Philadelphia Eagles need to stop resting on their laurels
The Philadelphia Eagles have yet to truly move on from their Super Bowl win.
Feb. 4, 2018 will forever go down as arguably the greatest day in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles franchise given the magnitude of the moment. A late-game strip-sack by Brandon Graham and a historic performance by Nick Foles in Super Bowl LII propelled into a 41-33 over Tom Brady and the Patriots.
That victory brought the Lombardi Trophy to the City of Brotherly Love for the very first time. Without a doubt, it was a celebration fit for a city that was starving for a championship. And yet that celebration has yet to conclude.
Following a 27-17 loss to Washington in Week 1 in which the Eagles gave up eight sacks, the realization had kicked in: the team still won’t let go of that night in Minneapolis.
Though there were several starters out due to injury against Washington, many others have left the team and, soon, a vast majority will follow due to poor drafting and the salary cap expecting to take a significant nosedive.
According to Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia, the Eagles are expected to have $257.59 million tied up towards player contracts next season. This does not include the other contracts that have yet to be taken care of, including newly acquired defensive back Darius Slay. When all said and done, the Eagles are expected to be close to $60 million over the cap.
With the league agreeing to a vote of a $175 million cap limit. One thing was clear, the Eagles had to get under the salary cap or face repercussions.
In other words, the Eagles are in a load of trouble and will have to face the harsh reality of saying goodbye to cornerstone players who took the field to Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares” on that magical night in Minneapolis.
Right now, 12 players are in the double digits in terms of their cap hit including franchise quarterback Carson Wentz, who spent the second half of that great 2017 season as a backup due to injury. Wentz’s projected cap is over $30 million.
NFL.com’s Kevin Patra wrote a story in which offensive tackle Lane Johnson made comments about the Patriots following Philadelphia’s victory.
"Not to be reckless, but I’d much rather have fun and win a Super Bowl than be miserable and win five Super Bowls. But hey, it is what it is.”"
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The Patriots now have six championships to their name. The Eagles have yet to come close to another trophy. As they say in sports, and in life, be careful what you wish for. In the case of Philadelphia, it’s time to move on.