Philadelphia Eagles: Howie Roseman is going to claim Odell Beckham Jr., isn’t he?

The Philadelphia Eagles desperately want to have an elite passing offense.

They’ve invested four of their last five first-round picks on the offensive side of the ball, spent heavily on one of the best offensive lines in the business when fully healthy, and moved on from the first Super Bowl-winning head coach in franchise history to try to field an innovative offensive around a bright young wunderkind.

And yet, in the team’s most lopsided win in recent memory, the Eagles threw the ball 14 times and relied heavily on moving the ball on the ground without their top running back.

Why? Because Howie Roseman has inadvertently built a team designed to win on the ground.

I mean, think about it, the Eagles have one of the best offensive line coaches in the business in Jeff Stoutland. All five of their normal starting offensive linemen are on second contracts, and their top-two reserve linemen – Andre Dillard and Landon Dickerson – were both selected in the top-40 of their respective drafts. While the team has stumbled on a few surprising contributors, namely 2020 fourth-round pick Jack Driscoll, and 2019 UDFA Nate Herbig, the Eagles’ offensive line is good because they’ve invested heavily in making that a reality.

The team further fortified the middle of the field by adding Dallas Goedert in 2018, who has surprisingly developed into one of the better blocking tight ends in the NFL despite seldom contributing versus the run at South Dakota State.

Granted, the Eagles have also spent a ton of draft capital on wide receivers too, but their current receiving corps is one of the youngest in the entire NFL and thus isn’t quite ready to take the league by storm sans an elder statesman to steady their quarterback’s nerves in a big game.

*sigh* maybe the Eagles should have pushed harder to sign Kendrick Bourne during the offseason. He’s caught 26 balls for 388 yards and two touchdowns so far this season and even threw a touchdown pass back in Week 7. Not bad production for a player on a three-year, $15 million deal.

So, that’s that, right? The Philadelphia Eagles will roll through the rest of their regular season, maybe make things interesting when it comes to a playoff spot, and further address the position in the offseason with a veteran option?

Yup, that’s probably what will happen… unless Howie Roseman pulls a Howie Roseman and places a waiver claim in on Odell Beckham Jr.

Howie Roseman can shake up the Philadelphia Eagles’ immediate future with a single waiver claim.

Odell Beckham Jr. will officially hit the waiver wire early next week.

What does that mean? Well, to put it simply, any team in the NFL can now put in a claim in for his services, and whichever team falls highest on the waiver wire hierarchy will be awarded the remaining balance of his contract, which runs through 2023 and will cost $15 million a year over each of the next two seasons.

Sounds complicated, right? It really isn’t. As long as you have $2.96 million in available cap space in 2021 and have a willingness to free up $15 million in each of the next two seasons, you can make OBJ a Lion, a Raven, a Jet, or even a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.

But would Howie Roseman actually do such a deal? Historically speaking, he has before.

Remember, in 2017, the Eagles’ top receiver was Alshon Jeffrey, a big name free agent addition who signed a one-year, $14 million deal heading into the season before landing a long-term extension that December. The Eagles also invested $15 million into a three-year deal for Torrey Smith in 2017 and signed DeSean Jackson to a reworked three-year, $27.9 million contract after securing his services from the Bucs for the pick that would eventually become Scotty Miller.

While drafting another homegrown WR1 has been Roseman’s white whale for some time now – even Chip Kelly technically drafted Nelson Agholor – the crafty front officeman has been willing to pay for veteran receivers when the correct opportunity presents itself.

Considering the Eagles currently have $21 million in available cap space and fall eighth on the waiver wire, there’s a pretty good chance Roseman could walk away with OBJ if he puts in a claim.

But should he? That, my friends, is the $33 million question.

On paper, Beckham would instantly become the Eagles’ most well-rounded receiver since Jeremy Maclin. He’d take the pressure off of DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins, and Jalen Reagor and give Jalen Hurts a high-volume receiver from which to target to Nick Sirianni’s content.

That’s the good stuff.

The bad stuff? Well, you know why Beckham was released in the first place, right? Considering the combined age of the Eagles’ receiving corps and the team’s lack of a strong veteran corps, one has to wonder how well OBJ would assimilate into a team that almost surely wouldn’t be his top destination if given a choice.

Can the Eagles make that situation work? Would they even want to?

Needless to say, this situation is going to be fascinating to watch. The Philadelphia Eagles could put in a claim for Odell Beckham Jr. only to watch a team like the Detroit Lions steal away his services. They could not claim OBJ and watch him land with Dallas or a team like the Seattle Seahawks who have haunted the team in the playoffs. Or Howie Roseman could make himself the center of the NFL’s attention and secure himself a longer leash by landing one of the most hyped receivers in the NFL a week after the trade deadline. Get your popcorn ready, folks.