Philadelphia Eagles: No, the Eagles shouldn’t sign Dez Bryant
With Dez Bryant now officially an ex-Dallas Cowboy, the Philadelphia Eagles definitely shouldn’t be interested in the troubled wide receiver.
Are the Philadelphia Eagles about to steal a star receiver from their much-hated division rivals?
Let’s hope now.
When the news broke that the Dallas Cowboys had released Dez Bryant after eight seasons with the team, many Eagles fans online started connecting the three-time pro bowler to the Birds, and while it wouldn’t be totally unprecedented, it also makes very little sense.
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At this point, it’s almost common knowledge that teams like to steal players from their division rivals, as highlighted by the Redskins pursuit of Donovan McNabb in 2010 and the Eagles unfortunate acquisition of DeMarco Murray under Chip Kelly but how many of these deals have actually made the team that much better?
After being run into the ground by the Cowboys in 2014, in a season where he recorded 1845 yards on 392 carries and 13 touchdowns, Murray looked like a shell of his former self in Kelly’s one-cut zone blocking scheme. Though he did record 702 yards on 193 carries and six touchdowns in his lone season with the team, Murray never quite made an impact as an Eagle and was ultimately traded to the Titans for a fourth-round pick swap after losing his lead back roll to Ryan Mathews.
And unlike Dez Bryant, DeMarco Murray didn’t come to town with off-the-field concerns.
At this point, it’s basically common knowledge that Bryant can be a handful off the field, from his larger than life persona to his now infamous Walmart security tape incident, and while the Eagles do have arguably the strongest locker room culture in the league, why test it with a cancerous personality?
Sure, Bryant will definitely come out guns blazing on whatever team signs him to prove that Dallas made a mistake, but do the Eagles really want to add a me-first player to their receiving corps who will surely complain if he doesn’t get enough catches?
I highly doubt it.
At this point, the Eagles have a solid starting trio of receivers in Alshon Jeffery, Mike Wallace, and Nelson Agholor and with the draft two weeks away, the team could add yet another young playmaker to pair with Mack Hollins as developmental prospects going forward.
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While no one is going to argue that Bryant isn’t still a good wide receiver, even if he’s no longer the All-Pro threat he once was, even if you were to come to Philly I highly doubt he would be in line to catch the 80-plus balls he would want as Eagle, as Doug Pederson‘s squad clearly loves to share the wealth among their deep stable of past catchers.
Simply put, even if Bryant does want to stay in the NFC East, it seems incredibly unlikely that that landing spot will be in South Philly. Baring a miraculous turn of events, or a surprise one-year deal, the addition of Bryant into Pederson’s offense simply seems unnecessary and redundant as the team simply has better options already on the roster.
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With the Dallas Cowboys now down a number one receiver and likely having to overdraft a replacement in the forthcoming draft, this move makes the Philadelphia Eagles chances of repeating as NFC East champions even better, and adding Dez Bryant to the team would hardly tip that scale any further.