Reuben Frank and Dave Zangaro bring back Stay or Go in 2022, trying to figure out the futures of every Eagles player on the roster.
We’ll start with receivers:
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside
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Roob: Wait, he’s still here? Why is he even here? How is this even possible? JJAW has 16 catches in three years. Heck, Zach Ertz once caught 15 passes in a game. It’s time to cut ties with the Arcega-Whiteside, I don’t care how good a special teams player he is. The Eagles need to revamp this WR corps. They already have one high draft pick who can’t catch the football that they can’t get rid of. They can’t carry two of them.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: The Eagles brought JJAW back for Year 3, but he didn’t have much of an active role on offense. The former second-round pick was mainly used as a blocker and special teamer and Nick Sirianni called him the team’s “enforcer” at the position. Will that be enough to keep him around in Year 4? Maybe. And the Eagles are probably still going to be hesitant to give up on a second-round pick. But they just need to improve this position and that stars with moving on from Arcega-Whiteside.
Verdict: Goes
NFL
Deon Cain
Roob: I don’t know if Cain can play – he never got on the field for the Eagles – but he was drafted by the Colts and in 2019 caught a 35-yard pass from Mason Rudolph with the Steelers, a 25-yarder from Jacoby Brissett for the Colts and a 22-yarder from Devlin Hodges for the Steelers. So I already value him more than JJAW and Jalen Reagor. He’s 6-2 and did some decent things at Clemson, so at least worth bringing him to camp.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: The Eagles signed Cain to a futures deal so they obviously like him enough to keep him around. The former 6th-round pick out of Clemson has played minimally since he entered the NFL in 2018 with the Colts, which is his link to Sirianni. But he has just 9 catches in his NFL career and it’s hard to imagine him cracking the Eagles’ 53-man roster, although perhaps he ends up on the practice squad again.
Verdict: Goes
John Hightower
Roob: There was a point where Hightower seemed like more of a prospect than Quez Watkins, who was drafted one round after him in the late rounds of the 2020 draft. Seven weeks into their rookie years, Hightower had 166 yards and Quez had 0. Since then, Quez has 753 and Hightower has one. That’s one yard. As in a yard. Hightower is fast. He can run. He can’t do much else.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: The Eagles signed Hightower to a futures deal just last week, bringing back the former fifth-round pick. Hightower has had a really strange career, playing a ton early and then never really getting those chances again. Could he show up at training camp and win a job? Sure. But for now, I have the Eagles moving on as they work to greatly improve the position as a whole.
Verdict: Goes
Jalen Reagor
Roob: If this were what would I do, he’d be gone. Now. Before now. But we don’t have to worry about things like the salary cap, and I just can’t see the Eagles taking on $7.8 million in dead money for Reagor when he’d count less than half of that if they keep him. I do think there’s a lot of value in clearing out dead weight, and there’s no way the Eagles are counting on him to produce. But $7.8 million is a steep price to get Reagor out of our lives. Although if the Eagles did start a Go Fund Me, they’d probably get to $7.8 million in an hour or two.
Verdict: Stays
Dave: This is a tricky one because on merit, Reagor would be gone. Reagor hasn’t just been a disappointing first-round pick; he’s been a bad player. After a rough rookie season, Reagor actually regressed in 2021. He had a prominent role in Year 2 but managed just 33 catches for 299 yards and wasn’t any better as a return man. Having him on the field is a liability at this point. But his contract (he’d actually have a bigger cap hit if the Eagles cut him) points toward a return in 2022. Maybe the Eagles can salvage his career — that would be great — but don’t get your hopes up.
Verdict: Stays
DeVonta Smith
Roob: I feel like we only saw the tip of the iceberg with Smith this year. For a kid to come to a team with a new coach, a new scheme, a first-time starting quarterback and an offense that a few weeks into the season became very run-heavy and still make a run at 1,000 yards it’s impressive stuff. Give him one more 25-yard catch per game and you’re in the 1,350-yard range. That’s where I expect Smith to be next year. The Eagles finally got one right.
Verdict: Stays
Dave: I was really impressed by Smith’s rookie season. He didn’t reach his goal of 1,000 yards but there were enough positive signs to think he’s going to be a star in the NFL for a long time. The most impressive thing about his game is how advanced it is. His route running and body control are next level. Even though those things don’t normally get put under the athleticism umbrella, Smith has elite athleticism in those areas. And those areas count too.
Verdict: Stays
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Greg Ward
Roob: I like what Ward brings to the table, and I have a lot of admiration for where he came from – college quarterback, undrafted, position change, released twice, practice squad – to where he is now, a solid, established, veteran slot receiver. But when you go from 53 catches under one coach to 7 under another coach, the writing is on the wall. Ward got 500 fewer snaps than Jalen Reagor, which tells you all you need to know. They’re going in another direction.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: This was the toughest one for me. Because I really like Ward and think he’s a solid player. The problem is that if the Eagles are really going to improve this position through free agency or the draft, then what kind of role is Ward going to have? He was already phased out of a larger role in the offense this season and if the room gets better, it’s hard to imagine him regaining that role here again. And he’s a restricted free agent, so the Eagles will need to work to bring him back.
Verdict: Goes
Quez Watkins
Roob: He’s already the Eagles’ best late-round (6th round or later) wide receiver since Harold Carmichael, and he’s only going to get better. Watkins made the leap from raw talent to productive No. 2 receiver, and while I still think he may be best suited to WR3 – at least this year – there’s no question he’s got huge upside as he continues to learn the NFL game and as the Eagles’ passing offense (presumably) continues to evolve.
Verdict: Stays
Dave: Pretty impressive second season for Watkins, especially when you consider that he was a former 6th-round pick in an offense that was very run heavy in the second half of the season. Nick Sirianni has talked about Watkins as their No. 2 receiver but he’d be a more ideal third option. So the Eagles should bring in another target, but Watkins obviously still deserves to be on this roster and he still deserves to get his opportunities. Watkins has already been worth a sixth-round pick — he caught 43 passes for 647 yards in Year 2 — and the Eagles should continue to develop him. Give Watkins a ton of credit for his improvements after his rookie season; he took last offseason really seriously. Maybe he never becomes a star but he’s already a good player and has a lot of growth potential.
Verdict: Stays