NFC East Notes: Okudah, Groh, Heath, Jones
While there’s still plenty of time until the NFL Draft, but murmurs around the combine are tying the Giants to cornerback Jeff Okudah, according to Ryan Dunleavy of the NY Post. Okudah is considered the best defensive back prospect in the draft class and is expected to be a top-five pick. In his final season at Ohio State, Okudah recorded three interceptions, nine passes defended, 34 tackles, and, perhaps most impressive of all, zero holding or defensive pass interference penalties.
Here are some more notes from around the NFC East;
- The Eagles made a number of changes on their coaching staff following a disappointing season. Most notably, Philadelphia fired offensive coordinator Mike Groh, but sources familiar with the situation tell Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer that head coach Doug Pederson told Groh he would be retained for a third season. Instead, the team fired Groh alongside offensive assistants Rich Scangarello and Andrew Breiner. While there’s no direct consequence, it’s not the ideal way to conduct business.
- Longtime Cowboy safety and defensive back Jeff Heath has received interest from a number of teams, including Dallas, as he nears free agency, per Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. Watkins notes that things will pick up after the league and NFLPA resolve their CBA negotiations.
- As previously reported, the Giants officially hired Amos Jones to join Joe Judge‘s coaching staff. Jones’ position on the staff had not been previously known. According to Ralph Vacchiano of SNY, Jones will serve as an “assistant coach/special projects and situations.”
Latest On OT Jason Peters, Eagles
If Eagles head coach Doug Pederson has his way, Jason Peters will be back in Philly next season. When asked if he’d welcome back the 38-year-old offensive lineman, the head coach didn’t mince words.
“Yeah,’’ Pederson told Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via the Inquirer’s Jeff McLane on Twitter). “I think I said the same thing [last year] about Darren Sproles.
“JP is a Hall of Fame left tackle in my opinion. You want those kind of guys back. They’re great for leadership with those young players.’’
While the 16-year veteran may be getting up there in age, Peters was still plenty productive last season. As Domowitch notes, Pro Football Focus rated Peters as the league’s fourth-best tackle, and he only allowed three sacks and 21 quarterback pressures. After making a modest $6MM last season, the veteran is set to hit free agency.
It would also make sense for Philly to move on from the veteran, especially since they traded up to select Washington State offensive tackle Andre Dillard in the first round. Of course, as Domowitch observes, the Eagles thought they were drafting Peters’ replacement when they selected Lane Johnson back in 2013; Johnson has since been moved to right tackle.
While general manager Howie Roseman didn’t give such a definitive answer about Peters’ role on the 2020 squad, it sounds like he’s also open to re-signing the veteran.
“When you’re talking about Jason Peters, you’re talking about a Hall of Fame player, a Hall of Fame person,’’ Roseman said. “Someone who’s very special to us and played at a really high level for us last year. We’ll go through all of these decisions this week.’’
Eagles Opinions: Jenkins, Backup QB, Ertz, Goedert
The Eagles will pay for deciding to wait on signing defensive back Malcolm Jenkins to an extension last season, according to Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94 WIP. Philadelphia declined to restructure Jenkins’ very team-friendly deal last offseason, but now the team faces a cap crunch on the rest of the roster as well. At 32 years old, there is reason to be concerned about giving Jenkins a large contract, but his production over the past few seasons has been on par with some of the best in the league.
Here’s some more commentary on the Eagles offseason:
- Few teams require a better backup quarterback than the Eagles and Shorr-Parks identifies six plausible targets for Philly. Obviously, starter Carson Wentz has shown he has the potential to be an elite quarterback, but an extensive injury history will always make fans and team officials nervous about the team’s prospects if there is not a strong backup behind him. The Eagles, of course, were eliminated from the playoffs when Josh McCown had to play under center after a series of injuries at quarterback.
- Zach Ertz expressed some apprehension about his future with the Eagles organization at the end of the season. With two years left on his contract, many were caught off guard by his cautious comments. However, Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer discusses the impact tight end Dallas Goedert could have on the Eagles (and Ertz’s) future. Goedert was selected in the 2nd round of the 2018 NFL Draft and has been an effective contributor for the Eagles. McLane points out that 49ers tight end George Kittle is set to reset the tight end market as well. The team’s confidence in Goedert combined with the increasing cost of tight ends could soon lead to Ertz’s departure.
