The Philadelphia Eagles have one of the best offenses in the NFL thanks to LeSean McCoy, Nick Foles and a plethora of wide receivers. The question is, how many of those receivers will return to Philadelphia in 2014?
Eagles face tough decision on re-signing Riley Cooper, Jeremy Maclin
Philadelphia has a talented corps of receivers, but will it decide to keep all of them?
The Eagles, like almost every team, face tough decisions this winter about who to keep and who to hand walking papers to. The toughest position group for Philadelphia is wide receiver, with both Riley Cooper and Jeremy Maclin needing new contracts.
While the team would be thrilled to keep the band together, general manager Howie Roseman realizes that could be tough, per CSN Philly.
“Well, I think it is complicated, because you have guys that you want to have back,” Roseman said, “and also, what resources are you going to devote to that position with the guys who are already on the roster?
“And then you look at it in the draft, obviously a very strong position, so I think ... it’s a complicated situation but we’ve never ruled out bringing both of those guys back.”
Cooper is coming off his best year as a pro, hauling in 47 passes for 835 yards and eight touchdowns. Maclin, a former first-round pick, tore his ACL the first day of training camp, but previously put together yardage totals of 773, 964, 859 and 857 in his first four seasons.
Maclin has talked openly about his willingness to take a one-year deal to prove his health, but it is unclear whether the Eagles want to take that offer. With Cooper likely to get a nice chunk of change, Roseman has to think about whether or not Maclin returning makes sense.
The Eagles invested heavily in tight end, taking Zach Ertz out of Stanford with their second-round pick in last year's draft to accompany Brent Celek. On top of that, Philadelphia already has DeSean Jackson locked into a deal with three years remaining at $12.7 million, $12.5 and $10, respectively. Jason Avant is also scheduled to make $3.7 next season before hitting free agency.
Despite being well under the cap, the Eagles have likely long-term commitments coming down the road to quarterback Foles, defensive lineman Fletcher Cox, center Jason Kelce and others.
All these factors will make it interesting to see if the Eagles opt to sign both, making one of the aforementioned wide receivers the highest paid No.4 in the league.
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