Philadelphia Eagles: Eric Ebron is smart to vouch for Nick Sirianni

Nick Sirianni is a pretty popular dude in the City of Brotherly Love at the moment.

After drawing criticism for his overly excited initial press conference, and having his long-term future called into question after a brutal maiden seven-game stretch – don’t lie, you thought it too – the Philadelphia Eagles’ rookie head coach left his ego at the door, went into the lab like Bobby “Boris” Pickett, and emerged with a lean, mean rushing machine that has since taken the NFC by storm.

Is half a season and change of exceptional coaching enough to garner Coach of the Year consideration? Or is the limited sample size just too much of an issue for some old-school voters a la Joel Embiid’s Rookie of the Year snub?

Unfortunately, it’s probably the latter, much to the chagrin of the Jeffrey Lurie, Philadelphia Eagles fans the world over, and, funny enough, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Eric Ebron.

Why? Well, let’s find out.

A soon-to-be free agent TE has praise for the Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach.

In the NFL, sometimes a player makes business decisions. They’ll sign a prove-it deal in an advantageous scheme, take a big money deal even if it means never sniffing a Super Bowl ring in their prime, or simply put on a good face when their team is falling apart for one reason or another in the hopes of looking like a good teammate in the eyes of the league’s money men.

Alternatively, on the rarest of occasions, you’ll see a player like Antonio Brown go off on his former team, his quarterback, and his former fellow receivers while simultaneously trying to land another contract, but let’s just say there’s a reason why that story is so newsworthy; it’s incredibly rare.

With all of that in mind, it’s easy to look at Eric Ebron’s decision to call attention to Nick Sirianni’s snubbing from PFF’s Coach of the Year tweet as a savvy business decision by a soon-to-be free agent tight end looking for his next NFL home.

After largely underwhelming as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, finishing out an injury-shortened 2021 campaign with just 84 yards on 12 catches in eight games with three starts, maybe Ebron sees that the writing is on the wall in Pittsburgh and he’d like to head east to the Keystone State’s other, some would say better, professional football team.

If that’s the case, Ebron and his posse are smart; the Philadelphia Eagles don’t have a proven TE2 after shipping Zach Ertz to Arizona for Tay Gowan and a Day 3 pick, and the former top-10 pick played for Sirianni in Indianapolis. On paper, the two sides are a perfect match.

Or maybe, just maybe, Ebron is a fan of Sirianni and wants to see his former offensive coordinator succeed.

As a generally optimistic person, I hope it’s more of the latter than the former but hey, I’m cool either way.

After largely underwhelming in Detroit following the Lions’ decision to draft the UNC TE over names like Mike Evans, Odell Beckham Jr., and Brandin Cooks, Ebron had his best professional season with the Colts in 2018, catching 66 balls for 750 yards and 13(!) touchdowns in route to his first and to this point only Pro Bowl appearance.

While Ebron was unable to match that level of production in the second year of his $13 million contract, he still garnered enough good faith to draw the interest of the Steelers in free agency, who signed him up to another two-year contract worth $12 million; a deal that expires at the end of the season.

With Ebron likely out in the Steel City in 2022 in favor of a breakout rookie Pat Freiermuth and third-year performer Zach Gentry, landing with an offensive coordinator-turned-white hot head coach would surely give the 28-year-old as good a chance as any to continue on with his professional career in style.

If flattery gets you anywhere, why not give it a try?

To fans in Detroit, Eric Ebron will always go down as a bust. Despite amassing 2,070 yards and 11 touchdowns over his four-year career, he was ultimately waived before his fifth professional season and left the Lions in a worse state than he found them in. But even if he’s not the next Gronk, that doesn’t mean Ebron is a bad player. With great measurables and above-average size, the pride of UNC could be a fantastic TE2 on a team like the Philadelphia Eagles, who have a hole at the position. Foruntuatly for Ebron, he already knows the head coach and has already begun “planting the seeds” of a potential reunion.