I will be doing a series of articles that will be taking a methodical team by team approach to next year’s possible free agents. I will be starting with the team that has the least amount of salary cap space and ending with the team with the most. I will try to give a brief description of as many of the possible free agents as I can. I will also be looking for players that might be salary cap cuts in order for their teams to make room to sign some of these possible free agents. Any information anyone else can contribute on these players would be very much appreciated.
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The San Francisco 49ers will have a whole ton of money for 2017 NFL free agency. Head there to check out our breakdowns of all 31 other teams’ free agents and cap space.
The Philadelphia Eagles are projected to be $521,022 UNDER the cap (all salary info via Over The Cap) and they currently have 49 players signed for 2017. What makes the Eagle’s free agent prospects interesting is Chip Kelly’s past ties to some of the players as their head coach. I think Wiz and Logan are by far the two most interesting prospects.
Dollar figures listed are player’s 2016 cap hit.
43ILB Stephen Tulloch - $2,500,000
Stephen Tulloch is 31 years old and in his twelfth season in the NFL. He was drafted by the Titans in the fourth round of the 2006 draft. Tulloch tore his ACL while celebrating a sack of Aaron Rodgers in September of 2014 and has not been the same player since. He has played sparingly this season.
CB Nolan Carroll - $2,047,500
Nolan Carroll is 29 years old and was drafted by the Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2010 draft. Carroll has 36 tackles, 1 interception, and 9 passes defensed this season. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the 95 best CB in the NFL this year.
C Stefen Wisniewski - $2,760,000
Stefen Wisniewski is 27 years old and was drafted by the Raiders in the second round of the 2011 draft. The Raiders let the Wiz go when they signed Hudson in 2015. The Jaguars signed the Wiz in April of 2015 on a one year contract. I believe he had surgery for a torn labrum after playing with it for much of the 2014 season. The Eagles signed him to a one year contract earlier this year, and he has been in and out of the lineup throughout the season. I am wondering if he might be worth taking a look at as our backup center instead of Marcus Martin. Who knows, he might even give Kilgore some much needed competition?
43DE Bryan Braman - $975,000
Bryan Braman is 29 years old and was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Texans in 2011. He has 3 tackles in 2016 and 15 in the last three years.
43DT Bennie Logan - $1,842,023
Bennie Logan is 6’2”, weighs 309 pounds, has 34” arms and is 26 years old. Logan was drafted by the Eagles in the third round of the 2013 draft. Logan has not played that much this year in the Eagles 43 defense, but he was drafted while Chip was the coach so I assume he was drafted to play nose tackle in a 34 defense. He had 55 tackles in 2015 and 57 tackles in 2014 which seems to me like a decent amount for a 34 nose tackle. Pro Football Focus had this to say about him a year ago, “Bennie Logan is the fourth-best DT in the NFL against the run (+12.5 run grade) and leads the league in PFF stop percentage with 25 stops in 163 snaps.” With his ties to Chip and his lack of defensive reps this season, I have a very strong feeling we might be seeing Logan into camp this year. Bye bye Purcell!
LB Najee Goode - $675,000
Najee Goode is 27 years old and was drafted by the Bucs in the fifth round of the 2012 draft. He has 29 tackles in almost five years in the league.
S Jaylen Wadkins - $600,000 RFA
Jaylen Wadkins is 24 years old and was drafted by the Eagles in the fourth round of the 2014 draft. He was cut by the Eagles and picked up by the Bills and placed on their practice squad in September of 2015 before returning to the Eagles in November of 2015. He has 22 tackles this year. Pro Football Focus has him graded as the 55th best S in the NFL this year in spite of his limited snaps. Perhaps he might be worth a look as a backup if the Eagles choose not to keep him?
RB Kenjon Barner - $600,000 RFA
Kenjon Barner is 27 years old and was drafted by the Panthers in the sixth round of the 2013 draft. He was traded to the Eagles for a seventh round pick. He was cut by Chip at the end of August but was added to the practice squad in November. Barner made the Eagles 53 man roster in 2015 on special teams, mainly as a punt returner where he had a 92 yard punt return for a touchdown. Barner has 24 carries this year for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns.
TE Trey Burton - $602,500 RFA
Trey Burton in 25 years old and was picked up by the Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2014. I am not sure if he is a tight end or a wide receiver. Chip brought him in to be a Swiss Army Knife and I am not really sure how he is being used but he has 17 receptions for 165 yards so far this season.