The State of the Franchise 2016: Philadelphia Eagles

The Beginning

Two days before the calendar turned from 2015 to 2016, Jeffrey Lurie “took back control” of his baby by firing Chip Kelly, who was a game short of completing his third season as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. It was a rapid and swift fall from grace for Kelly, who went from trailblazing savior to despotic pariah in 13 months. He wrested personnel power from Howie Roseman and promptly remade the roster in his image but actually decimated it because he had no idea what he was doing. He touted the importance of building a “culture” and then hypocritically threw money at mercenaries who were more interested in cashing a check than buying into the team. He showed no further innovation, ability to adjust, or general evolution as a coach, got thoroughly outclassed by his peers (especially the also-rans and never-weres), alienated his players, and just simply failed in every way. Then, and this was some REAL bullshit, he turned up his nose at the organization’s holiday party. The holiday party snub was the final straw for Lurie. Kelly’s emotionally unintelligent ass had to go.

With Kelly expelled from the NovaCare Complex, the previously exiled Roseman got his football operations job back in an unprecedented display organizational maneuvering. On the field, the Eagles started 2016 by closing out the 2015 season with a “meaningless” win over the Giants under interim head coach Pat Shurmur. I put “meaningless” in quotation marks because it gave them worse draft position and a second-place schedule (rather than third place). As soon as the final seconds on the clock at MetLife Stadium ticked off, the Eagles officially got underway turning the page on the Kelly era and moving on to the next chapter in franchise history.

The list of head coaching candidates to replace Kelly was lengthy, but after a supposed brief flirtation with Tom Coughlin, the Eagles keyed in on their two top choices: Adam Gase and Ben McAdoo. Both rejected their advances for other biddies, and, following the Chiefs’ playoff loss to the Patriots, the Eagles moved on to the guy they wanted you to believe was their top candidate all along: Doug Pederson. After all, Lurie had to overcorrect for his failed gamble and hire the anti-Chip Kelly. Unsurprisingly, what he really desired was to have Andy Reid back. Since that wasn’t happening, Lurie settled for Reid’s personally recommended protegé. Now you can believe whatever you want about why Reid pushed Pederson so hard, what did or did not go on behind the scenes in Kansas City and why Kyle chooses to call him “Crusher.” The reality is that the Eagles were the only team that showed any interest in or gave him an interview for a head coaching position. Once Gase and McAdoo were off the board, it was the worst-kept secret that Pederson would get the Eagles job if he so desired. Naturally, he jumped at the opportunity. On January 18, two days after the Chiefs were eliminated by the Patriots in the playoffs, the Eagles hired Pederson.

Pederson added both Jim Schwartz as his defensive coordinator and Frank Reich as his offensive coordinator within 48 hours, then filled out the rest of the staff over the next week. A few offices over, Roseman got to work putting his fingerprints on the roster. Zach Ertz, Brent Celek, Lane Johnson and Vinny Curry were all signed to extensions. The next order of business was excising the worst of Kelly’s personnel mistakes from the roster. Riley Cooper was cut on February 8, which has since been declared a city-wide holiday. Later in the month, Malcolm Jenkins’ contract was extended.

Free agency officially began on March 1. The Eagles struck quickly on the first day, signing Sam Bradford — who didn’t have nearly the leverage on the open the market that he and his agent expected — to a two-year contract that, despite the ensuing lip service, signaled he’d be a placeholder until the franchise quarterback was otherwise acquired. Things were quiet for a week until Roseman unveiled his ultimate roster-transforming salvo. Within the span of a single day on March 9, he was able to convince (Jedi mind-trick?) two other general managers to take his overpaid, underperforming trash and relinquish assets in return. First up was Mike Tannenbaum in Miami, who relinquished the Dolphins’ first-round pick (eighth overall) for the right to move back five spots in the pecking order (to Eagles’ pick of 13th overall) and acquire Kiko Alonso and the bloated contract of Byron Maxwell. Next up was Jon Robinson of the Tennessee Titans, who took sleeper agent DeMarco Murray’s cancerous attitude and contract in exchange for the Eagles to move up 13 spots in the fourth round (to pick #100 from #113). Roseman finished the day by announcing the signings of Brandon Brooks and Rodney McLeod. Nigel Bradham and Chase Daniel signed the next day.

Things were relatively quiet from a transaction standpoint for the next five weeks, but rumors became more intense with each passing day that the Eagles were hot on the trail for the draft’s two top quarterback prospects, Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, with a preference for the latter. Eight days before the draft, on April 20, Roseman struck with the signature moment of his general manager tenure. The Eagles traded a first-, third, and fourth-round pick, along with a 2017 first-round pick and 2018 second-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for the second overall pick and a fourth-round pick in 2017. On April 28, the Eagles selected quarterback Carson Wentz of North Dakota State to be the face of the franchise.

Bradford and his agent had a joint temper tantrum and cried foul at the Eagles making a decision in the clear best interests of the future of the franchise. They made their displeasure known by embarking on a sad holdout that didn’t even last two weeks. Bradford reverted to good soldier status and reported to voluntary workouts on May 9, knowing that his days in Philadelphia were numbered even though Pederson tabbed him the undisputed starting quarterback.