Eagles Looking To Move Alshon Jeffery, Who Would Welcome trade
Alshon Jeffery and the Eagles could be headed for a parting of ways. Philadelphia is looking to move their star receiver, sources told Connor Hughes of The Athletic. 
Hughes adds that Jeffery “would welcome the change of scenery,” but the receiver’s rep quickly refuted that. Jeffery “loves being in the city of Philly and playing for the Eagles,” his agent Tory Dandy tweeted. As Hughes points out, Jeffery’s contract is currently a significant hurdle. If the Eagles hadn’t restructured his contract back in September they would’ve been able to get out of his deal fairly easily, but now they’d be looking at a $26MM cap hit if they wanted to cut him.
There was a lot of drama surrounding Jeffery and the team last year, as he was alleged to have been the source of critical comments about Carson Wentz that surfaced in the press. Sources confirmed to Hughes that Wentz and Jeffery “never saw eye-to-eye and their relationship was testy.” Thanks to the restructure, Jeffery is guaranteed a base salary of $11.5MM for 2020.
Hughes thinks the Eagles will pursue a trade, and that they will look to split some of the money owed to Jeffery. The South Carolina product just turned 30 and is coming off Lisfranc surgery that could sideline him for most of training camp, so Hughes understandably thinks it will be hard to find a trade partner. Many seem to expect that the Eagles will eat the $26MM and cut Jeffery if they have to.
If that happens and Jeffery becomes a free agent, Hughes writes that it “shouldn’t take long before the Jets make a call.” Because of offset language in his contract, any team will be able to sign Jeffery for the league minimum should he reach the open market. Hughes notes that he has plenty of ties to the Jets’ current regime, as New York’s GM Joe Douglas spent time with him in Philly and Adam Gase coached him in Chicago. We should know a lot more about Jeffery’s situation, and where he’ll be playing in 2020, soon.
Changes To NFL’s Comp Pick Formula
Earlier this week, the Eagles informed Nigel Bradham that they would not exercise his 2020 option. The next day, they released him outright.
[RELATED: Owners Vote To Approve New CBA]
The Eagles changed their plans due to a recent change in the compensatory pick formula, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. Under the previous system, a player with a declined team option would count as a compensatory free agent for the club. This change, first reported by Over The Cap’s Brad Spielberger (via Twitter), was only just relayed to the Eagles this week.
The Broncos benefitted from the option trick in 2017, when they declined his team option and scored a third-round comp pick in 2018. It’s a seemingly minor revision to the rule, but it could nudge teams towards keeping players or, as was the case with the Eagles and Bradham, allowing those players to reach free agency before the start of the league year.
Eagles Release LB Nigel Bradham
On Tuesday, the Eagles informed Nigel Bradham that his 2020 option year would be declined. On Wednesday, the team officially released him outright, giving him a chance to hook on with a team immediately, rather than waiting until the middle of March. 
Bradham has spent the last four years with the Eagles and was an integral part of their Super Bowl-winning team. Although he did not fit into their plans for this year, the Eagles wanted to do right by him and give him ample opportunity to find his next NFL home.
All in all, Bradham appeared in 58 regular season games for the Eagles – all starts. He’s been first-string throughout his career, pretty much, save for his 2013 season with the Bills.
Bradham seems to have lost a step after turning 30, but he still offers plenty of experience and hard-nosed toughness for teams in need. He should find decent interest on the open market, especially since he has a jump on all the rest as a street free agent.
Bradham finished out 2019 with 61 total stops, one interception, and five passes defensed.
Latest On Eagles, Alshon Jeffery
Contractually, the Eagles seem to have little choice but to keep Alshon Jeffery for the 2020 season. However, a clause in his deal could allow them an escape hatch, as Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes.
Last season, a WIP reporter alleged that Jeffery was the anonymous team source behind unflattering comments about quarterback Carson Wentz. Jeffery’s deal, like many, includes default language against “any public comment that criticizes the team, teammates, coaches, ownership, etc.” The Eagles, meanwhile, retain the right to put that into motion if the team “reasonably determines, in its sole discretion” that a default is called for.
It would be a messy war to wage, but the Eagles engaged in a similar battle with Terrell Owens after he slammed Donovan McNabb. The big difference, of course, is that Owens was on-the-record and Jeffery been largely complimentary of Wentz publicly.
Such a move seems unlikely, but it’s worth keeping in mind as the Eagles try to improve at wide receiver this offseason. As it stands, they’re bound to just about every WR in the group, save for pending free agent Nelson Agholor.
