The Philadelphia Eagles 2023 season ended disappointingly, as they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by 23 points in the Super Wild Card round. Philadelphia’s season started with promise and finished with more questions than answers.
The Eagles now head into the offseason with a vacancy at offensive coordinator and a ton of free-agent decisions. Philadelphia has 19 free agents, and not all of them will be back next year as the team tries to figure out what went wrong after being in the Super Bowl in 2022.
Below, we’ll look at a few free agents that Eagles fans will be happy to see leave this offseason as the team retools for another playoff run in 2024.
1. Nicholas Morrow
Philadelphia didn’t do a great job addressing the linebacker unit last offseason after losing Kyzir White and T.J. Edwards in free agency.
The Eagles thought they could get by with Nakobe Dean, Zach Cunningham, and Nicholas Morrow, but that didn’t work either. Dean played in five games this season before being placed on injured reserve, and Cunningham missed some time with an injury.
With Dean and Cunningham missing time, the Eagles had to lean on Morrow, Ben VanSumeren, Shaquille Leonard, and Christian Elliss. The 28-year-old Morrow played well in spurts this season. But there were times when he missed a tackle and looked completely lost in coverage.
Now granted, that wasn’t Morrow’s fault as Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni decided to take defensive play-calling duties away from defensive coordinator Sean Desai and give it to senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia.
When Patricia took over as the play-caller, Philly’s defense looked horrible, and many guys played out of position. With Vic Fangio now as the defensive coordinator, fans should expect a better defense.
This season, Morrow had 95 combined tackles, 12 tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, five pass deflections, and two fumble recoveries. He’ll likely find a job elsewhere in the league as he’s a great depth LB and can step up when called upon.
However, Eagles fans don’t want to see him or Leonard back as they want the team to make the LB spot a high priority this season.
2. Quez Watkins
I don’t like to put Watkins on this list because I believe for a Day 3 draft pick, he’s outplayed his draft position and has been able to stick on the roster for multiple seasons.
However, most Eagles fans want to see the team sign a better WR3, not named Watkins in free agency. This season, the former Southern Mississippi wide receiver only had 15 receptions (21 targets) for 142 yards and a touchdown.
Fans harped on Watkins’ drops on social media as one of the reasons why they wanted to see Julio Jones or Olamide Zaccheaus get more playing time. Jones and Zaccheaus are also free agents this offseason.
When the Eagles played the Seahawks in Week 15, fans were not too happy with Watkins, who didn’t fight for the ball in the fourth quarter despite being double-covered.
Jalen Hurts is 0-6 with 2 INTs and 1 drop when targeting Quez Watkins 20 or more yards downfield in the last 381 days. Watkins has a -1.79 EPA per target on these plays.
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) December 20, 2023
It is astounding how little effort he consistently displays to come back to the ball. pic.twitter.com/fvDfVPN5uk
Then there was his drop in the Super Bowl last season, which would have led to a touchdown and put the Eagles up by 10 points. It’s those little things that have fans out on Watkins returning in 2024.
blitzer right in his face and Jalen Hurts still unleashed a 40+ yard dart that his Quez Watkins in the hands pic.twitter.com/YbW4GwArI8
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) February 13, 2023
Over his four-year career with the Eagles, Watkins only has six touchdowns, with three coming in 2022. If Philadelphia doesn’t bring back Watkins, I see him getting another opportunity as he has game-breaking speed, which most teams desire in today’s NFL.
3. Rashaad Penny
After the Eagles didn’t re-sign Miles Sanders, there was a segment of fans excited to see them sign Penny.
The veteran running back looked like a low-tier RB1/quality RB2 when healthy, which has been an issue over the last few years. With Penny sharing snaps with D’Andre Swift, Kenny Gainwell, and Boston Scott, fans were excited to see how the running game would turn out.
However, as things would play out during the season, Penny would be the odd man out in the running back room. The 27-year-old running back played in three games as he was a healthy scratch in the 14 other regular season contests.
The most rushing attempts Penny got during the season was in Week 18 against the New York Giants, where he had six for 16 yards.
There was a reason why Penny never got on the field with the Eagles after averaging 6.1 yards per attempt in 2022 with the Seahawks (five games), but we’ll never know the answer. Penny will latch on with another team this offseason as he tries to prove that he can be effective and stay healthy.
Meanwhile, the Eagles have to figure out what they will do with Swift and Scott, who are both free agents this offseason. Scott should return in 2024, but Swift is another question after rushing for a career-high 1,049 yards and scoring five touchdowns. It would be in the Eagles’ best interest to re-sign Swift, but running back is another position they don’t value enough.
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