Grading the Eagles in free agency thus far results in mostly high marks for Howie Roseman

The Eagles’ offseason is far from over, but the last two weeks will likely be the most active they will be in terms of roster movement. General manager Howie Roseman has made, all told, final decisions on 21 players who have been retained, acquired, or allowed to leave via free agency.

He is far from finished, of course. There is the NFL draft next month, cost-effective veterans still available, and a trade market — one the aggressive Roseman is always apt to dabble in — that last season netted the Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, among others.

But with the majority of the team’s 20 free agents signed and the Eagles’ decision-makers — the majority of whom will be at the owners’ meetings in Phoenix this week — turning their attention to the draft, now is as good as any time to assess how they did in free agency.

With the full understanding that the allotted 90-man roster is not yet full and that Roseman is always primed to strike — he’s yet to make what could be the franchise’s most significant move in extending quarterback Jalen Hurts — here’s a position-by-position grading of Eagles transactions thus far:

Hurts, after an MVP-worthy, near Super Bowl-winning season, has been the silent component in how the Eagles have managed their salary cap. They entered the new league year with little room, which Roseman increased with new deals and restructures that push tens of millions of dollars into future years.

But the GM and his cap wizards must remain cognizant of how a Hurts extension that could be worth $200 million or more affects their budget.

The Eagles, never shy about paying quarterbacks, upped the amount earmarked to their backup by signing Marcus Mariota to a one-year, $5 million contract. That’s $1.5 million more than departed No. 2 Gardner Minshew received from the Colts, but Mariota also has 40 more career starts and 21 more wins.

Minshew is 2½ years younger, but the 29-year-old Mariota is a dual threat, which should make him a better fit for a Hurts-influenced offense that utilizes a plus-one quarterback. Depending upon how the Eagles feel about Ian Book as a developmental third-stringer, they could add a rookie either late in the draft or in free agency.

Roseman is clearly not finished adding pieces at this position. But the Eagles are currently without a proven replacement for Miles Sanders as the lead tailback. Rashaad Penny, who inked a one-year, $1.35 million contract, has those capabilities.

But the 27-year-old is coming off his second season-ending leg injury — a broken fibula after a torn ACL — and has played in only 38 of a possible 66 games in his career. He’s a low-risk, high-reward signing, but the Eagles will need more assurances.

Sanders didn’t exactly break the bank. He went to the Panthers for four years, $25.4 million and $13 million guaranteed. But the Eagles aren’t going to give that kind of cash to a running back, especially one who petered out in the postseason.

The offensive line and Hurts are more instrumental to the offensive success on the ground and there should be talented prospects in the latter rounds of the draft.

Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott — who re-signed for one-year, $2 million — picked up some of the slack down the stretch, but neither is ideally suited to a No. 1 spot that requires strength and durability.

As expected, there was little movement at receiver. Quez Watkins has been mentioned by outsiders as a possible trade commodity after his 2022 regression. The slot’s production decreased, but lower numbers were expected after the addition of Brown.

The bigger concern was how he seemingly allowed fewer targets to affect him mentally; he admitted to as much as after the season. Still, despite the costly errors, Watkins is a skilled third receiver and won’t cost the Eagles much playing in the final year of his sixth-round rookie contract.

The Eagles lost their other inside receiver when Zach Pascal left for the Cardinals on a two-year deal. They will have to replace his leadership in the receiver room and his enforcer role on the field, but there should be cheaper veteran options the more the offseason drags on.

Tyree Jackson is the only tight end the Eagles have a pressing decision to make on, but as an exclusive-rights free agent, they retain his rights if they choose to offer him a one-year deal. It’s possible they simply allow the former quarterback project to walk after two injury-marred seasons.

Otherwise, the Eagles return their cast of top three, the only possible movement being Grant Calcaterra’s promotion into the No. 2 spot.

It’s hard to find fault with the Eagles’ decisions to not match free agent contracts signed by starting right guard Isaac Seumalo (three years, $24 million) and reserve offensive lineman Andre Dillard (three years, $29 million).

It was likely easier to part with the latter even though he was a former first-rounder. Dillard wasn’t a bust, per se, but his days were numbered once Jordan Mailata beat him out for the left tackle job.

Seumalo was probably a tougher pill to swallow after he had arguably the best season of his career. But he’ll be 30, has had his share of injuries and the Eagles have Cam Jurgens in the barn with center Jason Kelce holding off retirement for another season.

Moving Jurgens from center to guard isn’t guaranteed to work, but it’s time to get a return on the second-round investment. Kelce, meanwhile, will cost the Eagles $14.25 million. That’s a lot of coin, but he’s still among the best centers in the NFL and invaluable off the field.

The same could be said for right tackle Lane Johnson, whom the Eagles extended for one more year through 2026. The team gets some cap relief as a result and the All-Pro has his contract guaranteed for the next two seasons.

