Eagles Mailbag – Celek Situation, Bust to Contributor, Biggest Need

I know you're still celebrating the Eagles' Super Bowl win. There's a good chance you haven't even gone a day without wearing Super Bowl champion gear.

The NFL world hasn't stopped though. 

You guys gave me so many good questions this week, we split them all up into several posts this week. Let's start here: 

This is an interesting question. I guess we have to first figure out which guys even qualify as a "bust" or could become busts. Just two guys remain from the 2015 draft class and they're Agholor and Jordan Hicks. Neither of them count. From the 2016 class, Isaac Seumalo and Wendell Smallwood could possibly fit. And even though it's really unfair to call anyone from the 2017 class a bust, Donnel Pumphrey and Shelton Gibson might count. 

If I had to pick one right now, I actually wouldn't say Seumalo even though he was a third-round pick. With the line returning as a whole unit, I don't think there's going to be much opportunity for him and I didn't like what many deemed as a lack of confidence. Sure, Agholor got out of that, but it's troubling. 

Philadelphia Eagles

Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles and their NFL rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Why Jeff Lurie has no problem with Jalen Hurts' stoic demeanor 

A look at the 11 Eagles free agents who haven't found jobs yet

The guy I'd pick is Gibson, who had an absolutely terrible spring and most of the summer and was inactive for the first part of the 2017 season. Gibson had trouble catching the ball as a rookie, which is obviously a problem but it's a problem he can fix. What he does have is speed and that just can't be taught. With Torrey Smith likely gone this year, Gibson should have a chance to fill the void as a deep threat. 

I think he has that potential. Halapoulivaati Vaitai did a fine job filling in for Jason Peters this year and he's come so far from that first terrible game against Washington and Ryan Kerrigan. 

The thing I've noticed about Big V during his two years in the league is that confidence is really important for him. That's why we've seen, at times, him get much better as games go on. That's why after he strung a few good games together, he wasn't a concern anymore. He has all the physical tools to be a good tackle in this league for a long time and with the right coaching, he can be an answer at one of those spots. 

It's a really tough situation with Brent Celek, because this is Celek we're talking about. He should go down in the books as an all-time Eagle. But there's a problem. 

There's just no way the Eagles can bring him back on his current deal, with a $5 million cap hit. Can't do it. They really need the $4 million in cap space it would save. And really, they don't need Celek back at all. The Eagles are probably hoping he wants to retire. Tough situation. 

Based on the way the Eagles want to build their team, offensive line is always going to be a need. Considering they needed to add Will Beatty of the street as a depth piece in this season, yeah, they could probably stand to add some depth at tackle and it wouldn't hurt to add interior help too, although Chance Warmack is a decent backup. 

The other two positions I think worth a look are linebacker and defensive tackle. I know the Eagles have Fletcher Cox and Tim Jernigan locked up, but Beau Allen is about to be a free agent, which leaves former undrafted player Destiny Vaeao as the top backup. And at linebacker, Jordan Hicks' injury history makes him a big question mark and Nigel Bradham is set to be a free agent. If the Eagles don't bring Bradham back, that could be a big problem. 

Copyright CSNPhily
Contact Us