Philadelphia Eagles: What to make of Mychal Kendricks’ hot start

The Philadelphia Eagles seemingly had a planned future for their athletic linebacker. After a hot start, could parting ways be the wrong decision?

Mychal Kendricks has been the center of trade talks, cuts, and other Philadelphia Eagles roster moves. It hardly seems like a long time since his breakout year. In fact, Kendricks was looking like one of the more promising linebackers in the NFL at that point.

His play has hardly kept up with those expectations since then. With a potential out in his contract after this season seemed to doom his Philadelphia Eagles tenure. The thought would be his play would be mediocre enough to just walk away from Kendricks.

And even with his hot start this season, some may still feel that way. He has arguably been one of the most impactful defensive players through two games. Seven tackles and one sack tell just half the story. Kendricks’ mobility is once again on display, making him an interesting player for the Eagles to decide on in the future.

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Of course, two games means little when assessing the future for Kendricks. But if this play continues for a majority of the season, does Philadelphia consider moving forward with the 26-year old?

There are murmurs of the Philadelphia Eagles potentially shopping him for more secondary help, in particular for Malcolm Butler. Butler has struggled thus far for New England, and it seems like he has fallen out of favor with the coaching staff.

Whether it would be a beneficial trade or not could be debated, but if the Eagles want to move on from Kendricks, a high return would come sooner than later.

The front seven of this defense has generally performed extremely well, and Kendricks is a reason why they hardly have given up any big runs, exempting Kareem Hunt‘s long touchdown run.

But what replacement will the Philadelphia Eagles have for Kendricks? Both short-term and long-term options are not at the quality that their current linebacker gives them. It’s a question of give and take. Will Malcolm Butler or another corner have a big enough impact to cover the loss of a key piece in the defense’s strength?

These questions will hit Howie Roseman hard throughout the year. The cap hit for Kendricks may be significant enough for Roseman to want to make a move, but depending on how the season goes, it might do more damage than good.