Philadelphia Eagles: Who are the Dante Fowlers of the NFC East?

February is the least eventful month of the football year for fans of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Other than three occasions over the past 50 years, the Eagles’ season is almost always over come February 1st, and considering the NFL Combine doesn’t usually take place until the first weekend of March, the shortest month of the year is seemingly always the least eventful for football fans in the City of Brotherly Love.

Fans can watch the East-West Shrine game/the Reeses Senior Bowl, scour the potential free agent market for ideal fits, and, increasingly, try their hands at the various mock draft simulations around the internet, but other than that, there really isn’t much to offer in the way of tangible, on-field football.

Well, guess what? While we’ll still need to wait a few more weeks to see what Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles have been cooking up in the lab, free agency has started early this year, as the Atlanta Falcons just released Dante Fowler two weeks before the start of free agency, a move that could be replicated by other teams across the NFL before the season officially opens up on March 16th.

The Philadelphia Eagles might have more options than expected next month.

Right now, the 2022 NFL free agency class looks pretty, pretty, pretty good. Not generational, not even great, but pretty good nonetheless, especially at positions like wide receiver, safety, and in the trenches.

For the Philadelphia Eagles, who have $20.9 million in cap space and counting, that’s very good to hear, as Howie Roseman should be able to address many of the team’s best holes and roll into the 2022 NFL Draft with a best-players-available mindset. But hey, just because the current free agent class is good, that doesn’t mean it can’t get better over the next three weeks, as the Atlanta Falcons showed.

That’s right, much like how the Eagles moved on from Malik Jackson last spring to free up cap space, there are players on every roster across the NFL who could see themselves released to save money heading into free agency, or shortly thereafter, depending on how the market shakes out. Because these players usually aren’t in the highest demand and usually have at least some money coming their way from their former team, sometimes, these players can come at a bit of a bargain, as finding an ideal on-field fit could be perceived as more valuable than securing the biggest contract possible.

Take, for example, the Cleveland Browns’ decision to cut Odell Beckham Jr. midway through the 2021 season. Because his former team handed him $4.25 million on his way out the door, OBJ was able to sign a one-year, $1.25 million deal with the Los Angeles Rams in his pursuit of a Super Bowl ring. While one can question Beckham’s decision to convert his contract to Bitcoin, as he is reportedly down to $35,000 in post-cap income due to the market’s volatility, he ultimately secured the ultimate prize the game of football has to offer and spent his afternoon parading through Los Angels as a result.

Could teams across the NFC, let alone the NFL, make similar moves that could benefit the Eagles? You bet, there is always turnover when a team switches from one coaching staff to another, and considering the New York Giants also landed a new general manager in Joe Schoen, don’t be surprised if a few veteran players find themselves looking for new homes, especially veterans like Blake Martinez or Kyle Rudolph who would free up multiple millions of dollars if they were cut pre-June 1st.

Similarly, the newly named Washington Commanders too may find themselves on the lookout for further financial firepower and could look to waive players like Ereck Flowers and potentially even one-time New York Giants first-round pick Landon Collins to free up almost $16.5 million.

You know, even if the Eagles are probably good on left tackles, especially if Andre Dillard is still on the team in time for training camp, Collins was a darn good player in New York and might be better suited for Jonathan Gannon’s scheme than Ron Rivera’s, especially at a much lighter cap hit.

And hey, just for the sake of argument, let’s take a look at the Eagles’ roster; does Philadelphia have any obvious pre-March 16th releases who could free up even more money for more impactful free agents? Yes, they have a few, but none are magically going to free up enough money to sign, say, Mike Willaims on their own.

As things presently stand, the Eagles’ most obvious release would be Le’Raven Clark, who could generate $1.135 million in cap space versus $37,500 in dead money if cut before June 1st. Then there’s Gardner Minshew, who could generate $2.45 million in cap space if released but could surely be traded away for some sort of asset, so that feels rather unrealistic. Other than Clark and Minshew, the Eagles have 16 players who are on non-guaranteed contracts and could be released outright without leaving a penny on the cap sheet.

While more money could be freed up via Roseman’s favorite cap mechanism, the contract restructuring, the team really doesn’t have an obvious release candidate like Malik Jackson in 2021.

In the NFL, there’s no one way to build a team. The Los Angeles Rams swapped out much of their future draft picks for immediate veteran contributors while other teams, like the 2021 New England Patriots, moved off of some bloated contracts in favor of draft picks used to select young, ascending players for their next run at the title. The Philadelphia Eagles have fallen somewhere in between, and whether they opt to sign big free agents, roll money into 2023, or play the market on the lookout for released players from divisional foes, the team has the asset pool needed to get much, much better in the not too distant future. Or hey, why not do all three? Why not sign Allen Robinson to a long-term deal, pick up Landon Collins if he becomes available, and then go BPA on draft day(s)?