Philadelphia Eagles: Is Marquette King an option at punter?

After being unceremoniously cut by the Oakland Raiders, could the Philadelphia Eagles find their next punter in All-Pro Marquette King?

Jon Gruden may have just given the Philadelphia Eagles a huge gift after spurning the team twice as a head coaching candidate.

After six highly productive seasons in Oakland,  punter Marquette King has officially been released, and for the first time in his career, the 2016 All-Pro is an unrestricted free agent.

And hey, don’t the Eagles need a punter?

With Donnie Jones deciding to hang up his cleats after winning his first Super Bowl, the Eagles have to fill a pretty substantial void on Dave Fipp‘s special teams unit.

So, why would the Eagles want to pursue a 29-year-old veteran like King, as opposed to bringing in a young punter as a UDFA following the 2018 NFL Draft?

Well, for one, King is good. Like really good.

After being named a second-team All-Pro in 2016, King finished out the 2017 season with the third-best net average (42.7) of any punter in the league, a full 13 spots higher than Jones, and he did so with some serious swagger.

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With current Eagles, special teamers Rick Lovato and Jake Elliott 25 and 23-years-old respectively, adding an experienced veteran to the unit could help to retain the unit’s pedigree as one of the best special teams in the entire league.

In addition to his experience as a punter, King’s unique skill set could give Fipp yet another weapon to keep opposing teams guessing.

Over the last two seasons, Kings has become a near constant threat to convert a key fourth down on a fake punt, as highlighted by an impressive fourth and 24 run that sealed a win for the Raiders against the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016.

While he obviously won’t be attempting fake punts every game, having a 4.67 running punter who’s capable of such a feat could add yet another wrinkle to the Eagles’ special teams unit and will force opposing coordinators to have dedicated valuable playing time to prepare for a fake punt, even if it isn’t called.

And above all else, the Eagles should pursue King to stick it to the Minnesota Vikings once more.

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At this point, it seems like the Eagles and the Vikings are going to be fighting for the NFC title for the foreseeable future, and while a punter may only play a small part in a team’s potential in any season, every little bit helps.

Last season, the Vikings punter, Ryan Quigley, finished dead last in average punting yards, so when King became a free agent, Minnesota apparently reached out to the sixth year vet literally minutes after the news broke.

While it would ultimately be unwise to enter into a bidding war for his services, if King’s asking price fits into the Eagles salary cap situation, it would be incredibly wise to bring him into the fold, especially since it wouldn’t affect the team’s compensatory draft selections in 2019.

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Between his on the field production, larger than life personality, and diverse skill set, Marquette King is easily the best punter available in 2018, and at 29, he’s got plenty of football left to play. While he’s not going to play for free, if King wants to compete for a Super Bowl, and if willing to work with Howie Roseman and company on a value conscious deal, his addition to the team would be huge.