Philadelphia Eagles: Nelson Agholor burns the Eagles, again

During the offseason, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts held some informal offseason workouts with members of his receiving corps.

Now, to be fair, this is a relatively normal practice. Carson Wentz did it, as did Michael Vick, and I’m sure 2020 Week 17 star/New York Giants nightmare Nate Sudfeld would have done the same if afforded the same opportunity.

But there was an interesting development that came out of one of Hurts’ sessions that left many a fan of your hometown Philadelphia Eagles worried: Nelson Agholor was in attendance.

To many an Eagles fan who watched the team from 2018-19, this was a horrible development. After finally being rid of Agholor and his uncatching hands – that guy from the news’ words, not mine – would Howie Roseman actually dip his toes back into those waters and re-sign Nelly? I mean, he didn’t even draft Agholor out of USC back in 2015, that was all Chip Kelly, and I’m sure he regrets that now a half-decade removed from the league.

Fortunately – or not, depending on your degree of chaotic energy – that ultimately didn’t come to pass. Agholor parlayed an encouraging season with the Las Vegas Raiders until a two-year, $23 million deal with the New England Patriots and the Eagles ultimately addressed their receiving corps with the 10th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

And yet, even some 300 miles away in Foxboro, New York, Nelson Agholor is still finding ways to “Hurts” the Philadelphia Eagles’ playoff chances, by dropping passes no less.

Even in Foxboro, Nelson Agholor is hurting the Philadelphia Eagles.

According to Overthecap.com, Nelson Agholor is overpaid.

I know, I know, crazy, right? But want to know what’s even crazier? It’s not by much.

That’s right, using the website’s valuation chart, Agholor is playing like a wide receiver worth $8.79 million, which is $2.17 million more than his current deal, which holds an AAV of $11.5 million.

And yet, if you watched the New England Patriots take on the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6, you’d surely think Agholor is playing more like a $2.17 million receiver, let alone an $8.79 million man.

Playing predominantly on the outside opposite one time Philadelphia Eagles free agent target Kendrick Bourne, Agholor was targeted three times by Mac Jones versus 32 offensive snaps but only hauled in one catch for 37 yards.

Is that the worst catch percentage of Agholor’s time with the Pats? Surprisingly no. Agholor actually turned in an even worse showing in Week 3, where he only caught two of the eight balls thrown his way for a season-low 17 yards, but those six incompletions didn’t come in overtime with the game on the line.

The same, unfortunately, could not be said for the team in Week 6, where Agholor dropped a very catchable ball off the hands of Jones that could have easily closed out the game with a New England win if he could have beaten out single-high Damontae Kazee on his way to the endzone.

Instead, the Patriots ultimately had to punt the ball back to Dallas and were served a 36-29 loss with 3:52 left to play in OT.

If you’re one of those Eagles fans who believe the division is up for grabs despite how well Dallas is playing, this one surely double stunk for you, as you had to both root for the New England Patriots – Brady or no Brady – and still watched the Cowboys win.

The only thing worse than that would be for Carson Wentz to get benched and the Indianapolis Colts’ first-round pick falling into the second round.

Do the New England Patriots have buyers remorse when it comes to Nelson Agholor? Probably so. Outside of a quality Week 1 showing, he hasn’t caught a single touchdown on the season and has only surpassed the 50-yard mark once. Despite being targeted the second-most times of any receiver on the team, he currently ranks fourth on the team in receiving yards and may ultimately see his targets begin to tail off in favor of more 12 personnel looks centered around Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry. Fortunately, that is no longer the Philadelphia Eagles’ problem… unless Howie Roseman decides to trade for the pride of USC to procure a future pick and just generally troll the fanbase as only he can.