Part 1 touched on Sidney Jones, Josh Adams and my pick for Eagles Rookie of the Year.
Part 2 answered questions about Corey Clement, UDFAs and Big V's future as a guard.
Here's Part 3:
Does Derek Barnett have a break out year?— Shawn Hink (@ShawnHink) May 17, 2019
I guess this answer depends on your definition of "break out year." Barnett's 2018 season ended prematurely with a shoulder injury that hampered him before the Eagles shut him down. But early in the year, I thought he was the best defensive end on the team (by that point Michael Bennett hadn't played well and Brandon Graham was getting over his ankle injury). In six games, Barnett had 2 1/2 sacks. But before the shoulder injury, he had 2 1/2 in four games before he missed Week 5 with the shoulder injury that eventually ended his season. So Barnett was on pace for 10 sacks before the injury. With plenty of opportunity this season, I think Barnett can be a double-digit sack guy. Sure. That's a good bar to set. Before Fletcher Cox did it in 2018, the last Eagle to top 10 sacks was Connor Barwin in 2014.
One thing is for sure: this is a big year for Barnett. The Eagles traded away Bennett, Chris Long just announced his retirement (see story) and the Eagles passed on taking an edge rusher early in what was supposed to be a historically deep class. Barnett needs to not just be a starter, but be extremely productive in Year 3.
Sports
In partnership with NBC Sports Philadelphia
which contract that the Eagles gave out this offseason do you think the team is most likely to regret in the long run?— Drew (@DrewTweetsNow) May 17, 2019
This is an interesting question and there really aren't many contracts from this offseason that even qualify. So many of these contracts done by Howie Roseman are one-year deals. The long-term ones were: DeSean Jackson, Malik Jackson, Brandon Graham, Isaac Seumalo. Seumalo's deal is cheap enough that I won't count him.
If I had to pick the most likely, it would be DeSean Jackson's deal. He's 32 and his game is predicated on speed. So even though we haven't seen it, there's a chance that speed disappears and the Eagles are left with a speed receiver sans speed. That's possible. For the record, I'd be willing to take that risk, as the Eagles did, because Jackson's speed was exactly the element the Eagles needed. I was tempted to say Graham because the Eagles did kind of overpay him, but even if he can't get after the QB, he can at least stuff the run. If Jackson loses his speed, what good is he?
Do you ever think the Kelly green jerseys will be back?— Lennart (@LenScholz) May 17, 2019
Yeah, eventually they'll return as an alternate in my lifetime, which would make me thrilled because I could finally stop reporting on a jersey color. (Just kidding, love you guys.) The hold-up here is that the NFL has this antiquated rule that won't allow teams to have more than one helmet for each player. It's an old safety rule. Jeff Lurie says he wants kelly green jerseys, but they don't want them without matching helmets. Before you bring up the Rams, they use the same helmets with different decals. The Eagles say decals aren't an option for them. It's alternate helmets or bust. A couple of years ago, competition committee chairman Rich McKay told me he was optimistic this rule would eventually be changed. For now, we wait.
How many games will Carson play?— Randy J Watson (@hirandywatson) May 17, 2019
I'll say 14 or 15. I really don't know. I think he'll be healthy at the start of the season but maybe he gets hurt during the year and misses a game or two. I can't see the future.
With all the veterans signed this year as reserves, do you feel like the Birds are going "all in" this year?— Ianbot5000 (@ianbot5000) May 17, 2019
It's fair to say the Eagles are in win-now mode, but none of their contracts really tie their hands long-term. That's the interesting thing about what the Eagles have done. They have some real flexibility with their roster. They are clearly playing to win a Super Bowl this year, but they'll have the ability to keep signing free agents and should have plenty of draft picks coming up. That's important because they'll need cheap talent to surround Wentz when he's making $30+ million per year soon enough.
Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device.
