After four full days, almost all of the big free agents are gone. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, given that this was a bad free agency class. So if there were a year that the Philadelphia Eagles waited to sign guys, this would be that year. The last thing you want to do the year before you sign Jalen Carter is pay top-tier money for middle-tier players.
Unfortunately, that also means that if they’re going to dip into the free-agent market, they need to act fast. There are only a handful of guys left who are worth throwing money at.
The free agent market of playable players is drying up fast
In the past couple of days, the Eagles have added a few guys: guard Kenyon Green, the Quad God running back AJ Dillon, edge rusher Josh Uche, tight end Harrison Bryant, and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson.
That’s a move in the right direction, but other than Harrison Bryant (and maybe AJ Dillon), none of those guys move the needle. It seems like their addition is just so they force training camp competitions rather than actually filling holes in the roster.
The biggest holes on the roster are significant: right guard and edge rusher. It’d be cool if they nabbed a free agent at those spots, so they didn’t have to rely on the draft. Aside from Jalen Carter, it takes a year or two for defensive linemen to be effective, and it’d be cool if an offensive lineman had a year to develop before he had to play.
Other than that, the Eagles have done a good job drafting dudes who can play at corner, safety, and linebacker. They’re not as good as the guys that they’ll be replacing from last year, but players get better with more reps.
Let’s take a look at players who are still available on the market who could either be starters or better competition in training camp battles.
Azeez Ojulari, EDGE:
Azeez Ojulari isn’t a great football player or anything like that, but he’s good, and it’s a little weird that he’s still available. He’s had injuries with his toe, ankle, calf, and quad that have caused him to miss a whole bunch of time in his four seasons with the Giants.
He’s only played in 45 of a potential 68 games in his career, but when he’s played, it’s been impressive. He only played in 11 games in 2024, and in those 11 games, he had six sacks, 10 QB hits, and a 12.2% pressure rate. That’s pretty good.
At this point, the Eagles need to make a swing on a player that has that kind of upside, especially since they signed Josh Uche, and they can still draft an edge rusher too. He probably won’t cost that much, and if he hits, he’ll hit big time.
Mekhi Becton, Right guard:
It’s very easy to say, ‘What are we doing? Just bring Mekhi Becton back,’ and I’ve said that pretty much every single time news comes across my timeline that another guard gets signed by a team. It’s something you say that’s purely out of passion and a little bit of frustration.
It’s important to remember that the market for offensive linemen is absolutely bonkers this year. That means it’s super easy to overpay for any one of these guys. There’s a sweet spot that the Eagles can hit with Mekhi Becton, where his price would be manageable, and it would happen before another needy team throws an irresponsible amount of money at him.
There’s a thought that getting Kenyon Green from the Texans in the C.J.G.J. trade means that the Eagles are okay with moving on from Becton. That may be true, but here’s a counterpoint: Kenyon Green is really bad.
Sure, Jeff Stoutland turned Mekhi Becton from a chump into a champ, but Green is much, much worse than Becton was coming in. Assuming that Green can be developed into a playable right guard is a stretch, and a team with a quarterback worth $250 million shouldn’t rely on that kind of a stretch.
The other thing that will help the Eagles with signing Mekhi Becton is that he wants to be an Eagle, and it sounds like he’s not going to sign with another team until he sees if the Eagles will match what he’s been offered.
Howie Roseman has an opportunity to get his offensive line set, draft Lane Johnson’s replacement, and get that replacement developed before he’s needed. The first step is getting the right guard, and unless some foolish team comes from left field with an insane offer, the Eagles should be able to bring Becton back.
Justin Simmons, Safety:
If the Eagles aren’t confident with handing the starting safety spot over to Sydney Brown or Lewis Cine, and they want to get a free agent to fight for the spot, then Justin Simmons is who they should target.
Simmons is 31 years old and entering his tenth season in the NFL. He spent nine of those seasons in Denver, and three of those Denver seasons with Vic Fangio. In two of those seasons, he was an All-Pro.
Those seasons were in 2019 and 2021, so it’s been a hot minute, but he’s still a good player, and he’s clearly comfortable in the Fangio defense. There probably aren’t many teams that are super interested in Simmons at this point, which should make him cheaper for the Eagles.
Asante Samuel Jr., Cornerback:
Asante Samuel Jr. is another case of ‘what’s wrong with this guy, and why is he still available?’ Except with Samuel, the answer probably has something to do with his shoulder.
He went on IR during the Chargers’ bye week in Week 4 last season and never came off. Then, later on, he started saying some things about how his shoulder got worse in practice, and he had some nerve problems. It all sounds gnarly and messy.
I imagine teams are waiting to see his medical evaluations before they sign him. On Thursday, Samuel visited the Cardinals in Arizona, and you’d have to imagine a part of that visit was a trip to the MRI lab.
This all matters for the Eagles because they’ve made it clear that they’re not going to spend big money on free agents. If you take the medical part out of it, Asante Samuel Jr. can be worth big money. A team is going to get a big discount because of the medical side of things, though.
It wouldn’t be the weirdest thing in the world if the Eagles signed a guy who was injured if the price is right. James Bradberry (whose situation was different) spent the entire season on the IR last year.
If the Cardinals let Asante Samuel Jr. walk out the door, his price is probably going to drop, which is a good thing for Howie Roseman. Getting a guy with a high upside for less money is always a good thing.
Kyzir White, Linebacker:
The Eagles need depth at linebacker. Nakobe Dean hurt his patellar tendon in the postseason, so that means he’s going to miss most of, if not the entire, 2025 season. Then they lost Oren Burks in free agency.
That leaves just Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Ben VanSumeren to play alongside Zack Baun. You’d like to see that be a list of guys rather than just a pair of fellas.
Kyzir White played really well with the Eagles in 2022 before he left to go to Arizona, where he’s been with Jonathan Gannon for the past two seasons. This means that he’s been in a Fangio defense (albeit a bastardized version of it) for three straight years. If he still has some juice left going into his eighth season in the NFL, it’d be fun to see what a talented guy can do in the real thing.