Jeffery’s four-year, $72MM deal gave him a whopping guarantee of nearly $55MM. And, thanks to a restructure, releasing him now would cost the club more than $26MM. An outright release without defaulting his deal is simply off the table. Trading Jeffery, in theory, could be more palatable – it’d shave $10MM off of the cap hit, though teams probably aren’t lining up for him at this stage.
The most likely outcome is that the Eagles will bring back Jeffery with the hope that he’s happy and healthy. They’ll also have to hope that he finds the same kind of chemistry with Wentz that he had with Nick Foles.
Eagles Part Ways With Nigel Bradham
The Eagles are moving on from linebacker Nigel Bradham, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. By declining his option, they’ll make him a free agent in mid-March. 
After spending his first four seasons with the Bills, Bradham joined the Eagles as a free agent in 2016. That first deal – two years at $7MM – proved to be a tremendous value. After that, he was re-upped on a five-year, $40MM deal that delivered mix results. And, thanks to a one-game suspension for aggravated assault, Bradham’s $14MM in guarantees were wiped out.
Bradham did not perform up to his usual standards in 2019 and he was limited to just 12 games. Over the last four years, he’s started in all 58 of his games for the Birds, notching 348 tackles along the way.
Had he stayed, Bradham would have counted for $9.7MM against the salary cap. Instead, they’ll save roughly $4.5MM.
Given his history with the team, it’s possible that he could return on a cheaper deal, but the Eagles will prioritize other linebacker options in the interim. Bradham surely would have liked to play out the remainder of his $40MM contract, but they’ve at least done him a solid by giving him advanced notice.
Bradham, turns 31 in September, just before the start of what would be his ninth career season as a pro.
East Notes: Rivers, Jets, Ogletree
The Patriots drafted edge rusher Derek Rivers in the third round of the 2017 draft, but the Youngstown State product has played in just six regular season games over his first three years in the pros. His entire rookie campaign was wiped out due to a torn ACL, he had a limited workload in 2018, and he sustained a knee injury during a preseason game in August that landed him on IR for all of 2019.
But as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes, Rivers still features heavily in New England’s plans. Reiss says Rivers remains a constant presence at the team’s facility, and if the team cannot retain free agent Kyle Van Noy — which is quite possible, given the amount of cap space that will need to be devoted to the offensive side of the ball, including the quarterback position — Rivers will need to step up.
Now for more from the league’s east divisions:
- Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv takes a look at a few Jets who could be cap casualties this offseason. Most of them — like CB Trumaine Johnson, whom we recently discussed as a release candidate — are obvious choices, but players like Jonotthan Harrison and Avery Williamson are more difficult calls. Vacchiano believes the club would be wise to retain Harrison at least as a depth option, and he suggests Williamson could be back on a reworked contract.
- In a separate piece, Vacchiano names a few players the Jets should target in free agency, assuming their current teams don’t retain them. Unsurprisingly, he believes Gang Green should target the top of the O-line (Brandon Scherff, Jack Conklin) and WR (Amari Cooper, Emmanuel Sanders) markets.
- Vacchiano undergoes the same exercises for the Giants that he did for the Jets. For Big Blue, he names LB Alec Ogletree as the most likely player to be cut on his list of seven names, and he also believes Conklin would be a perfect fit for the G-Men.
- Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic summarizes the changes to the coaching staff that the Eagles recently made official. We had previously passed along most of those names, though Kapadia’s list also includes Andrew Breiner (hired as pass game analyst) and Dino Vasso (promoted to assistant defensive coordinator). He also offers his take on the changes, including his observation that the offensive staff now includes coaches who have very different schematic backgrounds, which suggests that Philadelphia will try to incorporate a wide variety of looks in 2020.
Agholor Unlikely To Be Back With Eagles?
- The Eagles fired offensive coordinator Mike Groh after the season ended, and it looks like they could be headed for a lot of turnover on that side of the ball. Receiver Nelson Agholor is “unlikely to return” next year, writes Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. A first-round pick back in 2015, Agholor just finished the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, and is slated for unrestricted free agency. He missed the last month-plus of the 2019 campaign, but was pretty much always a full-time starter for Philly when healthy. He struggled with inconsistency and drops, but also had plenty of good moments with the Eagles. He scored eight touchdowns in 2017, and had at least 736 yards in each of his last two full seasons. Despite the sometimes maddening inconsistency, the 26-year-old USC product should draw plenty of interest on the open market.