Hey, the NHL Stadium Series featuring outdoor ice hockey at the Linc was a success! Not only did the Flyers beat Pittsburgh in overtime, but 69,200 fans showed up—including Doug Pederson and a bunch of current Eagles players, such as Fletcher Cox and Jason Kelce.
Meanwhile a couple of guys became “former Eagles”. We talked recently about the bad omen of being on Injured Reserve for too long, and unfortunately for DB/ST Chris Maragos and CB Elie Bouka, the dreaded final “releases with injury settlements” ultimately came.
You’re gonna miss Chris Maragos‘ big plays on special teams. His story is the closest thing we’ve had to the Vince Papale saga (1976-78). A two-time walk-on in college at both Western Michigan and Wisconsin, Maragos originally entered the league as a rookie free agent with the 49ers in 2010. He went to the division-rival Seahawks in 2011 and was a key special teams contributor in their Super Bowl-winning campaign of 2013. Signed by the Eagles as an unrestricted free agent in 2014 for 3 years, total $4 million, Maragos cemented his status as one of the league’s preeminent special teams players with a team-best 49 tackles during his Eagles career. In 2014, Maragos led the squad with 14 special teams tackles, forced a fumble, blocked a punt, and scored his first NFL touchdown. He was named a Pro Bowl alternate for his play that season. The Eagles ranked first in the league in special teams play twice in Maragos’ first three seasons in Philadelphia, including that 2014 campaign.
On November 17, 2016, Maragos signed a three-year, $6 million contract extension with $2.45 million guaranteed through the 2019 season.
One of the best underdog stories inside the Eagles’ locker room, Maragos earned the respect of his teammates as he was named a captain in 2017, the first year the team assigned permanent captains. Maragos suffered a season-ending knee injury (torn PCL) in the Week 6 win over Carolina, and it kept him sidelined for the run to the Super Bowl as well as all of 2018. That right knee never did respond completely to a total of three surgeries. Maragos slowly ran out of time waiting for that thing to heal and feel right again.
That’s likely the end of an improbable NFL playing career for Maragos. He’s 32, still 5-10 and 195, but will never run the 40 in 4.47 or anything close again. Funny how his 40-time was almost exactly the same as Papale’s, and that both were track stars in high school and college, not exactly known for their football experiences.
Maragos will always be remembered as a high-character guy. He would always be first to show up for meetings, front row, pen out, ready to learn, ready to do things. In addition he was and remains an extremely religious person involved in Christian faith groups. He will be okay after football, having accumulated a net worth of $6 million. Not bad for a former college walk-on…
On the DRAFT front, the Eagles were projected to earn three compensatory selections due to last year’s losses in free agency but it turns out they’ll only get two instead. That’s a bit of a bummer as they were expected to get another sixth-round selection. It appears Howie Roseman’s attempt to game the system with Mike Wallace’s unique contract structure did not work out.
The Eagles ultimately received a fourth-round selection for losing Trey Burton and a sixth-round selection for losing Beau Allen.
Here’s the updated draft order list—
1 – Eagles’ own pick (No. 25)
2 – Acquired from the Baltimore Ravens (No. 53)
2 – Eagles’ own pick (No. 57)
4 – Eagles’ own pick (No. 127)
4 – Compensatory pick (No. 138)
5 – Eagles’ own pick (No. 163)
6 – Eagles’ own pick (No. 198)
6 – Compensatory pick (No. 208)
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