In less than two weeks, on March 16, the Eagles will be able to contact the agents of soon-to-be free agents.
It continues to look like cornerback Byron Jones will be their top priority, as multiple reports have linked the Eagles to the Dallas Cowboys' cornerback. Another team from the NFC East, however, could get in on the bidding war.
Tony Pauline of the ProFootballNetwork writes:
Throughout the week of the NFL Combine, everything I heard pointed to the Philadelphia Eagles being the favorite for CB Byron Jones. Then late in the weekend, someone told me to "expect the Eagles and New York Giants to get into a bidding war for Jones." As I reported last week – Jones is going to make a lot of money and he'll be able to pick the team he wants to play for.
Jones, 27, spent his first five NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys after being the franchise's 27th overall pick in 2015 out of Connecticut. The 2018 Pro Bowl corner and second-team All-Pro member has two intercpetions and three forced fumbles in his career, switching back and forth between safety and corner throughout his time in the NFL.
Just how bad the Eagles want Jones will become clear if the Giants do indeed come calling. If the Eagles believe Jones is the missing piece in their secondary, watching him sign with another team -- let alone a division rival -- would be a potentially devastating blow to their offseason plan. It is possible that Jones' camp could be using the Giants as leverage against the Eagles, but the Giants have more cap space and arguably a bigger need in the secondary than the Eagles do, so the idea of them signing him isn't crazy.
The need for Jones is obvious for the Eagles. Not only do they need help at cornerback, but they might need help at safety with the potential of both Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod not being back next season. In fact, add in that Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby are also free agents, and there is a chance the Eagles could have four new starters in the secondary next season.
That reality makes the position versatility of Jones even more intriguing and explains why the team would be so high on bringing him in.
"They're gonna be the first team up when they're allowed to talk to the agents," Caplan said on the latest episode of his podcast Inside The Birds. "The term is, they'll be all-in, whatever you want to call it."
Caplan mentioned that Jones' price could be something like $17 million per season, which is in line with what others have projected Jones to get.
"When you're having what we call having an A-level free-agent, you might have six to eight teams in," Caplan added. "And then when teams find out what he wants—all you can really do at this point, because you can't talk money and you can't tamper, you can only let agents know, 'Hey when we're allowed to we want to talk to you.' They can figure out who it is. So, make a long story short, I would say that deal when it comes in could hit 17 million a year."
The Eagles are currently projected to have around $40-44 million in salary cap space, more than enough room to not only sign Jones but to also make other big-time signings as well.
You can follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
