Philadelphia Eagles looking to retain Marquise Goodwin this offseason?
By David Esser
Acquired via a draft night trade last offseason, veteran wide receiver Marquise Goodwin ended up not playing a single snap for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2020. He opted out prior to the regular season kicking off, citing concerns over COVID-19 and his family’s health at the time (which is a completely valid reason to opt out, by the way).
Set to account for a $4.5 million cap hit in 2021, the general consensus was that Goodwin would end up released this offseason. After all, the Eagles are desperate for any sort of minor cap relief that they can get, and it’s not like Goodwin had made an impression on the team the year prior.
However, according to Goodwin himself via an “Instagram live” session, it appears the Philadelphia Eagles have reached out to Goodwin in regards to keeping him around for the upcoming season:
This information may come across as a tad confusing at first due to the fact that Goodwin reportedly agreed to a restructure last offseason following the initial trade. However, according to Mike Kaye of NJ.com, that restructure was never technically facilitated due to Goodwin opting out.
Agreed to a restructure last year but opted out and thus never signed the reworked deal. I’d imagine he’d have the same offer or lower this year. https://t.co/623YUJlrPw
— Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) February 20, 2021
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With all of that background information now out of the way, the decision to *potentially* bring back Goodwin appears to be one rooted in a worry over the Eagles’ depth at the WR position. Jalen Reagor will likely start at one of the outside receiver positions, but after that it’s a bit of a mess.
John Hightower and Quez Watkins didn’t show enough during their rookie seasons to warrant much faith, Travis Fulgham fell off the face of the earth after four good games, and JJ Arcega-Whiteside could be a candidate for release this offseason.
It seems likely that Greg Ward will be retained this offseason due to the fact that he’s a restricted free agent, but there’s no guarantee. The college QB turned slot WR didn’t have the greatest of 2020s, and could simply be someone the team opts to move on from this summer.
There’s also no guarantee that the Eagles select an elite-tier WR with their first round pick. While Ja’Marr Chase and DeVonta Smith have been frequently mocked to the Eagles over the last few months, both could genuinely be off the board by the time pick #6 rolls around.
Philadelphia Eagles hunting a restructure for WR Marquise Goodwin?
Given all of that, the decision to bring back Goodwin on a heavily restructured deal does make a bit of sense. When healthy, he’s been a legitimate deep threat. He had 962 receiving yards for the 49ers in 2017, and a career yards per reception rate of 16.6.
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Goodwin’s restructure from last offseason that failed to ever activate was reportedly for $1.35 million over one-year. Seeing as he’s missed an entire season’s worth of action, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Howie Roseman push for a cap number even lower than that.
If Goodwin doesn’t agree to whatever the proposed restructure ends up being, he’ll almost definitely be released once the new league year begins.