 | UFA |
| Kenny Britt | WR | 26 | STL | TBD | $1,375,000 | UFA |
| Dane Sanzenbacher | WR | 26 | CIN | TBD | $1,200,000 | UFA |
| Brad Smith | WR | 31 | PHI | TBD | $1,150,000 | UFA |
| Torrey Smith | WR | 25 | BAL | TBD | $1,078,392 | UFA |
| Brandon Tate | WR | 27 | CIN | TBD | $1,024,000 | UFA |
| Randall Cobb | WR | 24 | GB | TBD | $1,021,179 | UFA |
| Brandon Lloyd | WR | 33 | SF | TBD | $1,005,000 | UFA |
| Vincent Brown | WR | 25 | OAK | TBD | $875,005 | UFA |
| Jerrel Jernigan | WR | 25 | NYG | TBD | $813,813 | UFA |
| Leonard Hankerson | WR | 25 | WAS | TBD | $812,219 | UFA |
| Marcus Easley | WR | 27 | BUF | TBD | $730,000 | UFA |
| Dwayne Harris | WR | 27 | DAL | TBD | $655,000 | UFA |
| Greg Salas | WR | 26 | NYJ | TBD | $645,000 | UFA |
| Andre Holmes | WR | 26 | OAK | TBD | $645,000 | RFA |
| Kris Durham | WR | 26 | TEN | TBD | $645,000 | RFA |
| Santana Moss | WR | 35 | WAS | TBD | $635,000 | UFA |
| Darrius Heyward-Bey | WR | 27 | PIT | TBD | $635,000 | UFA |
| Seji Ajirotutu | WR | 27 | SD | TBD | $635,000 | UFA |
| Rod Streater | WR | 26 | OAK | TBD | $573,333 | RFA |
| Cole Beasley | WR | 25 | DAL | TBD | $570,500 | RFA |
| Eric Weems | WR | 29 | ATL | TBD | $570,000 | UFA |
| Josh Morgan | WR | 29 | CHI | TBD | $570,000 | UFA |
| Jeremy Ross | WR | 26 | DET | TBD | $570,000 | ERFA |
| Jeff Maehl | WR | 25 | PHI | TBD | $570,000 | RFA |
| Ricardo Lockette | WR | 28 | SEA | TBD | $570,000 | ERFA |
| Jermaine Kearse | WR | 24 | SEA | TBD | $570,000 | RFA |
| Damaris Johnson | WR | 25 | HOU | TBD | $570,000 | RFA |
| Robert Meachem | WR | 30 | NO | TBD | $570,000 | UFA |
| Jarrett Boykin | WR | 25 | GB | TBD | $570,000 | RFA |
| Derek Hagan | WR | 30 | TEN | TBD | $570,000 | UFA |
| Chris Hogan | WR | 26 | BUF | TBD | $495,000 | ERFA |
| Junior Hemingway | WR | 26 | KC | TBD | $495,000 | ERFA |
| Kamar Aiken | WR | 25 | BAL | TBD | $495,000 | RFA |
| Marlon Moore | WR | 27 | CLE | TBD | $435,882 | UFA |
| Brenton Bersin | WR | 24 | CAR | TBD | $429,500 | ERFA |
| Frankie Hammond | WR | 24 | KC | TBD | $420,000 | ERFA |
| Drew Davis | WR | 26 | ATL | TBD | $416,647 | RFA |
| Brian Tyms | WR | 25 | NE | TBD | $378,529 | RFA |
| Kassim Osgood | WR | 34 | SF | TBD | $374,471 | UFA |
| Kevin Ogletree | WR | 27 | NYG | TBD | $368,823 | UFA |
| David Gilreath | WR | 26 | SEA | TBD | $318,000 | RFA |
| Greg Orton | WR | 28 | NE | TBD | $303,000 | RFA |
| Joshua Cribbs | WR | 31 | IND | TBD | $301,764 | UFA |
| Bryan Walters | WR | 27 | SEA | TBD | $268,235 | UFA |
| Jason Avant | WR | 31 | KC | TBD | $251,471 | UFA |
| Deonte Thompson | WR | 25 | BUF | TBD | $100,588 | UFA |
| Solomon Patton | WR | 24 | TB | TBD | $98,823 | ERFA |
| Gerell Robinson | WR | 25 | MIA | TBD | $49,411 | ERFA |
In this Section 215 Podcast segment, Somers Price and I take a look at the impending free-agents, and one other veteran who could find himself on the open-market, as options for the Eagles to upgrade their Wide Receiving corps.