Philadelphia Eagles: Sammy Watkins would look great in midnight green

If Sammy Watkins is released by the Chiefs, the Philadelphia Eagles should do everything in their power to lock the 27-year-old into a long-term deal.

Are you familiar with the Super Bowl?

Maybe you’ve heard of it, it’s kind of the popular sporting event of the year. It’s pretty cool, even though it’s usually better when the Philadelphia Eagles are in the game.

Well, if you are familiar with the Super Bowl, and happened to catch this year’s iteration of the 54-year-old championship game, you may have caught Sammy Watkins going absolutely nuts on the San Francisco 49ers‘ fantastic secondary.

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Spending a good bit of the game going one-on-one against an aging, but still elite Richard Sherman, Watkins came two yards short of crossing the century mark, all the while hauling in 83 percent of the balls thrown his way.

Check out one particularly impressive catch here; it’s awesome.

All and all, after playing for three different teams over five years and landing the unfortunate bust moniker after Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills traded two first first-round pick to move up to select the Clemson product fourth-overall, Watkins’ professional career came full circle with a little help from Andy Reid.

But there’s a dark cloud hanging over Watkins’ immediate future; dark clouds that could rain on his Super Bowl parade.

You see, when Watkins joined the Kansas City Chiefs after a bounceback season with the Los Angeles Rams in 2017, it was on a three-year, $58 million deal. However, barring an absolutely epic transformation into a Julio Jones-esque force, it’s pretty safe to assume Cheifs’ GM Brett Veach didn’t expect to pay out its full value.

If Watkins makes the team in 2020, he’ll cost the team $21 million, versus only $7 million in dead cap space if he were to be released. While it’s borderline unimaginable to, well, imagine the Chiefs keeping a receiver who caught 52 passes for 673 yards at a $21 million cap hit, the contract’s termination becomes even more likely when you consider that both Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are in line for new contracts in the not too distant future.

Sure, the Chiefs could ask Watkins to restructure his deal, but as evidenced by his comments to the New York Post, he may be more inclined to sit out the season than accept noticeably less than what he feels he’s owed.

Fortunately, Big Red’s loss could be the Eagles’ gain.

With $7 million going to Watkins regardless of where he signs, the somehow only 27-year-old receiver could opt to sign a long-term deal with ample security as long as his next home is with a contender.

A team like, say, the Eagles.

Measuring in at 6-foot-1, 211 pounds, Watkins is a fast (4.43), athletic receiver with solid hands and a gift for running crisp routes. When paired up with a super speedy receiver on the opposite side of the field, Watkins can easily take up the mantle as an offense’s go-to option across the middle as an intermediate-route specialist.

Watkins is also a solid run blocker on the outside and can help to set up blocks in the screen game and on outside runs.

If only Watkins had experience playing in an offense with a top-3 tight end and a pair of pass-catching running backs in a hybrid West Coast offense then maybe he’d be a… wait, Eric Bieniemy runs a scheme very, very similar to that of Doug Pederson and thus his fit is easily projectable? My goodness, why wouldn’t the Eagles have interest in the elder Watkins brother?

Next. Vic Beasley could be a wide-nine monster. dark

While this could all be for not depending on the potential free agent’s contract situation with the Kansas City Chiefs, if the money’s right and he becomes available, Sammy Watkins would be an ideal addition to the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense moving forward. Who knows, maybe Howie Roseman could bring back 2014 draftee Jaylen Watkins and fill out two of the team’s biggest needs with some brotherly love.

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