Philadelphia Eagles: 3 up, 1 down on Day 2 of pre-free agency

Day 2 of the NFL’s legal tampering window is extensibility over, and the Philadelphia Eagles closed it out with not one, not two, but three deals plus a fourth that didn’t happen.

What? You didn’t see any of these signings on ESPN’s ticker or on the front page of NFL.com? Well, that’s probably because the moves are quite literally marginal.

For no more than $5.5 million, which is how much the New York Giants will be paying Tyrod Taylor to back up Daniel Jones in 2022, the Birds tendered Nate Herbig at “the right to first refusal” and brought back Greg Ward and Andre Chachere on one-year deals.

Taking things back to Monday, these signings actually mark the fourth decision the Eagles executed involving their own players, as Howie Roseman and company opted against signing Alex Singleton to a restricted free agent tender in a move that immediately allowed the former CFL standout to sign where ever he’d please, be that back in Philly or elsewhere.

Alright, so a utility interior lineman, a utility defensive back, and a hybrid slot wide receiver/special teamer; on a day where Randy Gregory, Marcus Williams, and Justin Reid got paid, this is hardly the sort of return fans were hoping for, right? Your mileage may vary on that one, but it’s hard to say signing that trio of players was a bad call, as all three played a key role for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021 and could do so again in 2022.

Shoring up the bottom of the roster is a smart call by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Nate Herbig, Greg Ward, and Andre Chachere combined to play 1,365 snaps for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021: 726 on offense, 118 on defense, and 521 on special teams.

Of the trio, Herbig led the way in terms of total snaps, offensive snaps, and starts. Though he appeared in 15 games for the Eagles and saw some early action at center in place of Jason Kelce here and there, Herbig’s, um, biggest contributions to the team came from Week 13-16, where he started at right guard following Jack Driscoll’s season-ending ankle injury. As in 2020, Herbig played fairly well, especially against the pass, and likely would have closed out the season with the starters, too, if it wasn’t for an early January bout of COVID that took the undrafted collegiate Stanford Cardinal out of action.

With Driscoll and Isaac Seumalo coming off of injury and Brandon Brooks retired, bringing back Herbig makes a ton of sense for the Eagles.

Chachere, too, earned a start for the Eagles in 2021, receiving the nod in Week 18 while the starters rested, but was mostly deployed as a gunner on special teams, where he amassed 10 combined tackles over 16 games of action. Though Chachere only logged 118 defensive snaps, with 87 of those snaps coming between Weeks 16-18, Chachere ranked second on the team in special teams snaps behind only 2021 fourth-round pick Zech McPhearson and that, when coupled with the versatility to play all five of the positions across the defensive backfield, made bringing him back for another season a borderline no-brainer.

And as for Ward? Well goodness, why wouldn’t the Eagles bring back their oldest and most tenured wide receiver? Though Ward’s role wasn’t as expansive as it might have been under Doug Pederson, he still finished out the season with three touchdowns and four first downs on only seven receptions. If Ward was afforded more opportunities, maybe his production would have followed, but at any rate, bringing back an experienced contributor who can catch passes, throw passes, play special teams, and even return a punt or two for good measure is valuable.

Would the Philadelphia Eagles have missed any of these players if they were instead allowed to walk in free agency? Debatable. On paper, if the team remained fully healthy, the biggest contributor of the three would be Andre Chachere on special teams, but as fans know all too well, a clean bill of health is a luxury few teams can boast. Alternatively, will the Eagles miss Alex Singleton if he ends up signing elsewhere? Same idea, while fans surely appreciate Singleton’s contributions over the years, his role will likely get phased out by the return of Davion Taylor and the addition of another player via the draft or free agency. But after watching more than a few players secure inflated bags that aren’t quite the market rate, it’s nice to see the Eagles reward a few of their guys and maintain some continuity heading into 2022.