With the Eagles now out of playoff contention it’s time to look at next year. The Eagles are looking at a very important offseason in front of them where they will be making some difficult, but crucial decisions. The Eagles right now are set to be around $19,000 over the cap meaning that there will be moves made this offseason with big named players.
First Decision: Jason Peters
Jason Peters will turn 35 in January and is set to have a $11.2 million cap hit next year. Then you look at the position of need with the Eagles and getting rid of your starting left tackle would make the offseason wish list even greater. Cutting Peters would leave the Eagles with Lane Johnson, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, and Matt Tobin. With Lane Johnson being one failed drug test away from being suspended for two years in the NFL and consider the injuries to Vaitai and Tobin this year cutting Peters doesn’t make sense. Even though Peters’s play has leveled off the last two years he still is one of the better left tackles in the game and to keep your future healthy in Carson Wentz I think you need to keep Peters around one more year. Also put into fact this year’s draft class for tackles is mediocre at best. When you look at Matt Miller’s Big Board he has one offensive lineman in his top 32 and that is Wisconsin’s, Ryan Ramczyk. Although a release in Jason Peters would allow a great variety of possibilities cutting him doesn’t seem to be a savvy move.
Second Decision: Connor Barwin
The fan favorite for the last three plus years has seen a downfall in both playing time and productivity. Connor Barwin is a great guy to have in the locker room and in the community. He is near and dear to Philly sports fans for his play, honestly, and hustle. He was a true find by the Eagles in the 2013 offseason, but what Barwin is set to make next year just doesn’t make sense for the Eagles to keep business wise. Barwin is on pace to have a $8.35 million cap hit in 2017. The move to cut him is almost a lock it seems since the Eagles extended Vinny Curry last year and are getting decent play out of 2014 first round pick, Marcus Smith. Cutting Barwin would be a tough loss in the locker room, but if it were to happen that would give the Eagles $7.73 million in cap space which is a good start to help build around Carson Wentz.
Third Decision: Bennie Logan
Logan has started eleven games this year and only has three tackles for loss. Last year Logan played in 14 games and had nine tackles for loss. Solo tackles are another stat that have seen a big decrease since last year. In 2015 Logan had 39 solo tackles and was one of the best run stoppers in the league which ultimately made the Eagles pass on resigning Cedric Thornton last offseason. As on right now Bennie Logan has only 14 solo tackles on the year. Those stats are not getting the job done. Beau Allen has played in 14 games this year and the same amount of tackles for loss it’s also worth noting Allen has more total tackles then Logan on the year. Last interesting stat is snap count between Logan and Allen on the year. Allen has seen an increase in playing time over the last eight games and has only played in 16 less total snaps on the year then Logan. Productivity is nearly the same so signing Logan for anything north of $5 million a year doesn’t make sense. If you look at the contract Cedric Thornton got last year it will make you cringe. Thornton signed a four year $17 million contract with $6 million guaranteed. I think Logan is a much better player the Thornton. So I do not think you will see Logan in Philly next year.
-Sean Brennan
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