Javon Hargrave was probably the free agent most affected by the Eagles’ cap constraints. He may be 30 by the season opener, but he was a game changer at a priority position who did everything the team asked for three seasons with nary a complaint.

But the 49ers gave Hargrave a four-year, $84 million contract with $40 million guaranteed, making him one of the few to really cash in on the open market. His exit likely played a part in Fletcher Cox’s return.

The veteran had an offer from the New York Jets that would have paid him more than Roseman ultimately gave Cox. He signed for a reported one year at $10 million, but that monetary figure is likely doing a lot of work for what he could end ultimately earning.

The Eagles avoided losing both of their starting interior lineman. Cox was more effective and less of a distraction than he was in 2021. But he just doesn’t command the attention he once did, and with Hargrave gone, could struggle even more. That is, unless youngsters Jordan Davis and Milton Williams start to deliver returns on high draft picks.

The Eagles may bring in another vet. They signed Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph off the street last November, but both remain unsigned, assuming neither plans on retiring for good. And don’t rule out Roseman using a first-rounder on a defensive tackle for the second draft in a row.

The Eagles are always going to invest in edge rushers, so it came of little surprise that Brandon Graham was brought back for another go-around even though it will be for a 14th season. He accepted a reserve role coming off a torn Achilles injury last season and still managed to achieve a career high in sacks with 11.

Like Kelce, Graham is a culture-setter and leads a room that has a mix of old, middle-aged, and young. That doesn’t mean Roseman won’t address the position through the draft and expend a top pick on a complementary piece to Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat and company.

One thing is certain: The Eagles won’t be bringing back Robert Quinn, for whom they forfeited a fourth-round pick before the trade deadline.

With seven starters on defense slated for free agency, Roseman prioritized the defensive line and cornerbacks over the middle of the field. Linebackers T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White were collateral damage by this thinking.

They got pay increases. Edwards signed a three-year, $19.5 million deal with the Bears and White signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the Cardinals. But their per-year salaries rank somewhere in the middle of the NFL at an undervalued position.

The Eagles have Nakobe Dean waiting in the wings for either middle or weak-side linebacker spot. Nicholas Morrow, whom the Eagles landed with a one-year, veteran minimum deal, is the early candidate to start opposite Dean.

He had a solid 2022 after missing all of the season following ankle surgery. But the Eagles currently have more questions than answers at off-ball linebacker.

The biggest development of the offseason so far may be that both starting cornerbacks remain on the roster. The Eagles couldn’t have possibly kept Pro Bowlers Darius Slay and James Bradberry, especially with the former’s remaining contract and the latter’s free agency, could they?

Well, they did even though it took a rocky road to get there. Slay initially wasn’t willing to restructure his contract that had around a $26 million cap charge for 2023. The Eagles, as a result, gave him permission to seek a trade, and when it was clear the market for the 32-year-old was rather dry, they were set to release him.

Bradberry, in the meantime, returned on a three-year deal for $38 million with $20 million guaranteed. Slay rethought his position, the Eagles theirs, and they were able to agree to a restructure that gave the corner another year with guaranteed money, while the team got its cap space.

Bradberry and Slay are essentially making $10 million each over the next two years — manageable figures considering their effectiveness last season. But can they maintain their levels of play at an advanced stage in their careers? It’s a fair question.

Greedy Williams was another of Roseman’s bargain-basement signings. The former second-rounder fell short of expectations with the Browns, but he’s only 25 and maybe a new environment will allow him to tap into his full potential.

Roseman’s most controversial move may have been his reluctance to meet or beat the one-year, $6.5 million contract the Lions gave C.J. Gardner-Johnson. The Eagles did have a multi-year deal on the table at the start of free agency – one that would have awarded him more guaranteed money – but he was hoping for more.

Gardner-Johnson — or his agent — may have misjudged his worth or been unaware of how teams around the league viewed the instinctive, trash-talking safety. But is he half the player fellow free agent safety Jessie Bates is – at least based on the per-year average they received?

On the surface, the Eagles missed a chance to get a high commodity at low cost considering the prove-it deal Gardner-Johnson was forced to take. But the waters must have been sullied between the parties and they opted to move on.

Marcus Epps also left. He signed a two-year, $12 million contract with the Raiders. The Eagles were occasionally leaky in the middle and back end of their coverages. But they may have to completely replace the starting twosome with new faces.

Free agent addition Terrell Edmunds has a better shot at winning a top job than Justin Evans, who appears to be more of a depth signing. Can the Eagles trust Reed Blankenship to step into the other spot? He flashed at times when pressed into duty, but hardly enough to just hand him the job.

The Eagles are likely to bring in a new punter this offseason. Arryn Siposs is under contract, but his errant boot in the Super Bowl was only the most costly of his many shaky moments the last two seasons. Veteran free agent Brett Kern, who was signed in December when Siposs suffered an ankle injury, was somehow worse.