Eagles Free Agency Roundup: Day 1

The Eagles go into free agency with very few holes and a scarce amount of money to use. Howie and company still have some work to do to keep the Eagles at the top of the NFL circuit. Here are some notable moves the Eagles have done today:

A Few Additions

Haloti Ngata, DT

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Haloti Ngata intends to sign with the Eagles. Nothing is set in stone yet as no contract has been reported.

Ngata, a 12-year vet, was a first-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens back in 2006. He was a five-time All-Pro and Pro Bowler with them. Ngata then was traded to the Detriot Lions, which was where he resided the past three years.

Former Lions’ DT Haloti Ngata intends to sign a one-year deal with Eagles, per @mortreport and me.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2018

If he is indeed signed, Ngata will add on to an already talented defensive line. He will replace Beau Allen as his time in Philly is all but over.

Corey Nelson, LB

The Eagles and linebacker Corey Nelson have agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.25 million, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and ESPN’s Josina Anderson.

Eagles’ deal with LB Corey Nelson is one year, $2.25 million, source says. (@JosinaAnderson mentioned Coleman was headed to Philly.)

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 13, 2018

Corey Nelson was a seventh-round pick by the Denver Broncos in 2014. He won the Super Bowl with the Broncos in 2015 and has mostly played special teams.

Nelson will most likely step into the role that Najee Goode had with his expected departure. This was most likely a move to improve upon the special teams but Nelson does have some upside on defense. He is a great coverage linebacker and might find himself a prominent role on defense

Goodbye to an Old Friend

Brent Celek, TE

The Philadelphia Eagles will be parting ways with its longest-tenured player Brent Celek today. The Eagles announced on Twitter that Celek’s time in Philly is indeed up as many expected. This move will save them $5 million in cap room for the upcoming year

Celek who was not just the longest-tenured Eagle but the longest-tenured Philadelphia athlete was chosen in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft.

Roster Move: #Eagles have released TE Brent Celek. pic.twitter.com/hWOJWhyaRq

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) March 13, 2018

Celek became a full-time starter in 2009 in which he hauled in eight touchdowns to go with 971 yards. He held that name as starting tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles until 2016. In his time with the Eagles Celek had 4,998 receiving yards and 31 touchdowns. Both of those in which rank top 15 in Eagles history.

Celek will be ending his Eagles career with a bang as he was finally able to win the first-ever ever Super Bowl this year.

His career does not have to be covered with accolades to show how much he meant to this team and this city. Celek never went to the pro-bowl but his great play both on and off the field will garner him one in Philly’s books as he will soon be on the Wall of Fame for the Eagles. He embodied what it meant to be a Philadelphia athlete with his grit and toughness.

All-Pro GM restructures All-Pro Lineman’s Contract

Lane Johnson, OT

Howie Roseman worked his magic again as he was able to restructure Lane Johnson’s deal. The Eagles saved $7.5 million in cap space from the restructure. That was first reported by ESPN’s Field Yates.

Source: the Eagles have created $7.5M in cap space for 2018 by restructuring OT Lane Johnson’s deal. His new cap hit is now $4.98M, down from $12.48M, with Johnson also collecting a $4.192M signing bonus.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 13, 2018

He will now have a base salary of $790,000 this year instead of $10.25 million. As exaggerated by Field Yates, Johnson did not take a pay cut here. All that happened was Roseman shuffled around the money to make it more cap friendly.