Three to Flee? Loaded Eagles Can't Keep Everyone
While NFL analysts gush over the influx of talent on the Philadelphia Eagles, it comes with a bittersweet reality: Too much of a good thing means someone has to go.
The Eagles' monster draft that will bring in the likes of Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith and Tyler Steen will also signal the end of the line for some notable players that helped them get to last season's Super Bowl. Philly has 87 players on its roster, and will trim that number to 53 by Week 1 in early September.
Bleacher Report has taken the task of proposing three players who could be headed for a trade or even an outright release during the 2023 offseason and training camp:
WR Quez Watkins - Despite his drop of a deep ball from Jalen Hurts that cost the Eagles four points in the Super Bowl, it's difficult to fathom them getting rid of a speedy receiver who last year started eight games and was fourth on the team in targets, receptions and yards.
Problem is that Philly has added talent at the position and Watkins is one of the team's few players that could save it substantial salary-cap space. He is in the final year of his contract, and the Eagles could save approximately $3 million with him off the books.
The Eagles are loaded with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and added slot-weapon Olamide Zaccheaus in free agency. Coming off a disappointing season, Watkins needs to be better. Or else.
RB Trey Sermon - Drafted in the third round by the San Francisco 49ers in 2021, the running back was outplayed by sixth-rounder Elijah Mitchell and eventually released. Philly figured it was getting a steal by signing him as a free agent last year, but he appeared in only two games with a paltry 19 yards rushing in 2022.
With Miles Sanders' departure via free agency this offseason, Sermon's stock should have soared. But Philly was pro-active at the position, first signing Rashaad Penny from the Seattle Seahawks and then trading for Detroit Lions' starter D'Andre Swift during the draft.
Sermon enters OTAs at the back end of a depth chart that includes Swift, Penny, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott.
DT Marlon Tuipulotu - What seemed like an opening along the defensive line with the free-agency departure of Javon Hargrove and the apparent farewells of Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh was swallowed up and filled by the additions of Carter and Smith. Linval, 35, and Suh, a potential Hall of Famer, have yet to sign with any team, but their return to Philly is unlikely given the incoming young talent.
Further muddying the water for Tuipulotu is the fact that the team signed Kentavius Street in free agency and also drafted Moro Ojomo in the seventh round.
Tuipolutu has played only 14 games since the Eagles selected him in the sixth round of the 2021 draft, producing one sack last season before a knee injury ended his year prematurely.
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