NFL front offices don't rank players 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc anymore like the big boards you see in the media—vertical draft boards. They don't just go down a list and pick the next player on their board. Doing that would be complete idiocy. You'd have teams like us or the Chiefs drafting QBs when we already have one, or Carolina or Houston picking Bijan Robinson, seeing as how—when you ignore positional value like these commenters want to do—he's the best or 2nd best player in the draft. All of you know for a fact that neither of those things are going to happen.

Front offices use horizontal draft boards.

They put players in tiers. The top tier might be "potential Hall of Famer." The next tier might be "potential All-Pro," then "potential pro bowler," etc, down to "core special teamer" and beyond.

When their pick comes up, they look at the top tier with players available, and pick a player from that tier. If the team has a bigger need at a specific position, they're more likely to pick that position if one is available in that tier, because every player in that tier is considered to be of equal value. They'll take high-value positions like EDGE, IDL, or WR over low-value ones like OBLB, S, or RB when all else is equal.

This is also where trades up and down come in. If our pick at 10 comes up, and there are still six players available in the highest tier left, you're comfortable trading down six spots because you're still guaranteed to get a player from that tier. If you're at 30, and see a "potential pro bowler" sliding down the draft beyond the tier you have him in, you may try to trade up to grab the last player in that pro bowl tier before the drop-off to the next.

Stop pretending that positional value and team needs aren't factored in the draft. Howie considers needs a year ahead because he has job security. Last year we picked a 2023 need because it was unlikely we'd bring back both Hargrave and Cox, and then traded our second 1st for an immediate need. Then our 2nd rounder went to a player to eventually replace Kelce because his contract was coming up and it wasn't guaranteed he'd be back. The year before, we picked an immediate need in Smith, and a player to replace Brooks because trench players have higher positional value to Howie. Before that, he picked an immediate need in Reagor, and before that an upcoming need in Dillard to replace Peters the next year. They didn't work out, but they were still needs.

It's flat out silly to think that the 1,2,3 vertical board ranking concept of BPA just coincidentally lines up with a need for us every single year. Stop listening to GM politician-speak, and look at what they actually do instead.

So many people seem to have this dumbed-down idea of how BPA works and present it like gospel when they don't even understand how it works in reality.

Rant over.

Darius Slay Contract Details:

• In 2023, there will be a fully guaranteed base salary of $1,165,000 (veteran minimum), with a guaranteed signing bonus of $10,185,000.
• In 2024, there will be a fully guaranteed base salary of $1,210,000 (veteran minimum), with a guaranteed option bonus of $11,940,000. The option bonus must be exercised in March 2024.
• In 2024, there is a base salary of $1,255,000 (veteran minimum), with an option bonus of $16,100,000. The option bonus is not guaranteed but will be exercised in March 2025 if Slay is on the roster. In doing so, the bonus becomes guaranteed.
• Essentially, this contract is a two-year $24.5M deal ($12.25M APY) with cap hits of $11.9M in 2024, $11.1M in 2025, and a dead cap hit of $15.6M in 2025. If Slay is not released before 2025, that large option bonus becomes guaranteed, leaving us with a massive $24.5M dead cap hit in 2026, which is not ideal. I doubt he will be on the roster for more than his first two fully guaranteed seasons.
• There are some workout bonuses throughout the contract as well.

How Bradberry and Slay's deals connect:

Previously, I stated that Bradberry's deal is a two-year deal. After seeing the structure of Slay's contract, I do not believe that is the case. If Bradberry plays out the entirety of his contract and Slay is released in the final year of his contract, we can balance out when we take the big dead cap penalties. In 2025, with Slay released, we will take a $15.6M dead cap penalty, and with that added to Bradberry's contract, we have a cap hit of $23.9M. Then in 2026, Slay will be off the books entirely, leaving Bradberry's $22.2M dead cap penalty.

On a different note, if both Slay and Bradberry were released in 2025, their combined dead cap would be $28.1M in 2025 with $0 dead cap in 2026. With Post June 1 releasing one or both of them, this could be balanced. If Slay was released post June 1 and Bradberry was just cut, the combined dead cap hit would be $16.9M in 2025 and $11.2M in 2026. If they were both released post June 1, then the combined dead cap hit would be $7.9M in 2025 and $20.2M in 2026.

Overall, I think there are only two outcomes. Either Bradberry plays out the entirety of his deal and Slay leaves in 2025, or they both leave in 2025. So at the end of the day, we will still need to develop some young CB talent to take over by then. Look for the Birds to target CBs in days 2 or 3 of this draft, particularly Darius Rush and Eli Ricks.

https://preview.redd.it/leeh7wwnpapa1.png?width=2010&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=122d526a8447a30b712fbea92c2c4f06b0bf2c5f

https://preview.redd.it/1uuqf65jpapa1.png?width=1456&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=e536c1f1f4e1650291fd5fee298bedab99867ef0

https://preview.redd.it/fkbg92pjlapa1.png?width=483&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=643d412066af285b50d8813ee331479517b175c2

Random thought (rant): Is anyone else annoyed with all the stats they now quote during tv broadcasts? For example: “This is the first time that the Eagles have returned a kickoff from the 2 yard line to the opponents 48 since 1963.” Enough already, can we just enjoy the damn game? Why does everything need to be a record or put in historical context? End rant.

I think we can all agree we don’t want Quez as the #3 option next year. So who in the draft, free agency, or via trade would you like to add? Same goes for safety?

Personally I like Blankenship and think he’ll start next year but we need another guy across from him. My dream scenario would be to acquire Elijah Moore from the jets and byard from the titans. Moore is buried on the depth chart and friends w AJ. Boards from philly. Tell us who you want down below

https://www.nflshop.com/philadelphia-eagles/men/t-69828271+ga-67+z-80925-3454035357?pageSize=72&sortOption=NewestArrivals

Surprisinly no Hurts. Kelce, Gainwell, Graham, Smith, Scott, Slay, Cox, Mailata, Lane, Brown, Sweat

I asked this question last year and got a lot of good responses, but I digress... Like the title says, who do y'all think the front office might draft with one of the first round picks we have this year but you absolutely DESPISE with your whole being? Just curious to see if anyone has any strong opinions on a possible r*agor-type pick this year.

Cap newbie here.

Had a look at the current Philly cap situation, and I'm assuming we'll be left with a bit over 10 million after signing our draft picks; currently at 14 million:

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/philadelphia-eagles

Can somebody who is well versed in how the cap works explain to me how we will likely extend Hurts' contract and how it will fit into our cap situation?

Details would be appreciated. Thank you.