Eagles Fans Should Thank This Guy…
Eagles fans are happy. They should be. Howie Roseman and the Eagles signed Alshon Jeffrey, Torrey Smith, and Chance Warmack to team-friendly one year deals. They have team options on Torrey Smith so they control him at cap-friendly numbers if they wish. They also, basically, control Alshon Jeffrey for the next three years as they can choose to franchise tag him if they wish to keep him, but cannot agree to an extension.
Nice work, Howie. The team was up against the cap and he found ways to improve the team without committing the team to crazy future financial commitments. That’s important. There’s no Byron Maxwell, Chase Daniel, Demarco Murray, Nnamdi Asomugha guarantees counting against future caps. That’s important as the Eagles are poised to free up some space next year by shedding contracts such as Kendricks, Celek, Kelse, and Jason Peters, if they wish, with minimal impact on the cap. That will give them dramatically more flexibility than they had this year.
Howie and the Eagles showed great restraint by not signing players to long-term contracts with huge signing bonuses. They showed patience. I may even say they demonstrated a little foresight. Ya see, the wide receiver free agent crop next year seems to be a little deeper than this year with the likes of DeAndre Hopkings, Jarvis Landry, Devante Adams, Martavis Bryant, Dontrelle Inman, Taylor Gabriel, Donte Moncrief, Allen Robinson and others expected to be unrestricted free agents. So, if Alshon Jeffrey doesn’t work out this year there should be plenty of other, fairly young, receivers available next year.
The patience of taking small, calculated steps towards building for the future, is not easy to have in professional sports where the demand to win and win now is prevalent. It’s easier in Philly, than most other cities, because of one man. Sam Hinkie. I think we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge Sam Hinkie here.
Sam broke the mold. He preached patience, planning, and assets when few had the courage to bring that to their fan bases. We even see it happening, a process of sorts, in Cleveland where they have 11 draft picks in each of the next 2 drafts. Howie improved the Eagles yesterday without making moves that demonstrated a desperation to win now. Yesterday’s moves allow the Eagles to improve their product on the field with three low risk/high reward contracts. They were shrewd moves. Hinkie-like.
They were moves that satisfied the fan base without fooling anyone into thinking the Eagles will be a Super Bowl team next year. They just have too many holes to fill in one off-season. Two years from now, maybe. And, they’ll have a decent amount of flexibility to tweak that roster to make a Super Bowl run.
Hinkie convinced most of the city that building a contender is a marathon that takes patience. He showed other executives that you can still garner your fans’ support without going all-in to win now and, instead, looking to the future.
Does the Hinkie Theory work? Time will tell. His assets need to get on the court, but I think in three years the Sixers will be legit playoff contenders. Matt Klentak and the Phillies are following a similar patient strategy. As is Ron Hextall. And, now, the Eagles.
Haste makes waste (Asomugha, Vinnie LeCavalier) while patience is a virtue. Some hate it. I like it. Thanks Sam. And, thanks Howie.