38

[deerpathdave]

So kind of curious where the roster sits in terms of commitments heading into OTAs. The first question is who has essentially made the team? These are players that the team has made a financial commitment to and are very unlikely to be cut.

WR (5). Matthews, Agholor, Huff, Miles, Cooper
RB (3). Murray, Mathews, Sproles
QB (2) Bardford, Sanchez
OL (5) Peters, Johnson, Kelce, Mathis, Barbre
TE (2) Celek, Ertz

DL (4) Cox, Logan, Thorton, Curry
OLB (3) Barwin, Smith II, Graham
ILB (5) Kendricks, Alonso, Ryans, Hicks, Jones
S (3) Jenkins, Maragos, Watkins
CB (3) Maxwell, Rowe, Thurmond

Specialists (3) Jones, Parkey, Dorenbos

That leaves 15 "Open" spots

WR (1). Truly open competition
OL (3). Thinking Tobin and Gardner are likely on the team, leaving one spot.
QB (1). For some combination of Kinne, Barkely and Tebow. Truly open.
TE(1) . Surprised in Burton does not return.
RB (1). This spot could go to just about any position if a RB does not shine.

DL (2) Surprised if Allen does not return. I think the other spot is truly open between Hart, Bair, and Mihalik
OLB (2) Expecting Braman back for special teams and Long back from injury.
ILB (0). Wouldn't be surprised at a trade or some guys playing outside a little.
S (1). Reynolds, Prosinski, Couplin and Wolff provide for the most spirited competition on the team as the winner could start and the lower could be out of a job.
CB (3) Good opportunity for the late draft picks to win a job. Shepherd, Carroll, Boykin, Biggers and Evans competing.

90 men in camp. 38 given jobs leaves 52 men fighting for 15 jobs. 47 for 10 if you count the likelies. Of course 8-10 of those could be practice squad or IR as well.

 

[deerpathdave]

So now let's lay out the battles...Keep in mind there is also 10 practice squad players available, and that players 46-53 are not active on game day. So spots 46-53 tend to be guys that are too good to expose, but not good enough to play. Marcus Smith is the typical example.

WR. One spot available for Seyi, Pratt, Maehl, Harris and Davis. You may also consider Kinne/Tebow in this mix as the last WR spot will generally go to a guy that contributes on special teams.
OL. One spot available for Kelly, Molk, Vandervelde, Boyko, Bunche, Coccia, Graf and Manhart. This spot needs to go to a guy that can play center, so its down to Molk, Vandervelde and Coccia. The others will likely be practice squad. No reason to waste a roster spot on an UDFA OL.
RB. One Spot that will probably by mostly a special team slot, so Kinne, Tebow, Barner, Tucker and Mostert will all be in the mix here.
QB. It will be too tempting to Kelly, to go with a guy that can contribute on special teams here, so I think Barkley is gone, and it will be Tebow. If Tebow makes it, you figure Kinne would not as you figure Tebow is the better QB of the two.
TE. Burton should return, any other TE is practice squad material.

DL. Count Allen in. Look for Mihalik to be Practice Squad and Hart and Bair will battle for the last spot.
OLB. I am expecting Smith and Long to be the Backups.
ILB. Too bad that Najee Goode gets caught up in the numbers.
S. Best camp battle. Really have no idea how this goes.
C. I am figuring Shepherd, Carroll and Evans should all have a good shot. Boykin could be squeezed out.

 

[djm]

I really hope they want to keep Boykin. I know his snaps may have been reduced but he is a good player and a great Special Teams player.

 

[deerpathdave]

Nothing against Boykin. He is a good player, but I kind of hope that the young players they drafted beat him out of a job. Training Camp can be a great competition for these guys, and its a good sign for the organization if they were successful in finding defensive backs that are good enough to supplant a guy like Boykin. It makes the team younger and better if these guys can legitimately beat out Boykin.

 

[Wings]

2 WR spots are gonna be up for Grabs, because the Eagles are not gonna pay Cooper that kind of paper to be a number 4 WR. He gone!

 

[deerpathdave]

2 WR spots are gonna be up for Grabs, because the Eagles are not gonna pay Cooper that kind of paper to be a number 4 WR. He gone!

$3M of Cooper's $4M 2015 Salary is fully guaranteed. Cooper's cap number is $4.8M and $6.2M if he is cut as the remainder of his signing bonus rolls forward. At those numbers, you keep Cooper as a number 4 receiver. You're only saving $1M in salary by cutting him which is only $175K more than you would pay Seyi. They may very well cut Cooper, but it won't be to save money.

 

[Wings]

$3M of Cooper's $4M 2015 Salary is fully guaranteed. Cooper's cap number is $4.8M and $6.2M if he is cut as the remainder of his signing bonus rolls forward. At those numbers, you keep Cooper as a number 4 receiver. You're only saving $1M in salary by cutting him which is only $175K more than you would pay Seyi. They may very well cut Cooper, but it won't be to save money.

A million bucks is a million bucks. I think he gets cut.

 

[old duke]

Doubt if they can trade him for even a 7th round pick, with that salary, but you never know. If not, then cut him. I agree that we need to revamp the position. Matthews, Agholor, Huff, and 2 UDFA's - Harris and Davis.

 

[deerpathdave]

The million bucks is really only about 175k. That is the delta to what they may pay the next guy up. If Cooper is considered one of the top 6 in August he will make the team. Money won't play into it.

