Actions speak louder than words.
So while everyone — Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman, Nick Sirianni — has said multiple times that the Eagles are committed to Jalen Hurts, more-and-more keeps leaking out about the homework the team is doing on the quarterbacks in the 2022 NFL Draft.
The latest piece of news is that the team called Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze for a long discussion about quarterback Malik Willis.”
“Philadelphia has called here recently,” Freeze said on the Rich Eisen Show. “I talked to them a lot last night.”
Freeze did not speak to Roseman or Sirianni, but he did make it clear the team is interested in Willis.
“I talked to Coach (Joe) Pannunzio last night. I think he is in their personnel. We go back from our days in SEC together,” Freeze said. “He was definitely calling on behalf of them with some more conversation.”
It seems Freeze means assistant special teams coordinator Joe Pannunzio, who was in personnel recently before moving over to coaching last offseason. Freeze listed Carolina, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and the Seahawks as teams he has spent the most time with and said he has no idea where Willis will end up.
The timing of the Eagles checking in on Willis is noteworthy. Freeze was on the Rich Eisen show on Wednesday and said he spoke to the Eagles on Tuesday. That means the homework the team is doing on Willis came after their trade with the New Orleans Saints, a move that seemed to indicate they were planning on finding their quarterback next offseason.
The news of the Eagles checking in on Willis also comes on the heels of Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral saying he has a Top 30 visit planned to Philadelphia.
So what should be made of the Eagles calling to check in on Liberty?
It could mean a few things.
If you want to believe the team won’t be drafting a quarterback, the call could be the Eagles sending one of Freeze’s old friends to try to get intel on where Willis will be drafted. Knowing where Willis will go helps the Eagles build out their draft board and prepare for who they think will be available when they go on the clock at No. 15 overall. If Freeze and Pannunzio are close, the team might feel Pannunzio has the best chance of getting the best information from Freeze.
It could also very likely mean, however, that the team is preparing for the possibility off taking Willis.
Where Willis will be drafted is one of the biggest mysteries in the 2022 NFL Draft. Some have him going as high as No. 2 to the Detroit Lions. Some feel he will fall to No. 20 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Eagles have been rumored to really like Willis, with Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reporting that he heard prior to the team’s trade with the New Orleans Saints that they had interest in Willis.
The Eagles could be entering draft night thinking they have no shot at Willis, but in the event he does fall to 15, want to be prepared with as much information as possible. The Eagles have been burned in the past with top prospects falling to them and not being completely prepared. In 2019 offensive tackle Andre Dillard fell to them, and while they had done some homework on him, it seems they weren’t as informed as they could be considering he was never expected to fall that far.
Add in the news of Corral visiting, however, and it is starting to get harder to ignore the possibility that a quarterback is in play for the Eagles.
It might not be likely, but if Willis falls or Corral wows them in their visit, it seems the Eagles are indeed open to taking a quarterback.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com