The Middle

Aside from signing all rookies, the only move of consequence to take place between the end of voluntary workouts and the start of training camp in July was the massive, six-year, $102.6 million contract extension given to Fletcher Cox.

The End

Pederson’s first training camp started with just one truly intriguing storyline, the quarterback situation. Bradford was the number one, Daniel the backup, and Wentz the third stringer. Though deep down the everyone inside and outside the organization knew the best course of action was for Wentz to be given the reigns as soon as possible, the Eagles were perfectly content continuing with the current quarterback arrangement through the season.

On August 9, news broke that Lane Johnson had been popped again for a banned substance and was facing a 10-game suspension as a second-time offender. This time it was an amino acid he thought was cleared by the NFLPA’s shitty drug-verification app. It was not. Johnson vowed to fight the suspension, but the odds were stacked against him. With the black cloud of a suspension to the offense’s second- or third-most important player hanging over the team, the Eagles trudged on.

The only transaction of note made during camp was the trade of Dennis Kelly to Tennessee for Dorial Green-Beckham, with the hope that the former top high school recruit could boost a sub-porous wide receiver group.

Four weeks to the day after training camp began, however, everything changed and the course of history for two franchises was indelibly altered. Teddy Bridgewater’s knee exploded on August 31, during the Minnesota Vikings’ final day of practice. The injury, which resembled a trauma suffered in serious car accidents, was catastrophic and could’ve been fatal (or at the very least cost Bridgewater his leg) had the trainers and paramedics not acted quickly. The Vikings, who fancied themselves legitimate Super Bowl contenders, were left reeling a week before the season opener. Bradford, who’d been dangled by the Eagles for months (but would require a steep price in return), was the only veteran, proven (lol) starting quarterback available. Roseman seized the moment and turned the Vikings’ misfortune into the Eagles’ fortune. Roseman and Vikings GM Rick Spielman engaged in conversations almost immediately and, less than 100 hours after Bridgewater’s injury, a deal was hatched. On September 3, the Eagles traded Bradford to the Vikings for a first-round pick in 2017 and fourth-round pick in 2018. This day has also since been declared a city-wide holiday.

Wentz was vaulted to the starting quarterback role upon Bradford’s departure, and the Reid-McNabb Redux Era began in earnest. As for the Eagles 2016 season itself, well, it was quite the roller coaster of expectations. Going on, people saw a five- or six-win team with 7-9 ceiling, 8-8 at the very best. Then Wentz and the defense went gangbusters in the first three weeks en route to a 3-0 record, Pederson looked like a modern coaching prodigy, and the entire Delaware Valley’s eyes widened with the thought that this season could be an unexpected magical ride.

Of course, this being Philadelphia and the Eagles being the Eagles, the wheels fell off right then and there. The NFL, in all its scheduling wisdom, gave the Eagles a bye in Week 4. They returned to the field in Week 5 against the Lions and looked like a team whose momentum had been sledgehammered in the balls. The Lions took a quick 14-0 lead and entered halftime up 21-10. The Eagles woke up and dominated the second half, eventually going up 23-21. They had a chance to all but ice the game with a first down prior to the two-minute warning, but Ryan Mathews fumbled near midfield on third down and the Lions recovered — it was the Eagles’ first turnover the season. Matthew Stafford hit Golden Tate for a crucial third-down conversion and Matt Prater hit a 29-yard field goal. With the Lions leading 24-23, Wentz got the ball back with a chance to engineer the first game-winning drive. He went deep to Nelson Agholor on the first play of the drive and was intercepted for the first time in his career, by Darius Slay (who had previously caused the fumble).

Adding injury to insult, news broke the day after the loss to the Lions that the suspension of Lane Johnson, who’d been able to play while his case was being appealed, was being upheld. He wouldn’t be eligible to return to the team until Week 16. With rookie Halapoulivaati Vaitai replacing Johnson at right tackle, the Eagles got steamrolled by the Washington Redskins the following week and would go on to lose five of their next seven games (including an especially disheartening, snatch-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory loss to the Cowboys in Dallas) — though one of those wins was a thoroughly satisfying shellacking of Bradford and the previously 5-0 Vikings, which served as the initial step in their season spiral.

Everybody came back to earth during the slide. Wentz, Pederson, the defense. But hey, at least Zach Ertz started putting up numbers starting in November! At 5-5, the Eagles traveled to Seattle for a date with the Seahawks. The game went how everyone expected, helped along by Agholor not knowing how to properly line up and ruining the offense’s best play of the season, and the Eagles returned home 5-6, their season on the line the following week on Monday against Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers began his end-of-season God Mode run that night and carved up the defense, resulting in a 27-13 loss that essentially ended the Eagles’ season. Following a listless effort in Cincinnati, questions began to surface whether the team had quit on Pederson and whether he needed to be fired. Instead of cratering like they did with Kelly the season before, the Eagles bounced back and showed tremendous heart for an undermanned, undertaleneted team — they fought tooth and nail in narrow losses to the Redskins and Ravens in back-to-back weeks and had opportunities to win both games at the end.

