Yesterday, Howie Roseman “sat down” for an interview to discuss the Eagles offseason thus far. It was good stuff, it’s nice to see behind the curtain. It’s nice to see a front office run in Philadelphia that’s competent. But, the portion of the conversation that is sticking with everyone is Howie’s take on Alshon Jeffery and where the receiver stands:
Thought this was an interesting response by Howie when asked about Alshon… pic.twitter.com/9dzeUkUSsx
— EROCK (@EROCK_Eagles) March 26, 2020
The quotes from Howie don’t necessarily mean Alshon will be back. It could just be Dave Spdaro propaganda, saying the right things at the right time. Coaches and executives often say one thing in public and have a different plan behind closed doors. I mean my God, if I had a dollar for every time a coach said they were committed to their team, we could afford to pay their buyout when they left.
But it’s more than just the quotes that hint a Alshon coming back to Philly, it’s the details. From the jump, it was going to be nearly impossible to move on from Alshon Jeffery. He was hurt, he was a rat and he was owed a ton of guaranteed money. Even with the passing of the new CBA, that just alleviated the Eagles payment problems for Jeffery it didn’t eradicate them. He’s still owed guaranteed money, one year or the next.
So if they don’t want to release him for the sake of releasing him, what about a trade? Well that kind of went out the door with Darius Slay. Alshon is currently viewed as damaged goods and the Eagles would almost surely have to attach a pick to him to get rid of him. They’ve already traded two picks in this years draft to land Slay. Trading yet another, to get rid of a guy with no real return is risky. Especially when the goal this offseason, as stated by the team, was to get younger.
So what if they’re just waiting to replace him? Well that ship has sailed. There were middling free agents available and the deals seemed to be team friendly. Breshad Perriman. Robby Anderson. Nelson Agholor. All could be had for good value, none have been as productive in their careers as Alshon. If you want to make change for a dollar, do you expect someone to hand you back four quarters or two? Howie wasn’t getting four back on the free agency market in exchange for his Alshon dollar. He tried with Deandre Hopkins, but the Texans weren’t offering the same ludicrous deal they gave the Cardinals. It will still be addressed in the draft, but most teams don’t want a rookie as WR1. So there’s your next dead end.
And maybe, that’s that. The Eagles had barely any moves on the board to start and they’ve been constricted even more. Alshon may have gone from the rat to the leech. Or maybe he was a part of their plan all along, just waiting for him to get healthy. Like finding Josina Anderson’s snitch, the world may never know. There’s always that one co-worker you can’t stand but you just put up with it because you like your job. Well, welcome to corporate America Carson Wentz.