Philadelphia Eagles: 2018 Draft class proves foundational

Welp, that didn’t take long.

A day after writers like yours truly – and to be fair, most others too – suggested that Dallas Goedert shouldn’t be the only player Howie Roseman signed to a new contract, the Philadelphia Eagles came through and signed Avonte Maddox to a new three-year, $22.5 million deal.

The extension, which will keep Maddox in midnight green through the 2024 NFL season, “slots” right in line with the value of an upper-end interior cornerback today, right between Kenny Moore‘s four-year, $33 million deal signed back in 2019 and Mike Hilton‘s four-year, $24 million deal with the Bengals signed earlier this year.

And the best part? It marks the fourth member of the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2018 draft class to earn an extension, with only one player, the preseason traded Matt Pryor, no longer with the team. Considering Howie Roseman had the fewest picks in his second tenure as GM in 2018, that’s one heck of an accomplishment.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ 2018 draft class isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

There’s an old adage in the NFL that a good draft class should garner three starting-caliber players.

For example, in 2016, the Philadelphia Eagles secured three starters, Carson Wentz, Isaac Seumalo, and Jalen Mills, and while two of those players are no longer with the team, it’s hard to argue with the production those three have – and in Seumalo’s case, will continue to have – in midnight green.

2015, by contrast, was a completely different story. While the initial results looked very promising, as the team’s first three picks – Nelson Agholor, Eric Rowe, and Jordan Hicks – all made contributions right out of the gate, Rowe was traded the following offseason, Hicks didn’t have his contract extended, and Nelson Agholor is now on his third team in as many years after seeing his production fall off in 2019.

When a team can count the number of players who have earned contract extensions over a four-year period on one finger – see the 2014 and 2017 NFL Draft results here and here – something isn’t going quite right.

Fortunately, the Eagles’ 2018 class looks like a well-welcomed rejuvenation of the talent pipeline, as four of the team’s five selections – Dallas Goedert, Avonte Maddox, Josh Sweat, and Jordan Mailata – have all been signed to long-term extensions after locking up starting spots this season.

Mailata came first. Despite being the least likely member of the class to come to terms on an extension due to his draft position and general football experience, Mailata beat out Andre Dillard for the starting spot fair and square after bursting onto the scene in 2020 and earned a contract that could be worth very close to $100 million if he hits all of his bonuses.

Then came Sweat. Despite some early struggles and a 2018 season prematurely ended via a spot on IR, the pride of Florida State ultimately proved a more viable NFL player long-term than Derek Barnett, who was also slated to become a free agent at the end of the season, and earned a deal that pays him roughly the same as Brandon Graham moving forward.

And as for Goedert and Maddox? Well, the two roommates earned extensions that pay them among the highest salaries at their positions because of just how well they’ve stepped up in 2021 under Nick Sirianni and Jonathan Gannon, respectively.

Will any of these players take another step forward and become certified stars? Potentially so. Goedert and Mailata feel like borderline locks to make at least one Pro Bowl before their careers come to an end, and Sweat has All-Pro potential if he ever turns in the sort of double-digit sack seasons he’s easily capable of if things break his way.

And as for Maddox? Well, he’ll likely just continue to be one of the better slot cornerbacks in the NFL and a fan favorite in the City of Brotherly Love. Not a bad consolation prize, especially when you’re getting paid $7.5 million per season to do it.

Howie Roseman gets a lot of slack from fans of the Philadelphia Eagles. People criticize his drafting, his roster composition theories, and his decision to constantly kick dead money down the line, and to be fair to many, if not most fans, those gripes are justified. But it’s hard to give anything but a glowing review to his drafting decisions in 2018, as the class looks to serve as a sort of bedrock for the next generation of Eagles teams. Now, if he’d have just held onto Matt Pryor, maybe we’d be talking about a perfect five for five.