 

[deerpathdave]

And the thing with the udfas is they can probably stash them on the practice squad. The decision on final 53 is an active roll on the team and or too valuable to expose and or a great contract value. That gives a little edge to a 53 man roster spot to late round draft picks and special teams contribution. the udfas can probably be stashed on the practice squad.

 

[Rey]

I highly doubt Cooper gets cut if money isn't an issue. He's a bad #2, a middle of the pack #3, a solid #4 and a very good #5.

FS will be a position to watch ...

 

[deerpathdave]

With both Boykin and Cooper, I think the reaction I am seeing here is an emotional one based on what they have seen them do on the field.

From a football perspective, I like having guys like this competing in training camp. These guys are both essentially on one year deals and their pay next year will be highly dependent on their production this year. Add to that, that they both clearly have some skills as well as something to prove. They are fringe starters trying to earn another payday.

Really, I could care less whether they are the winners or the losers in these training camp battles as long as at the end of the day, whoever is playing is playing well. What you don't want is to have guys handed their jobs or lose their jobs based on their paycheck. Let it play out on the field and may the best man win.

 

[eaglesnut]

Some team would be pretty lucky if we cut Boykin. I could see him traded if we really want to fit some more young guys onto the roster.

The secondary is wide open. I liked Watkins as a prospect, but his job seems as up for grabs as anyone's. They didn't even try to use him last year.

I agree that we'll keep some OL depth on the PS.

If they liked Barkley, I don't think they bring in Tebow. Ginne's 3rd on that chart and Tebow is 4th going into camp. Pretty wide open there.

 

[deerpathdave]

Watkins is probably the iffiest guy I put in the 38. He was a 4th round pick that got a half a million signing bonus just last year. So why consider this committed, but not a 5th rounder? Taylor Hart got a $200K signing bonus last year as a 5th rounder. Its reasonable to consider the 4th rounders to be financially committed, but not the 5th rounders.

 

[deerpathdave]

My pre camp projection. Bubble guys are in Bold. Game Day Inactives are in underlined

WR (6). Matthews, Agholor, Huff, Miles, Cooper, Seyi (ST)
RB (3). Murray, Mathews, Sproles
QB (3) Bradford, Sanchez, Tebow (Because he can do read option and Barkley sucks, and he is not practice squad eligible)
OL (7) Peters, Johnson, Kelce, Barbre, Tobin, Gardner, Molk (I think only 7 on the 53 man roster and the remainder will be on the practice squad).
TE (3) Celek, Ertz, Burton
Jack of all Trades (1) Kinne

DL (7) Cox, Logan, Thorton, Curry, Allen, Hart, Bair
OLB (5) Barwin, Smith II, Graham, Bramam, Long
ILB (6) Kendricks, Alonso, Ryans, Hicks, Jones, Goode
S (3) Jenkins, Thurmond, Maragos
CB (6) Maxwell, Carroll, Rowe, Shepherd, Boykins, Watkins

Specialists (3) Jones, Parkey, Dorenbos

Practice Squad
Mihalik
Reynolds, Evans, Prosinski
Graf, Boyko, Manhart, Coccia (rounding out the OL crew. These guys have no guarantee or pedigree so its safe to go light and leave them on the practice squad).
Tucker
Devante Davis

Guys with a legit shot to make the team. (But not listed on the practice squad)
Barkley
Vandervelde
Kelly
Andrews
Couplin
Wolff

 

[deerpathdave]

Should have marked Najeh Goode as a Bubble as well. That would make 9 jobs on the 53 as being open for competition. Realistically most of the other 20 guys not listed here are competing for Practice Squad spots.

Really we have:
- a #3 QB competition going on.
- an offensive line competition going on for spots 5-9 (with the last couple of spots likely practice squad because of contract)
- A DL competition between Hart and Bair
- An OLB competition between Smith II and Long and Bramam
- A wide open DB competition for the last 3-4 roster spots.
- A spot or two that will go to a player based almost entirely on Special Teams play.

 

[eaglesnut]

That's too many linebackers.

Wolff has almost no shot. Especially with all the new talent back there.

I don't think Beau Allen has a secured spot. He's in the mix with Hart and Bair.

If Kinne stays (I think he does) it'll be hard for Seyi to make the team. That's too many WRs. But he'll probably get picked back up when Austin tweaks a leg.

Interested to see how the Safeties shake out. I think you gotta keep a 4th. I'd give Prosinski the early lead.

 

[old duke]

I disagree with Beau, as he's the only backup to Logan, isn't he? We need 2 NT's.

 

[deerpathdave]

I agree its too many LBs. Just not sure how they would cut Braman, Goode, or Jones? Its all really a special Teams question as well as whether you view the roster as 46, 53, or 63? If you view it as a 63 man roster, you want to keep the players on the 53 who (1) are not eligible for practice squad, and (2) have favorable contracts and (3) would get snatched up by other teams. The Linebackers meet that criteria where the backup RB, TE and OL may not.

The Special Teams question is also a big driver as that gets you on the 46 whether your contract is an issue or not. Goode, Braman, Kinne, Jones, Burton, Maragos, Prosinski, Long & Couplin will probably make or not make this team based on special teams.

 

[old duke]

I think Braman, Maragos, and Prozinski make it. They are ST dynamos. I don't see Kinne making it at all.