Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Best NFL team fits for remaining free agents, trade candidates – ESPN+
OTA Nuggets -Calais Campbell Edge. Best team fit: Philadelphia Eagles. A return to Atlanta is a possibility for Campbell if he decides to play another season at age 38. He tied for the team lead in sacks last season with 6.5. But I’m instead looking at the Eagles. Campbell would fit in Vic Fangio’s 30 front as a rotational end, building more depth. At 6-foot-8 and 282 pounds, he can hold the point against the run game when matched up with offensive tackles, and he was a productive player last season for the Falcons, registering 28 pressures. I see Campbell as a total pro who could help multiple NFL squads. [BLG Note: A return to Atlanta might not be in the cards. The Falcons just gave away Campbell’s jersey number … to former Eagle Kentavius Street.]

Eagles Rookie Profile: 6 things to know about Johnny Wilson – BGN
Beginning with the obvious, guarding a 6’7’’ receiver who runs a 4.57 felt impossible at times for opposing defenses. FSU would constantly throw back shoulder fades to him when they needed a chunk plays down the field, and he used his frame to box out corners and play above the rim. As mentioned, FSU took plenty of shots down the field due to Wilson’s ability to make contested catches and win on deep routes. He utilized his size as a run blocker and became an underrated piece to the Seminole ground game. PFF graded him as a 75.8 and 73.9 run blocker in 2022 and 2023, respectively. In every game last season, he played double-digit run snaps, which speaks to his character and willingness to put the team first. While I cannot quantify this, he developed great chemistry with all the quarterbacks on the roster, and in big moments, the ball would often go his way. He performed his best when Tate Rodemaker started against Florida last year and helped FSU dig out of a 12-0 hole to come back and win in the swamp. He finished with six catches and 64 yards; half came on third down. It helped that he played in the system for an extra year over Coleman, but he would often be the first read on third down.

Where are the Eagles deep, and not so deep, after the 2024 NFL Draft: Offense edition – PhillyVoice
The Eagles have overused Gainwell at times, designing plays for him in high leverage situations instead of keeping it simple and feeding guys like A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. As a result, some fans have soured on Gainwell, perhaps through no fault of Gainwell’s, but he’s a perfectly competent backup running back. Shipley is a fourth-round rookie, and thus unproven. Since Howie Roseman reassumed GM duties in 2016, he has drafted five Day 3 running backs. Wendell Smallwood, Donnel Pumphrey, and Gainwell combined for 145 carries their rookie seasons, or an average of 48 carries per back. To be determined what kind of usage Shipley will get. Are the Eagles in good shape here relative to the rest of the league? Given that Barkley has a well-documented history of injuries, the Eagles are probably a little thin here, compared to the rest of the NFL.

OTA Nuggets – Iggles Blitz
Here is a great note from BLG. “Parris Campbell saw a lot of targets from Hurts. His best grab was a leaping contested catch on a short-to-medium throw to beat Isaiah Rodgers. Campbell clearly seems to have already earned Hurts’ trust. That’s significant because we’ve seen that Hurts doesn’t automatically trust anybody they put out there with him. So true. The QB has to trust his receivers. They need to have a tight bond. If Campbell already has good mojo with Hurts, that will give him a much better chance of succeeding as the number three receiver for the Eagles.” DeVonta and AJ are both studs. The Eagles need someone to emerge as a good number three. Quez Watkins couldn’t do that. Julio Jones was too old. Maybe Campbell can do it. He’s got experience and speed. He also won’t expect a ton of touches. I think he’ll be good with the number three role, if he can prove to be reliable when the ball does come his way.

Dak Prescott says he focused on the team, not money, as his contract situation rolls on – Blogging The Boys
It’s no secret that longer the Cowboys wait to give Prescott a new deal, one he’s more than earned, the price will continue to go up. It’s a mistake the Cowboys made when they could’ve gotten Prescott for around $30 million per year back in 2019, but waited until March 2021 to finally give him a new deal that went for four years and $160 million with $126 million in guaranteed dollars. Now in a similar situation, Prescott said he worries about things that he has control over when speaking at the Cowboys’ OTA on Wednesday. “I don’t play for money. Never have never cared for it, to be honest with you, yeah,” Prescott said after the Cowboys’ OTAs on Wednesday. “Would give it up just to play this game. So, I allow that to the business people to say what it’s worth, what they’re supposed to give a quarterback of my play, a person of my play, a leader of my play. For me, it’s about, as I said, control what I can control and handle that part and the rest will take care of itself.” [BLG Note: Player on track to be the highest paid player in NFL history: “I don’t play for money.”]

The sins of Jerry Reese are visited upon Joe Schoen – Big Blue View
I don’t think Moses, said to be the writer of the Book of Deuteronomy, was a football fan, but if he was he would have understood the situation that Joe Schoen inherited when he became general manager of the New York Giants. The Giants haven’t been wandering in the desert for 40 years (yet), it only seems that way. Dave Gettleman turned out to be a false prophet. Schoen came in and, with head coach Brian Daboll, proclaimed a sign or wonder that came true…for one season. Now the question is whether they are false prophets as well. