Eagles Won’t Hire Offensive Coordinator

After all the chatter about the Eagles’ offensive coordinator vacancy, it turns out the job won’t be filled at all. After the Eagles bumped up quarterbacks coach Press Taylor and brought Rich Scangarello into the fold, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (Twitter link) heard on Wednesday that Doug Pederson will call the plays in 2020. Then, on Thursday, the Eagles made the no-OC plan official with a press release.

The Eagles’ search for an OC began nearly one month ago when they sacked Mike Groh. The move was questioned by some, particularly since the injury bug pretty much wiped out his group of wide receivers. DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, and Nelson Agholor were all banged up last year, forcing them to lean on the likes of Greg Ward, Robert Davis, and Deontay Burnett down the stretch. Still, it wasn’t enough for Groh to get a reprieve. After Groh got the heave-ho, the Eagles considered Ravens quarterbacks coach James Urban, USC’s Graham Harrell, and others as potential replacements.

The offense is Pederson’s bread and butter, so he feels confident in his ability to bring them back to glory. And, with Taylor staying put and Scangarello joining the staff, he’ll have plenty of experience and knowhow on hand to guide quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz had something of an up-and-down year under center – the end result was a 9-7 record, a short stay in the playoffs, and just 27 passing touchdowns, less than the 33 he notched in his injury-shortened 2017 campaign.

This offseason, the Eagles will have upwards of $40MM in cap room and the No. 21 overall pick in the first round. That should give them ammunition to fortify the offense, though they might not have the flexibility to move on from Jeffery or Jackson.

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