The Philadelphia Eagles won the NFC East and made the playoffs this season in the first year under head coach Chip Kelly and while the team showed great improvement by winning 10 games, there are plenty of questions for the roster heading into the offseason, especially at the wide receiver position, as DeSean Jackson wants a new deal and someone among Riley Cooper, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant and Arrelious Benn may have to go.
According to Pro Football Talk, wide receiver DeSean Jackson is asking for a new contract despite the fact that he has three years left on his deal and it comes just two years after he signed a five year contract with the team. Jackson is the top receiver for the Eagles and this would not be the first time he has had contract issues with the team, as he nearly had a holdout and ended up signing a $50 million deal and this season he will be making over $10 million and that comes after he had 82 catches this season for 1,332 yards. The 27-year-old wants more money and while he may deserve it, he is asking for a raise at a time when the Eagles have major financial questions at the position.
Jeremy Maclin missed this entire season and he is arguably the co-number one with Jackson and he is an unrestricted free agent and the team needs to decide whether to sign him back on a deal as he comes back from a serious ACL injury. Adding to all that is Riley Cooper, who played very well in Maclin's place while starting in 16 games and he is also a free agent and that means the Eagles need to sign those two and possibly give Jacon more money a season after the defense ranked last in the league in passing yards allowed per game.
Someone from that group likely will be the odd man out and with Benn coming back from surgery with one year left on his deal and Jason Avant getting older, those two could be cut in the offseason. Avant will be making over $3 million with a $1 million roster bonus and he could be an expense of trying to give more money to Jackson pr signing one of Cooper or Maclin.
The Eagles lost to the New Orleans Saints in the wild card round of the playoffs after defeating the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East championship game and now Philadelphia heads into the offseason with double digit wins. The team lost on a last second field goal to the Saints to get eliminated in heartbreaking fashion, but there is plenty to be happy about in the first season under Kelly, as the Eagles finished in the top 10 in total offense, passing yards per game and rushing yards per game, LeSean McCoy won a rushing title and Nick Foles may have established himself as a franchise quarterback.