After a roller coaster of a 2019 season for the Philadelphia Eagles, there seems to be more question marks about this team than there were a year ago. Howie Roseman will be very busy this offseason, as the Eagles currently have 18 players who are set to become free agents. With the Eagles set to have 10 selections in this year's draft, that means there will be a lot of turnover on this roster, and there are a good amount of Eagles on the 2019 team that will not be back.
The following are players who I believe have played their final snap in a midnight green jersey:
Jason Peters
Peters made it known after the Wildcard game that he has no plans to retire, and wants to continue his career with the Eagles. However, the Eagles have his replacement waiting in the wings, and after sitting out most of 2019, Andre Dillard is ready to jump in and start in 2020. The Eagles probably would likely Peters to stick around as a backup or potentially move to another position, but the soon to be 38-year-old still believes he is a starter in this league. Since it's doubtful Peters would accept a backup role, that means it's time to say goodbye to the future Hall-of-Famer.
Darren Sproles
This is 100% confirmed already by Sproles since he announced his plans to retire a few weeks ago. Even if he wanted to come back, the Eagles found his successor this season in Boston Scott.
Nelson Agholor
Once a Super Bowl hero for the team, Eagles fans have turned a cold shoulder on Agholor after two consecutive seasons filled with dropped passes, injuries and other mishaps. He probably wants starter money, which the Eagles would probably rather spend on someone else. A new team and a fresh slate is what would be best for Agholor. The Eagles might have found a new long-term slot receiver in Greg Ward, but we have to wait to see what unfolds in free agency and the draft.
Josh McCown
All signs point to McCown once again retiring. He did get to achieve something special in his final season -- playing in a playoff game for the first time in his career. Eagles staff, players and fans all seem to have loved McCown during his time here. If he wants to go into coaching, there is a good chance he would have a spot available to him on the Eagles staff.
Ronald Darby
Last offseason, Darby received a one-year "prove it" deal from the Eagles after not receiving any long-term, big-money offers from any other team. He proved to us that he just can not stay healthy, missing 20 games in three seasons in Philadelphia. His play was also all over the place when he was on the field; there were times where he could break up multiple passes in a game, and there were other times he would get burnt throughout the entirety of a game. It's best for the Eagles to move on and plug in a fresh face as a starter.
Nigel Bradham
This is an interesting case -- the Eagles have club options on Bradham for the remainder of his contract. His cap hit is set to rise from $4.4 Million to $9.7 Million this upcoming season, so that could be a factor in his release. It is also unclear if Jim Schwartz will be the defensive coordinator in 2020, which was a primary reason Bradham came to Philadelphia (Bradham followed Schwartz from Buffalo to here). So if Schwartz leaves, then the Eagles will likely want to ship Bradham out too.
Ultimately I believe it will come down to the money, and Bradham likely will not want to take a pay cut. So the Eagles will end up looking to get younger at the linebacker position, either with T.J. Edwards or a rookie as the starter moving forward.
LB Kamu Grugier-Hill
KGH is also interesting, because he was a special teams captain the past two seasons. He was also given an opportunity to start at linebacker this season, but injuries limited him to just 10 games this season. Even in his 10 games, he did not impress all that much. The Eagles would probably offer him a small-size contract to be a primary special-teamer and a backup linebacker, but KGH can probably find a team somewhere else that wants him as a starter.
TE Richard Rodgers
Rodgers joined the team late in the season, but he has been around since the beginning of 2018. The team already has its top two tight ends set in Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, but a healthy third tight end is vital to an Eagles team that relies heavily on 12-personnel in their offense. I though Josh Perkins did well in his role as third tight end on the team this season, so he has the advantage over Rodgers in my book. The team could look to add another tight end via free agency or late in this year's draft to compete with Perkins.
OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai
Vaitai has done as good a job a backup offensive lineman can do in this league. There is going to be a market for his services this offseason, and I doubt the Eagles want to get into a bidding war knowing they are set at the tackle position. Big V will most likely become the starting RT for a team with a lot of money to spend.
CB Craig James
The hero from this year's Packers game reverted back to mainly special teams play once all the other cornerbacks on the roster got healthy. He was decent on special teams, so the Eagles could offer him a chance to earn a spot next season, but I think the team might just decide to move on and try someone else who can potentially be better in 2020.
BONUS SUGGESTIONS
Jordan Howard
I think he will test the market, but because of his injury this season he won't get a big-money deal to become a starter elsewhere. If he is fine with sharing his carries with Miles Sanders, he can return on a one-year "prove it" deal to finish what he started this season.
If he is able to find a team that will allow him to be a bell-cow in 2020, I doubt he will return. But I just don't see anywhere he will become the true #1 guy, so why not return here?
Alshon Jeffery
A lot of people think the team can trade him along with a pick to get rid of his horrible contract. I do not see that as being likely to happen. First, Jeffery needs to be healthy before getting traded, and his achilles injury likely prevents this from happening until at least the start of the 2020 regular season. Second, which team would want a player who is rumored to have caused issues in a locker room and is close friends with a reporter like Josina Anderson?
There is a high probability that Jeffery is an Eagle in 2020, but depending on what happens in the draft and free agency, there might not be a need for him to play next season. He can rid the bench or just stay at home and collect his pay check before getting cut in 2021.
