NFL Tickets
The Philadelphia Eagles are bound to have an interesting offseason. Most of it is going to involve Sam Bradford and how well they’re able to keep their free agents from hitting the market. In another month or two the mood is going to shift towards the draft and who at No. 13 would make the best pick. There will be plenty of time to dissect all that, especially the first-round pick.
So instead I’m looking deeper into the draft pool, particularly because Chip Kelly torched their second-rounder. So far, the best late-round target is a guy named Wendell Smallwood, a running back from West Virginia University that the Eagles should be very locked in on.
Smallwood, listed at 5-feet 11-inches and 202 pounds, is probably the best candidate to replace Darren Sproles. His time at WVU was spent primarily as a rusher and he did very well, but he also was a force as a receiver. This past season Smallwood went off for close to 1,700 total yards and nine touchdowns — pretty solid production.
But Sproles is still really good, right? Yes, he is. He’s still going to be a mismatch nightmare for defenses next year, and one the Eagles need to work into the offense as long as he’s here. But here’s the catch: Sproles makes $4.5 million next year and the Eagles can save $3.5 by cutting him. Then after next year, Sproles is a free agent. Not only that, he’s a 33-year-old free agent. In all likelihood his next contract will probably be his last, so I can’t imagine he’d be readily prepared to take a bare-bones deal.
Is Sproles $4.5 million good? Can Smallwood (or whoever else) be an immediate replacement for Sproles this year? Those two questions are going to be ones the Eagles have to answer now. It’s going to be a given that Smallwood’s contract will be much cheaper than Sproles, especially when you consider that right now Smallwood is ranked as a sixth-round prospect. He projects to do for peanuts what Sproles does now for millions.
No matter what those answers are or when they come into play, I think it would be smart to have that replacement option on the books as soon as possible. Unless something crazy winds up happening on draft day, I don’t think there’s going to be a better choice than Smallwood. A sixth-round pick is a small price to pay, and it’s price I’m convinced the Eagles need to pay.
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