It’s one thing to get to a Super Bowl, but to get there and dominate the first half only to lose the way the Philadelphia Eagles eventually did is a tough pill to swallow. But it can also be motivation for an Eagles team with a lot of solid pieces on both the offensive and defensive sides of the football to get back and win it all. It’s not going to be easy for them though, they have quite a few players heading into free agency that were key contributors on both sides of the football.
They’ve also lost both their offensive and defensive coordinators and will need to replace them quickly in order to install any new schemes the new coordinators want to run. General Manager Howie Roseman has his work cut out for him this offseason but if there was any general manager you can picture figuring out this situation it would be Roseman. So let’s take a look at five moves this team can make in the offseason that will help get them back to the Super Bowl and possibly win this time around.
5 moves the Philadelphia Eagles can make to win Super Bowl LVIII
Use A First Round Pick On A Cornerback
The Eagles’ pass rush really helped boost the credibility of their secondary, but in the Super Bowl once that pass rush was taken out of the equation the glaring weakness at cornerback was exposed. In the regular season, both Darius Slay and James Bradberry had high grades when dropping back into coverage, with Slay grading out at 77.4 and Bradberry at 80.2 according to Pro Football Focus. When you have a pass rush that’s able to harass the opposing quarterback and force poor throws things were a lot easier for these cornerbacks.
https://twitter.com/NFLonCBS/status/1624882486852349957
Once they started facing better offensive lines though the Eagles’ cornerbacks’ grades fell drastically with Slay falling to 65.1 and Bradberry falling to 53.3 in the postseason according to Pro Football Focus. Those drops show that this Eagles’ secondary is in need of young talent to lead them into the future. Roseman needs to prioritize taking one of these top cornerbacks in the 2023 draft in order to lay the foundation for the future at the position for this team instead of relying on veterans to hold up against younger and faster wide receivers every year.
Find A Quality Offensive Coordinator
This offense under former offensive coordinator Shane Steichen was clicking on all cylinders during his tenure with the team but now that he’s gone the Eagles are going to need a quality play caller to come in and guide this offense. Head coach Nick Sirianni’s coaching tree isn’t as robust as many of the other coaches around the league so he can’t call a friend or former co-worker to help him, instead, it will fall to Roseman to convince a coordinator to come and work with this offense. An offense with a quarterback that played a great season but has some limitations in the way you can play him.
Eagles’ QB coach Brian Johnson, one of the NFL's most sought-after assistant coaches, who has received multiple requests to interview for offensive coordinator positions, would be expected to replace Shane Steichen as Philadelphia’s OC.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 12, 2023
One person they should try and steal would be Eric Bieniemy who is currently meeting with the Washington Commanders. He has worked with a mobile quarterback and knows exactly how to put him in the right position to make plays. The move would also stop him from going to the Commanders and taking a future head coach from the team that just beat you in the Super Bowl. It would be a win-win for both sides, the Eagles get one of the best offensive coordinators in the league and Bieniemy would go to a team with weapons and talent to help him finally get that head coaching job he’s been waiting for.
Draft A Dual-Threat Running Back
The Eagles running game in 2023 was one of the best in the NFL thanks to the combined efforts of quarterback Jalen Hurts, Miles Sanders, and Kenneth Gainwell. Hurts and Gainwell will be with the team next season but the same can’t be said for Sanders who is becoming a free agent at a position the Eagles don’t normally like to pay players big-money contracts at. The production that Sanders was able to give the Eagles will be hard to reproduce but thankfully for the Eagles, the 2023 NFL Draft is littered with running backs that can come in and help this offense.
Pro Football Focus has the Broncos signing running back Miles Sanders this offseason https://t.co/afBRw0p8FV
— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) February 16, 2023
Their best plan of attack to fix this situation would be to let Sanders walk in order to get a compensatory pick in the 2024 draft and take a running back in either the third or fourth round of this year’s draft with the ability to be a dual-threat for this offense much like Sanders has been. Find someone like that and this offense shouldn’t lose production at the running back position, if they don’t and decide to pay Sanders they could be setting themselves up for failure much like the Cowboys did with Ezekiel Elliott.
Sign A Quality Backup Quarterback
If the 2023 season taught us anything it’s that the Eagles really need to find themselves a quality backup for Jalen Hurts. When he went down with that shoulder injury and Gardner Minshew stepped in, the offense just wasn’t the same and each game he started ended with the Eagles losing. Luckily it didn’t affect the outcome of the NFC final standings but if Hurts had to rest that shoulder longer who knows how it could have turned out for this team heading into the playoffs?
6. Add a RB. Either through the draft or an affordable veteran. Miles Sanders is unlikely to return.
— The Birds Blitz (@TheBirdsBlitz) February 13, 2023
7. Upgrade WR3. Quez Watkins and Zach Pascal aren't going to cut it.
8. Figure out backup QB. Gardner Minshew is a FA and is unlikely to return.
This time around the Eagles need to make sure that they have a quarterback that can continue giving the Eagles an effective offense if their starting quarterback were to go down with another injury next season. The Cowboys faced a similar situation when Dak Prescott broke his thumb and with their backup quarterback, they went on to win all but one of those football games.
If you want to have a chance at making a run you have to assume your quarterback especially one the size of Hurts will get banged up at some point, and do you really think Minshew will be good enough to keep this offense rolling if re-signed? History at this point tells me, no, so go get another one.
Sign or Draft A Safety That Can Cover
The Eagles made a great move trading for CJ Gardner-Johnson last season, he was tied for first in interceptions in 2022 and played a key role in helping this defense on the back end. He’s now set to be a free agent and after the season he’s had, it will be very costly if they want to keep him. They also have to deal with Marcus Epps heading into free agency leaving the Eagles with a big possible hole in their defense going into the 2023 season.
#SBLVII
— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) February 13, 2023
KC running split-back power here (pin/pull). Get the ball on the perimeter with Pacheco.
Look at the play by Eagles safety CJ Gardner-Johnson, too.
Downhill speed (from depth). The angle. And the open field tackle. Great example of playing with urgency. pic.twitter.com/cgFaSFo3WA
The Eagles are going to need to either draft a young safety that can come in and help them or try and sign the cheaper option between Gardner-Johnson and Epps then look for another safety in free agency with the ability to man the middle of the field.
As we’ve seen in this league if teams see that you have a weakness at safety they will attack that position in a variety of ways hoping for the big play or drawing a penalty. The Eagles must make sure that they shore up these holes so that doesn’t happen.