Philadelphia Eagles can’t forget about their winning culture

After watching a pair of recent additions jeopardize their futures with offseason arrests, the Philadelphia Eagles can’t overlook their winning culture.

The Philadelphia Eagles have a really unique issue as to the composition of their team.

After winning the Super Bowl with one of the most expensive rosters in the entire league, the Eagles had to almost immediately move on from some of their keys contributes in order to get under the NFL’s hard cap, and with only one premium draft pick in the forthcoming NFL Draft, they were forced to get creative when rebuilding their roster for the 2018 season.

And so far, some of their riskier bets haven’t paid out.

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Though the Eagles did hand out a number of low-risk, one-year contracts to potentially useful rotational players like Haloti Ngata, Paul Worrilow, Corey Nelson, Richard Rodgers and Mike Wallace, the two players they actually committed to long-term have already started off their tenures in South Philly on the wrong foot.

With Vinny Curry on the way out and an ever-present need to continue to bolster their defensive line, the Eagles traded a fifth-round pick and seldom used wide receiver Marcus Johnson to the Seattle Seahawks for three-time Pro Bowler Michael Bennett and almost immediately received word that a warrant had been issued for their new defensive end’s arrest. You see, Bennett had been charged with allegedly shoving an elder employee at NRG Stadium while cheering his former on at Super Bowl LI and could be facing up to 10 years in jail as a result. Though only time will tell if Bennett will be available to play come Week 1, I’m sure this isn’t how either party wanted to start off their tenure together.

And as for the team’s other big-time acquisition, Daryl Worley, well, he won’t even get that opportunity.

After news broke that the former Carolina Panthers cornerback had been arrested for what sounds like a truly bizarre incident in South Philly, Howie Roseman and company swiftly cut loose the troubled defender without even a second thought, in a move that essentially gave away Torrey Smith for free.

Though every move made by an NFL teams isn’t guaranteed to be successful, just ask Marcus Smith or Byron Maxwell, the Eagles have taken great pride in recruiting team-first players in their quest to build the tightest knit lockerrooms in the entire NFL, and that commitment to excellence both on and off the field should be applauded.

Last season, the Eagles’ next man up mentality helped them overcome roadblock after roadblock and more than even their defensive dominance was the catalyst to their eventual Super Bowl victory against a ragtag bunch of Patriots.

Why mess with that formula?

Sure, a few key members of the 2017 squad came to Philly with checkered pasts, like LeGarrette Blount and Jalen Mills, but neither player was an issue for the team on their playoff run and that kind of 1.000 batting average is simply unsustainable long-term, as highlighted by their 2018 class so far.

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While replenishing talent is obviously essential for the Eagles to remain among the best teams in the league for there foreseeable future, they can’t sacrifice their winning culture to do so.