Looking at the Eagles and the rest of NFC East heading into free agency…

Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com has an interesting piece out today which is basically his snapshot view of what the Eagles and the rest of the division need to do over the next month or so to get better. I don’t agree with all of his recommendations for the Birds, but he does give you a nice framework for understanding the real-time needs of the NFC East heading into free agency and beyond.

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  Bill Barnwell
  ESPN Staff Writer

Here’s a brief “Cliff Notes” summary of Barnwell’s suggestions to each team in the division:

EAGLES:
1. Don’t franchise Sam Bradford  (Barnwell says too expensive for the talent involved, and disagrees with my idea to franchise Bradford just to set up negotiations for a 3-year cap-friendly deal).
2. Sign Chase Daniel (the 29-year-old unrestricted free agent QB who spent the past three years working underneath Doug Pederson in Kansas City).
3. Lock up Fletcher Cox (makes sense, a no-brainer, possibly the best DT/DE in the game right now?…5 years with a $50 milz guarantee?).
4. Re-sign Walter Thurmond (nice transition from cornerback to safety last season on a 1-year $3.3 million deal…word is he wants to come back if you show him the money.)
5. Don’t move on from DeMarco Murray (Eagles would be on the hook for Murray’s $7 million salary in 2016 and a $2 million payment in 2017, all of which is already guaranteed. It would cost the Eagles $8 million to keep Murray this year and $13 million to release him).

As for the rest of the Division:

REDSKINS:
1. Franchise Kirk Cousins.
2. Release Robert Griffin III (would free up $16.1 million in cap space without incurring any sort of dead money.)
3. Refresh the secondary by cutting Chris Culliver and Dashon Goldson.
4. Cut WR Andre Roberts.
5. Sign Danny Trevathan (Denver ILB coverage specialist.)

COWBOYS:
1. Cut CB Brandon Carr as a post-June 1 release.
2. Don’t answer when the Eagles call about trading DeMarco Murray.
3. Sign RB Alfred Morris instead.
4. Sign a backup quarterback who isn’t Johnny Manziel.
5. Add pass rush help (“go after Olivier Vernon or Mario Williams (assuming the latter is released), but lower-cost, higher-ceiling options make more sense. Somebody like Aldon Smith could be a fit. One fascinating option if he leaves his current team: Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul…”).

GIANTS:
1. Let Jason Pierre-Paul walk.
2. Invest in a top-of-the-market replacement for JPP ( “Giants have a staggering $58.1 million in cap space available heading into the offseason. Instead of adding a depth piece or two, they need to target a dominant edge rusher and pay him what he’s worth…an obvious candidate is Dolphins end Olivier Vernon…”).
3. Restructure Victor Cruz‘s deal.
4. Find some help for Eli Manning up front (“…the best right tackle on the market is Cleveland’s Mitchell Schwartz, who seems unlikely to come to New York, given that the Giants just cut his brother…”)
5. Bring back CB Prince Amukamara ( a good talented corner who has struggled with knee injuries).

Barnwell adds a lot of free-agent evaluations and financial analysis insights into his 5-point lists for each team. You may not agree with all of his recommendations, but I found it to be a good read on a foggy day in Philly.