Sports Talk Philly: Philadelphia Sports News and Rumors

What Will The Eagles Do With Their Crowded Backfield?

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By Matt Szczypiorski, Sports Talk Philly Contributing Writer

Ah yes, Eagles mini-camp and OTA’s, the yearly reminder that it is almost, sort of, close to football season. There’s nothing quite like quarterbacks wearing red jerseys, wide receivers running routes on air, offensive lineman blocking sleds and defenders tackling bags. Okay maybe that doesn’t get the juices flowing quite like week one at the Linc will, but Eagles football is getting closer.

Before the Eagles take the field for the aforementioned week one showdown with the Washington Redskins, the coaching staff has a pretty important part of the team to figure out: running back. Duce Staley and Doug Pederson have some new toys to play with in the backfield. However, there are some familiar faces to make decisions on at the back end of the running back depth chart as well.

Bears trading RB Jordan Howard to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 6th-round pick in 2020 that can become a 5th-round pick, league source tells ESPN.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 29, 2019

Eagles Make 14 Front Office Moves in Wake of Douglas Departure

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The Eagles lost one of their most valuable assets on Friday in the form of Joe Douglas.

The team had known that the move was coming, they just did not know when. The Jets firing their GM opened up the first opportunity for Douglas and the Jets simply would not take no for an answer, needing to sweeten the pot and ask again to finally get him to move out to New Jersey.

Since the team knew the move was coming and Douglas was a front-runner for the position with the Jets from Day 1, the team had plenty of time to come up with a plan for if and when it happened.

Joe Douglas Hired as New York Jets General Manger

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The Eagles lost one of their most valuable assets on Friday in the form of Joe Douglas.

Considered the favorite for the Jets vacant general manager position since the position became available, the New York Jets have made the move official, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Jets just would not take “no” as an answer from Joe Douglas. He tried to turn down the Jets and each time he did, they came back at him harder and harder. Jets simply were not going to be denied in their efforts to land the former Eagles’ vice president of player personnel.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 8, 2019

Interestingly enough, Schefter reports that Douglas turned the Jets down multiple times, so the team must have offered Douglas quite a pretty penny to force him into taking the position.

Carson Wentz Signs Four-Year Contract Extension

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The deal is done.

After months of speculation and rumors of a deal worth $30 million per year, the Eagles and franchise quarterback Carson Wentz have agreed to a new deal that will keep the quarterback in Philadelphia through the 2024 season.

The extension is for four-years, $128 million, according to Adam Shefter of ESPN.

Eagles are giving Carson Wentz a four-year, $128 million contract extension that include guarantees over $107 million, per source.

Wentz’s total deal is now six years for $154 million, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 7, 2019

Wentz is set to make $32 million per year on the extension. He will be guaranteed $107 million and can hit escalators to reach a total value of $144 million.

Darren Sproles Says That If the Right Team Calls, He'll Return

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The Eagles had three players that looked to have a real possibility to retire at the conclusion of the 2018 campaign.

The first to make his decision was left tackle Jason Peters, who took a pay cut to ensure he would be on the 2019 roster.

The second to decide was defensive end Chris Long.

Following the draft and the reduction of his playing role on the team, Long announced that he would be retiring from the league.

Eagles Sign Safety Trae Elston

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The Eagles have added yet another safety to the competition.

On Wednesday, the team signed Trae Elston to a deal to compete with Tre Sullivan, Blake Countess, Andrew Sendejo, Godwin Igwebuike and some undrafted free agents for the third and fourth safety position on the roster.

To create room for him, the Eagles released linebacker B.J. Bello.

Roster Move: #Eagles have signed S Trae Elston and waived LB B.J. Bello.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/miimCeHj33

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) June 5, 2019

2019 Eagles Schedule Preview and Predictions

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By Evan Krawczuk, Contributing Writer

The 2018 season for the Eagles left some to be desired. Was it a Super Bowl hangover? Maybe, but the abundance of injuries and the shuffling of the secondary didn't help. With a healthy Carson Wentz and a more organized defense, 2019 could be a very solid season for the Philadelphia Eagles. These are my projections for the 2019 season and what kind of path I see the Eagles taking, barring any injuries or anything catastrophic, of course.

 

Week One vs. Washington Redskins

A divisional match-up to kick off the season at the Linc. There's nothing better. The Redskins were a sneaky team last year before their quarterback, Alex Smith, got injured. With Smith’s entire career in limbo, who’s going to be under center for the ‘Skins? Washington drafted Ohio State Buckeye Dwayne Haskins who, after the draft, is determined to prove the league wrong. Haskins could be a very strong candidate for rookie of the year, but there will be growing pains, especially in South Philly in his first career start. The Eagles take the opening game of the year.

Eagles record: 1-0

 

Week Two at Atlanta Falcons

The Eagles first prime time game comes Week two against the Falcons. Although the dirty birds have a dangerous offense with Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and company, their defense couldn’t stop a runny nose last year. The Falcons drafted some beef for their offensive line to keep Matty Ice up-right and give him some time to get the ball out. I think Julio and the Falcons high-powered offense will have a big game against the Eagles. The Eagles lose game two to the Falcons. 

Eagles record: 1-1

 

Week Three vs. Detroit Lions

The last time Detroit came to Philly was the Snow Bowl. Shady McCoy had himself a game in the blizzard. The Birds won that one, but these are two different teams now with two different head coaches. There will be a similar outcome, though, with a lot less snow. Birds beat the Matt Patricia-led Lions at home.

Eagles record: 2-1

Tori and Nick Foles Suffer Miscarriage

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

Very early on the in the free agent process of 2019, quarterback Nick Foles agreed to a new deal with the Jaguars that would pay him $88 million over the next four years.

This was on the heels of Jacksonville hiring his former quarterbacks coach from Philadelphia to be their new offensive coordinator.

It seemed like the perfect situation for Foles to go to, other than the Eagles, who could not pay him that type of money. The Jaguars simply needed to begin to build an offense that worked around Foles.

But with a new team comes a new playbook and new teammates to build chemistry with. It is especially important for the starting quarterback to be there to build this chemistry. That made it very odd that Nick Foles was not at the first couple of the Jaguars' OTAs.

Lane Johnson Donates $500,000 for New Sports Complex at Kilgore College

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The Eagles may have lost the Walter Payton Man of the Year this weekend, but the team has plenty of players doing good.

Between Zach Ertz winning the Steinberg-DeNicola Humanitarian Award, Malcolm Jenkins running the Players' Coalition and campaigning for criminal justice reform, Carson Wentz running the AO1 Foundation and more, the team still has plenty of leaders to continue the ideals that Chris Long so obviously exhibited.

Today, Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson added his name to the list of Eagles giving back.

John Clark of NBC Sports Philly reports that Johnson is making a $500,000 donation to Kilgore College for a new sports complex. The building will be named after him.

Eagles Fill Out Roster With Offensive Tackle Casey Tucker

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

On Sunday night, Chris Long ended his NFL playing career.

Despite the signs all pointing toward this scenario, the move was somewhat of a surprise to people and it is certainly disappointing to hear that the Walter Payton Man of the Year will not take the field in 2019.

Still, his retirement gave the front office a bit of business to do.

Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the Eagles have filled the vacated roster spot by signing offensive tackle Casey Tucker.