ORLANDO, Fla. — Michael Bennett was the largest topic of conversation when de facto GM Howie Roseman held court on Monday afternoon at the lavish Ritz-Carlton Orlando during the NFL’s annual meetings (see story).
After that, it was probably Nick Foles (see story).
But there were a few other things Roseman talked about that were worth noting. Here they are:
Brandon Graham
He was asked if re-signing Brandon Graham is still a priority and Roseman again just said that Graham deserves more money, not that the Eagles are going to give it to him. This season, Graham is entering the final year of his contract that will pay him a base salary of $7 million.
“He’s been one of the most productive players at his position,” Roseman said. “He deserves whatever he can get. At the same time, we have a cap and we’re trying to fit everyone in. We’re trying to fit in as many good players. We went through this yesterday a little bit. We have a lot of players who are under contract, not just for 2018, but 2019, but when we get into the 2020s. And they’re good players and we want to keep as many of them around as possible and add players on top of it. That’s the puzzle we’re trying to figure out.”
Chris Long
Roseman confirmed Chris Long will be returning to the team in 2018. No surprise there, as Long has already signed a restructured contract for next season. But a report from NFL Network had Long thinking about his future and he probably was. But he’ll be back in 2018. The Eagles have Graham, Bennett, Fletcher Cox, Tim Jernigan, Haloti Ngata, Derek Barnett and Long in their defensive line rotation.
Not bad.
NFL
“Chris is a hugely important part of our team,” Roseman said. “I think sometimes there’s this perception that Chris is a hugely important part of the team because of what he does off the field. And that is a big part of Chris Long. He’s an unbelievable teammate, but Chris Long is really productive.”
The cornerbacks
After the Eagles brought in Barnett, Ngata and Mike Wallace this offseason, Daryl Worley is somewhat of a forgotten name. Worley is still just 23 and comes from Carolina where he was a starting corner. Roseman said the Eagles were interested in Worley during the draft a couple years ago and might have taken him with their next pick in the third round. Worley went two spots ahead of Isaac Seumalo.
But Worley is now in a group that includes Jalen Mills, Ronald Darby, Rasul Douglas and Sidney Jones. How is this all going to work out?
“I think that’s to be determined,” Roseman said. “We have a bunch of young players at the cornerback position, which is really exciting. And what the roles will be, we have enough time to figure that out.”
Mychal Kendricks
Nothing new on Mychal Kendricks. He and his $7.6 million cap hit are still on the Eagles’ roster. He hasn’t been traded.
“Well, Mychal Kendricks is under contract,” Roseman said. “He played well for us last year. These are questions I feel like we go into every year with Mychal Kendricks. So nothing’s changed in regard to Mychal’s status.”