With Lane Johnson back in the lineup, the Eagles stopped the bleeding and held off the Giants on Thursday Night Football. Like 2015, they enter the meaningless season finale at 6-9 and with hopes for a better result next season.

Overall, this season was about learning one thing: Is Carson Wentz the right quarterback to lead the franchise for the next decade? I don’t know how you can leave this season not feeling optimistic that he’s the guy. Wentz has things to works on, of course, but he has every physical characteristic you look for and the intangibles are there. His supporting cast was dog shit, with the best offensive weapon being a 33 year-old, 5’6″ scat back/receiver combo. The 2017 offseason is about getting Wentz the help he needs at the skill positions because Jordan Matthews, Zach Ertz and Darren Sproles ain’t enough. On the defensive side of the ball, the 2017 offseason will almost certainly see the Eagles lose Bennie Logan to free agency because they chose Vinny Curry (who was invisible all season and has now been deemed unworthy of starter’s snaps by three different coaching staffs) over him.

From a macro standpoint, the team only lost three games by more than one score (all in a single three-week stretch) and were more than adequately competitive in all but the Bengals trouncing. Barring getting blown out by the Cowboys tomorrow, they’ll finish with a positive point differential. If you juxtapose the process and results with the talent on the roster, I think you have to give Pederson and his staff a tremendous amount of credit. Pederson had his mistakes and Reidian moments, yes, but no coach is flawless. Do I fear that his worst shortcomings will be magnified once there is more talent on the roster and a game comes down to a crucial coaching decision? Yeah, but we’ll cross that bridge of exasperation when we get to it.

When I take a step back and look at the whole of the Eagles season, I’m excited for Year 2 of Wentz in 2017 while understanding that a lot has to happen on the periphery personnel-wise for his progression to result in a tangible difference in the win-loss column.

Mr. Entertainment Award

Gee, I wonder.

Don’t Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out Award

Shared: Chip Kelly (technically 2015) and Sam Bradford. Edge goes to Bradford since his jettisoning actually came in 2016 and recouped the 2017 first-round pick the Eagles lost in the Wentz trade.

Move Over, Marcus Smith, You’re Not the Eagles’ Worst First-Round Pick of the Last Two Years Award

It’s your boy, Nelson Agholor! He is, without exaggeration, perhaps the worst wide receiver in NFL history. He certainly earns that distinction if you match up his playing time and statistical production. Maybe next year will be different for Agholor, but he does nothing well and hasn’t shown any redeeming NFL quality to give the indication that will be the case. Barring a bust-for-bust trade, Agholor will make the 2018 roster as a depth wide receiver solely by virtue of the fact that he costs more to cut than to keep.

Breakout Season in 2017 Award

Who else but Zach Ertz? He made two huge plays against the Browns in the opener and then suffered a serious rib injury that kept him out the next two games. He was a non-factor in October after coming back and has, what, less than three broken tackles on the season (67-year old Jason Witten breaks three tackles on one play)? Ertz’s numbers began trending up in November (naturally), but he only started to give above-and-beyond effort after he got called out for electing not to block Vontaze Burfict — the defining moment of his Eagles career thus far. He has just two touchdowns this season, only one of which mattered. It’s become clear that even though the Eagles think Ertz can be a game-changing weapon in this league (and paid him as such), he’s a relentlessly mediocre between-the-20s receiver who lacks dynamic ability and would rather not fight through contact for extra yards after the catch. Ertz will finish the season with superficial counting stats that make his paper performance look way better than his actual performance and surely prompt his agent to compare him on Twitter to Tony Gonzalez. Will Ertz’s December yardage (45% of his career total so far) ever on day mean something other than stat-padding in a lost season? Stay tuned!

Notable Additions:

• Doug Pederson
• Jim Schwartz
• Frank Reich
• Carson Wentz
• Chase Daniel
• Leodis McKelvin
• Nolan Carroll (re-signed)
• Brandon Brooks
• Rodney McLeod
• Dorial Green-Beckham
• Isaac Seumalo
• Wendell Smallwood
• Halapoulivaati Vaitai
• Jalen Mills
• Stephen Tulloch
• Last but obviously not least: PAUL FUCKING TURNER

Notable Departures

• Chip Kelly
• Pat Shurmur (who we have in large part to thank for the Bradford-to-Vikings trade)
• Bill Davis
• Riley Cooper
• Mark Sanchez
• Sam Bradford
• DeMeco Ryans
• Dennis Kelly
• Josh Huff

Growth Rating: 7

No changes in the final win-loss record, but the franchise has its quarterback of the future and it sure feels like there’s a much healthier CULTURE than the smoldering wreckage left behind in Chip Kelly’s wake.

Here’s to beating the Cowboys’ backups tomorrow and ending the season on a winning note (that everyone will try to tell you can carry over to 2018 training camp in seven months).

Happy New Year to every Crossing Broad reader, regular humans and trolls alike.