The Philadelphia Eagles have most of the pieces they need to return to the Super Bowl after a disappointing season. General manager Howie Roseman has assembled a well-balanced roster with plenty of star talent; however, that doesn't mean the Eagles don't have room for improvement with free agency on the horizon.
Even the best teams can get better, and last season was tough to watch at times. With that in mind, Eagles fans should expect Roseman & Co. to move on from players who struggled to meet expectations last season, including tight end Grant Calcaterra.
Calcaterra did next to nothing as a pass-catcher, and he didn't do much to help his case as a run-blocker, either. That's why the Eagles might be tempted to land a cheap upgrade in free agency by making a run at pending Indianapolis Colts free agent Mo Alie-Cox.
Mo Alie-Cox Makes Perfect Sense to Replace Grant Calcaterra
The Eagles still don't know if fan favorite Dallas Goedert will return for another season. But even if he does, Alie-Cox can operate as a TE2. While he can be a factor as a pass catcher now and then, he's never had more than 393 receiving yards or four receiving touchdowns in a season.
What Alie-Cox can do at a high level, however, is block. The Colts run a zone-based blocking scheme, which means he has some experience blocking in the type of offense new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion will install on the team. According to Pro Football Focus, Alie-Cox has only allowed 15 pressures across 347 pass-blocking downs throughout his career, which is an impressive rate of 4.3%.
The Eagles' running game regressed vastly last season. While some of that had to do with former OC Kevin Patullo's predictable and boring play-calling, Calcaterra's lack of contributions as a run-blocker also represented a major issue.
As a whole, getting the offensive line back to its dominant ways will be one of the Eagles' main priorities in the offseason. As such, finding someone who can provide some additional blocking would be a major boost for the Eagles.
Of course, getting a TE like Kyle Pitts or David Njoku would be much better for the Eagles' aspirations, given that they would get another elite pass-catching weapon who can also be a physical force as a blocker. Then again, that seems like more of a pipe dream.
According to Spotrac, Alie-Cox will have a market value of just $2.2 million next season. As things stand now, the Eagles have just $20.5 million in available cap space, according to OverTheCap.
Every penny will count, and there won't be many better options available at such a reasonable price tag. That's why the Eagles can't hesitate to replace Calcaterra with a clear-cut upgrade like Alie-Cox next month.