And with the draft behind us and the undrafted free agents largely signed to deals, that ends the offseason roster rebuilding for another year. Somewhere in that mix of ninety guys now on your team's roster are the fifty-three who will make the opening day roster and likely the ten who will make up your practice squad. Oh, a player or two here and there will get shuffled around, but by and large roster shuffling is now done. What you've got is what you've got. Of those ninety guys, twenty-seven will find themselves out of a job and re-evaluating their future come the fall.
The Eagles came out of the draft with more depth than anything. They could have started the season without adding anyone, but got lots of good depth and future players in the draft. Running back Miles Sanders has the best chance of seeing serious playing time this year. Running backs can transition to the NFL without a lot of trouble. Wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside will likely get a few plays a game and might contribute on special teams. Offensive tackle Andre Dillard and defensive end Shareef Miller will likely not see the field much, if at all this year as they adapt to the NFL. Quarterback Clayton Thorson will only see the field in the preseason, barring massive injuries and might end up on the practice squad. Next year those guys will likely be slotted for a bigger role.
Focusing on the NFC East for a bit, the Giants got their QB of the future, but Gettleman says he could sit for three years behind Eli. (Seriously?) They spent most of the rest of the draft on the defense with a couple of DB's being the only players likely to be immediate contributors. Their defensive linemen will likely need a year or two to become valued contributors and even the DB's will need to adjust to the NFL.
The Cowboys got little in the way of immediate help unless they know something about Ezekiel Elliott that the rest of us don't. They did draft two running backs to back him up. The safety they drafted in the sixth round and their fifth round corner are the only guys you could legitimately see being an impact player this year, but a sixth round safety typically is a sixth round safety for a reason. The same is true of a fifth round corner. They'll likely have to start one or more of their rookie defensive linemen, but they tend to be more of a hindrance than a help early in their careers.
The Redskins likely got the most immediate help in Dwayne Haskins. I expect him to be starting early, if not week one. There's a good chance that Terry McLaurin their third round wide receiver will be starting with him. Watching who gets the reps in the OTA's and training camp will tell us a lot. Haskins will need every rep he can get, but do the coaches give them to him or give them to Case Keenum instead? Reportedly the Redskins coaches weren't thrilled with Haskins and would have preferred an alternative pick at QB. Do they defy upper management and go ahead with Keenum (or McCoy if his leg ever heals,) or plug in Haskins right away? I'd plug in Haskins right away, but that's just me. Case Keenum has been around long enough that he doesn't absolutely need lots of reps. He'd be better with more reps, but he shouldn't need them.
Has the draft altered the makeup of the NFC East in a serious way? Not really. The Redskins likely came away the most improved immediately, at least on paper. The Eagles, Giants and Cowboys got guys who could help them in the future but are unlikely to be key contributors this coming season.
The AFC East might actually be competitive this year. Buffalo has been quietly building a bit of a powerhouse. If Josh Allen is the real deal at QB (and that's still a bit iffy) then they could cause trouble for the Patriots. The Jets are a bit better. The Dolphins, well, they did get Josh Rosen, but poor Josh will be playing in his seventh offensive system in the last five years. (Or is it the eighth in the last six years?) Talk about a kid with a scrambled brain. If he could develop amnesia it would be the best thing in the world for him. It takes two to three years to learn one system and he's got seven or eight floating around in his head without ever fully learning any one of them. It's the perfect formula to destroy a kid QB. Young quarterbacks need stability and he hasn't had it. Probably ninety percent of being a QB is based in the head and his head is so scrambled that he's in big trouble. Going to a Pittsburgh, New England, or Green Bay where he could have a few years to fully learn just one system behind a veteran QB would have been ideal for him.
The Chiefs should be announcing the cutting of Tyreek Hill at any tme. I'd have done it as soon as the audio tape of him came out, but they apparently wanted to wait until after the draft. There's no way they can keep him on the roster and hope this blows over.
Expect the Eagles to make a move of some sort with defensive end Chris Long. He's pretty much told them he wants to be a starting defensive end playing all three downs and the Eagles prefer a rotation. He was likely the fourth or fifth defensive end in the rotation and he wants more playing time. The Eagles could cut him, trade him, or he could opt to retire, but I think he still wants to play. I suspect the Eagles will try to trade him to an AFC team if possible. If cut, the Cowboys would likely want to grab him and that would be bad for the Eagles.
Expect lots of front office moves over the next few days as scouts, GM's, player personnel staff get fired and new ones hired. Their job for the 2019 season is largely done and now's the time teams move on to find new guys.
We've got about a month and half now for teams to figure out how their roster really looks before the summer vacations and training camps start. Some teams will go into that vacation time confident that they'll be ready to compete. Some will have a miserable vacation wondering how they'll piece together a team that could compete. There's not a lot to do now but coach up what you've got and hope for the best. Big roster moves are harder to make now and teams pretty much have what they have, for better or worse.
Don't expect a lot of honesty from any team however. They'll all insist, at least publicly, that they've filled their holes and this is the best team they've ever seen. Privately the coaches may be refreshing their resumes knowing they're doomed, but publicly they'll echo the company line.
The draftniks now all turn their attention to the 2020 draft and who will be the top pick and which team is most likely to earn that top pick. My top contenders for teams earning that first overall pick next year would be Arizona, Tampa, the Giants, and possibly the Panthers, depending on Cam Newton's shoulder. All of those teams are playing in tough divisions where beating the top teams will be a challenge. Arizona faces the Seahawks, Rams and Niners who are all good. Tampa and the Panthers face the Saints and Falcons. The Falcons may not be good, but who knows? The Giants face the Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins. The Raiders and Bengals could lose their way to that first overall pick also.
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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