Eagles’ Potential Trade, Cut Candidates After 2023 NFL Draft
Quez Watkins has become more expendable in 2023.
The Philadelphia Eagles have spent the 2023 offseason adding talent and patching up holes on their roster. But with most of the player acquisitions now out of the way, the team will soon need to look at ways to cut the roster down.
According to Spotrac, the Eagles have 87 active players on their roster. That number will have to drop to 53 by the time the season starts.
Through some salary-cap gymnastics, the Eagles have $14.3 million in cap space. The ability to roll that number over into next year is enough impetus to look for ways to cut some spending where they can.
On a roster as stacked as the Eagles, that means some talented players will have to go. Based on previous production, future outlook, depth and cap ramifications, these three players could either wind up getting waived or traded by the time the season starts.
RB Trey Sermon
PHILADELPHIA, PA – OCTOBER 02: Trey Sermon #34 of the Philadelphia Eagles runs the ball prior to the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lincoln Financial Field on October 2, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Trey Sermon’s NFL career has not quite gone as expected. He was the 153rd-ranked player on B/R’s big board in 2021, but expectations went up when the San Francisco 49ers drafted him in the third round that year.
Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan’s scheme is a running back’s dream. The success of Elijah Mitchell, whom the team took in the sixth round of the same draft, is evidence of that.
When the Niners waived Sermon in late August, it looked like the Eagles might be getting a hidden gem. Instead, he appeared in only two games as an Eagle, finishing with 19 rushing yards on two carries.
Had the Eagles stayed quiet at the position after Miles Sanders left in free agency, it would be easy to envision a role for Sermon this season. That would have suggested that the coaching staff felt comfortable moving forward with some combination of Sermon, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott.
Instead, the Eagles signed Rashaad Penny in free agency and traded for D’Andre Swift during the 2023 NFL draft. Those two acquisitions could signal the end of Sermon’s stay with the Eagles.
Sermon is likely to be the odd man out with Penny, Swift, Gainwell and Scott giving the Eagles four backs whom they seem to prefer.
DT Marlon Tuipulotu
PHILADELPHIA, PA – NOVEMBER 14: Marlon Tuipulotu #95 and T.J. Edwards #57 of the Philadelphia Eagles react after a fumble recovery against the Washington Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field on November 14, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
The Eagles have the best and deepest collection of defensive line talent in the league. That was true going into the offseason, and the addition of rookies Nolan Smith and Jalen Carter should help make up for the free-agent loss of Javon Hargrave.
Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh have yet to sign anywhere, but most of the crew that racked up 70 sacks in the regular season last year is back. That’s a scary thought for the rest of the league, but it also means the competition for playing time is going to be fierce.
Not only did the Eagles draft Smith and Carter, but they signed Kentavius Street in free agency and drafted Moro Ojomo in the seventh round. Ojomo was the 96th-ranked player on our final big board and shouldn’t be discounted as a potential impact piece.
The Eagles will eventually have to release or trade a talented player. Marlon Tuipolutu, who has played only 14 games since the Eagles selected him in the sixth round of the 2021 draft, should be considered in the danger zone.
The Eagles have liked Tuipolutu enough to keep him around despite having so much talent in the room, but time might be running out on him. Last year, he saw 232 snaps, notching one sack and two quarterback hits before suffering a torn meniscus that ended his season.
Given the choice between Ojomo and Tuipoluto, the Eagles might go with the younger, healthier and cheaper option.
WR Quez Watkins
PHILADELPHIA, PA – JANUARY 08: Quez Watkins #16 of the Philadelphia Eagles runs with the ball against the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field on January 8, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Of these three candidates, Quez Watkins is easily the most significant. He wasn’t a fringe player last season; he was fourth on the team in targets, receptions and receiving yards and started eight games.
The problem is that the Eagles now have more viable options to round out their receiving corps, and Watkins is one of the few players whom they can still cut or trade to save money.
Much of the cap room the Eagles have created this offseason has come from restructuring deals so they have lower cap hits this year. It provides short-term flexibility but also ensures the player is sticking around.
Watkins is in the final year of his contract, though, and the Eagles would save $2.7 million by parting ways with him.
The fourth-year pro was the Eagles’ third receiver in most instances last season and provided them with a deep threat to pair with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. However, the addition of Olamide Zaccheaus in free agency gives them more of a true slot receiver.
While Watkins is more of a speedy deep threat, Zaccheus is a better route-runner and can find weak areas in zone coverage while the secondary pays attention to Brown and Smith.
The result is a receiving corps with a little more synergy and less use for Watkins.
ALEX BALLENTINE:
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