How the 2017 Eagles finally built their ‘dream team’ through free agency

The 2011 Philadelphia Eagles dubbed themselves a “dream team” after winning free agency that offseason. There were no such nicknames last offseason, but there should have been: That free agency class helped the Eagles win their first Super Bowl.

The Eagles weren’t in the top 10 last year in terms of free agency spending. Instead, they strategically added talent that put the team in a position to win it all despite losing quarterback Carson Wentz to an ACL injury late in the season. That balanced approach is what worked for the Eagles.

It wasn’t just free agency, either. Philadelphia also had success building through the draft and through key trades. It can be seen in players like Wentz, who led the team to an 11-2 record before his injury, and Jay Ajayi, who helped the Eagles finish third in the league for rushing yards last year.

But the 2017 free agency haul was the bigger story for the Eagles, who mastered what very few teams seem to be able to do: filled key holes with free agents who could take the team to the next level.

It’s funny to look back now and see the impact the Eagles’ free agency acquisitions had on their Super Bowl odds, which was none whatsoever. Bovada had the Eagles at 50/1 before free agency and the draft, per Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia. The Eagles’ efforts didn’t move the needle at all.

But Vegas was wrong about Philadelphia, and free agency is a big part of the reason. Here’s why.

Jeffery came to the Eagles after a career with the Bears marred by injury and suspensions for performance-enhancing drugs. Torrey Smith joined Philly after being cut by the 49ers following the 2016 season in which he snagged receptions for just 267 yards. Jeffery played through a torn rotator cuff in 2017 and still put up 789 yards and eight touchdowns last season. Smith was more of a complementary player, with 430 yards and two scores.

The Eagles ended up with the third-ranked run game in the NFL last season, in part because they snagged Blount in free agency. Blount was fresh off of a career season in 2016 with the Patriots, and he ran for 766 yards and two scores last year.

There’s no worse nightmare for a Super Bowl contender than losing the starting quarterback toward the tail end of the season. That’s why Foles was arguably the biggest addition in retrospect. Foles is a good reminder that even those backup signings that are easy to dismiss could be hugely important down the road.

Foles completed 72.6 percent of his passes in the postseason, averaging over 323 yards per game. He threw three touchdown passes against the top-ranked Vikings’ defense in the NFC Championship, and threw for three more and added a receiving score against the Patriots in his Super Bowl 52 MVP performance.

Philadelphia’s defense was one of the league’s best last year. The unit finished 2017 ranked No. 3 in the league and shut down ground games with the top-ranked run defense. The Eagles’ free agency addition of defensive end Chris Long helped with that. Long had 28 tackles, five sacks, and four forced fumbles playing in rotation.

Center Stefen Wisniewski was set to hit free agency in 2017, but the Eagles retained him to anchor a line that NFL.com analyst and former NFL center Shaun O’Hara rated as the league’s best unit last year. They also kept tight end Trey Burton, who threw that touchdown pass that Foles caught in the Super Bowl.

Free agency wasn’t the only reason Philadelphia was able to take home the Lombardi Trophy. They traded for Timmy Jernigan, who totaled 2.5 sacks and eight tackles for loss, in the offseason. Philadelphia also pulled off a midseason trade for Ajayi, who averaged 5.8 yards per carry in seven regular season games with the Eagles.

They had some hits in last year’s draft, too. First-rounder Derek Barnett recorded five sacks and a forced fumble in his rookie season. He also recovered the Tom Brady fumble that shut down the Patriots’ late-game rally in Super Bowl 52. Barnett is one of several stars the Eagles have drafted in recent years, joining Wentz, tight end Zach Ertz, and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. Nelson Agholor, their 2015 first-round pick, finally broke through for his best season yet.

As with any championship-winning team, there’s some luck involved, too. For the Eagles, that included snagging kicker Jake Elliott off of the Bengals’ practice squad when Caleb Sturgis got hurt.

The Eagles identified their needs and strategically filled them last offseason and sometimes, after the season had started.

Now the Eagles are almost $10 million over the salary cap. They have to be under the cap by the time the new league year begins Wednesday, so something’s got to give. Luckily for Philadelphia, Howie Roseman was ready for this.

“We had anticipated what was going to go on in this offseason certainly last year,” Roseman said at the NFL Combine. “Some of the moves we made were with that in mind. From our perspective, we attempted to look at the free agent classes over a two-year period and felt like we would try to balance where our resources would go.”

It’s good that the Eagles thought ahead, but the changes they’ll have to make to this roster will still be felt. They’ve already traded away Torrey Smith and Marcus Johnson and brought in Michael Bennett and cornerback Daryl Worley.

It’s unlikely that the Eagles will be able to hold on to Trey Burton, starting inside linebacker Nigel Bradham, and Blount, all of whom could walk in free agency. They will likely cut or trade defensive end Vinny Curry. They’re also saddled with a tough decision to make about Foles, who won them a Super Bowl but isn’t going to take the starting role from Wentz. How does Roseman plan to accomplish that?

“Our intention is to find creative ways to do that,” he said at the combine.

The Eagles don’t have the cap space to follow the exact blueprint they used in 2017, but their overall goal is still the same: using free agency to jump-start a path to the Super Bowl.