There's Always Next Year: Philadelphia Eagles

After spending three years as a fascinating scientific experiment, the Eagles have devoted this offseason to healing rifts between management and players.

They've already taken care of a lot—no team has been as active as Philadelphia at locking up their own players. They kept promising end Vinny Curry from hitting the market with a five-year, $47.2 million deal. Left tackle Lane Johnson got five years and $63 million, of which $35.5 million is guaranteed. Tight ends Zach Ertz and Brent Celek combined for $55.5 million in hypothetical dollars in their extensions. Safety Malcolm Jenkins is currently letting the ink dry on his own five-year deal with $21 million in guarantees. Philadelphia is still trying to lock down star defensive lineman Fletcher Cox to a new deal. At this point, they may even lock down Swoop the Eagle for Ragnar money.

So, with the core re-established and properly paid, the Eagles are headed back to square one. If you remember the very beginning of the Andy Reid days, that meant developing a quarterback. Which is good because…

Coach and Quarterback Confidence Rating: ??/10

The Eagles don't have a quarterback under contract who is guaranteed to be here in two months. Backup Mark Sanchez is reportedly going to be released. Lower on the depth chart, there's free agent Thaddeus Lewis, a journeyman, and, of course, McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who has more last names than regular season passes.

Incumbent starter Sam Bradford is a free agent, and there's a strong sense that the Eagles won't franchise tag him. While I just edited a book that suggests Bradford is better than conventional wisdom holds, I personally believe that letting him go is a viable option. Of course, that leaves us without much to analyze at the moment.

Head coach Doug Pederson was hired to replace Chip Kelly last month and immediately came under fire for his clock management at Kansas City, where he was offensive coordinator for three seasons. While we don't know if he'll be the kind of creative play-designer that his mentor Andy Reid is, he certainly sounds the part.

Key Offseason Decision: So, what is the quarterback plan?

Pederson has talked about bringing a young quarterback to Philly: "A hole here, a hole there, get some depth here, you know, get you a young quarterback possibly, and then you just start developing your talent and you see what happens after that."

The Eagles are definitely spending their money like a team that plans to draft a young quarterback, but with the No. 13 pick, there's no guarantee that their guy will still be on the board. Will they trade up to get someone? How many assets are they willing to offer? These are the questions that will spend the next two months percolating on every drive-time Philly radio station.

And if they do indeed get the young QB, the questions continue: Who will the Eagles jettison to make room on the bench, or is Pederson going to live with the bumps right away?

Major Free Agents: QB Sam Bradford, DB Walter Thurmond, DB Nolan Carroll, DB E.J. Biggers, DL Cedric Thornton

We've talked Bradford.

Thurmond had a nice season after some horrific injuries. He's more likely to flee than not, as he doesn't appear to be part of Philly's core. Carroll and Biggers are journeyman corners, and they're not the picks of new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. You can expect them to go as well.

Thornton has some interesting qualities and he's a good run-stuffer, but the Eagles are willing to let him walk because he's not a strong pass rusher and Bennie Logan had a better season. Thornton was banged up a lot of last season; he might be a good bet to rebound elsewhere.

Cap Situation: $25,998,940—16th in the NFL

Don't expect any Dream Team scenarios this time around, but the Eagles should be able to be active in free agency if they want. They've already cut ties with WR Riley Cooper. Re-signing Fletcher Cox could lower his $7.9 mil cap number. Releasing Sanchez, Darren Sproles, and DeMeco Ryans would free up another $3.5 million a piece.

There aren't many true millstones on the books for Philly at this point. DeMarco Murray's contract definitely looks bad at the moment, but they might as well ride it out. Cutting Murray this offseason would cost the Eagles $5 million unless they spread the cap hit by making him a post-June 1 cut. In that scenario, they'd save zero dollars.

Given the troubles they've had the past few seasons, Philadelphia should be looking for defensive backs and wideouts. It wouldn't be surprising if they met with the top tier of those markets and tried to find at least one real solution.