The off-season always beings a mixture of emotion for fans no matter what team you root for. Reflection on what has transpired the year before, excitement over the prospects in the up coming Draft and perhaps a little anxiety as some of your favourite players could end up as free agents.
For a lot of Philadelphia fans, that was certainly the case as Wide Receiver's Riley Cooper and Jeremy Maclin joined Center Jason Kelce in free agency. Two of those players have been signed to an extension, ending the endless comments on various forms of social media begging for the stars to be penned back to Philly...well, they still won't stop entirely until Maclin signs an extension!
Riley Cooper was originally going to
start last season as the Birds number 3 receiver behind Maclin and DeSean Jackson, but his destiny took a swift detour as Maclin suffered from a torn ACL back in July. This opened the door for the University of Florida Star. And boy did he ever rock that door so hard it fell off its hinges by having his greatest season to date. His season truly picked up pace when Nick Foles took control of the offence.
Cooper was a consistent Big play target and he delivered more often than not. Averaging 18 yards per catch and ending the season with 835 total yards and eight touchdowns. In his previous seasons, he had never topped 23 catches or 315 yards so this was a very promising sign for Coach Chip Kelly to see how much the 26 year old has improved.
The former fifth round pick made it clear from the start that he wanted to stay in the city of brotherly love and those intentions were met with a 5 year deal worth $25M today! Most fans assumed that the team would keep one or the other, letting the unsigned receiver go into Free Agency but General Manager Howie Roseman didn't say no to the possibility of keeping both receivers.
However, it wasn't Maclin who was also signed today like many fans hoped it would be but a rather different prospect, Center Jason Kelce. The 6 year deal worth $37.5M was embraced with open arms by fans after the former sixth round pick had a fantastic season, adapting to the new Chip Kelly offence brilliantly and showing the new Coach why he is the perfect athletic Center for the new system. The man who has exploded onto the scene since his rookie debut in 2011 now has a deal that lands him within the top-5 centers in the NFL on an average per year basis.
So what next for the birds? Many fans are still hoping for the re-signing of Maclin before Free Agency begins on March 11th but according to numerous sources, both parties have not reached a deal that is within reach.
If there is one thing we can take from this, it's that with the Offensive line nearly complete, it leaves a lot of focus to be turned onto the other side of the Football. The Defensive side of things started to look up towards the end of last seasons campaign, but there is still a long way to go. With an Offence as strong as it already is and re-signing two top players to long term deals, it makes Coach Kelly's intentions for the 2014 draft seem very clear.
For a lot of Philadelphia fans, that was certainly the case as Wide Receiver's Riley Cooper and Jeremy Maclin joined Center Jason Kelce in free agency. Two of those players have been signed to an extension, ending the endless comments on various forms of social media begging for the stars to be penned back to Philly...well, they still won't stop entirely until Maclin signs an extension!Riley Cooper was originally going to
start last season as the Birds number 3 receiver behind Maclin and DeSean Jackson, but his destiny took a swift detour as Maclin suffered from a torn ACL back in July. This opened the door for the University of Florida Star. And boy did he ever rock that door so hard it fell off its hinges by having his greatest season to date. His season truly picked up pace when Nick Foles took control of the offence.
Cooper was a consistent Big play target and he delivered more often than not. Averaging 18 yards per catch and ending the season with 835 total yards and eight touchdowns. In his previous seasons, he had never topped 23 catches or 315 yards so this was a very promising sign for Coach Chip Kelly to see how much the 26 year old has improved.
The former fifth round pick made it clear from the start that he wanted to stay in the city of brotherly love and those intentions were met with a 5 year deal worth $25M today! Most fans assumed that the team would keep one or the other, letting the unsigned receiver go into Free Agency but General Manager Howie Roseman didn't say no to the possibility of keeping both receivers.
However, it wasn't Maclin who was also signed today like many fans hoped it would be but a rather different prospect, Center Jason Kelce. The 6 year deal worth $37.5M was embraced with open arms by fans after the former sixth round pick had a fantastic season, adapting to the new Chip Kelly offence brilliantly and showing the new Coach why he is the perfect athletic Center for the new system. The man who has exploded onto the scene since his rookie debut in 2011 now has a deal that lands him within the top-5 centers in the NFL on an average per year basis. So what next for the birds? Many fans are still hoping for the re-signing of Maclin before Free Agency begins on March 11th but according to numerous sources, both parties have not reached a deal that is within reach.
If there is one thing we can take from this, it's that with the Offensive line nearly complete, it leaves a lot of focus to be turned onto the other side of the Football. The Defensive side of things started to look up towards the end of last seasons campaign, but there is still a long way to go. With an Offence as strong as it already is and re-signing two top players to long term deals, it makes Coach Kelly's intentions for the 2014 draft seem very clear.
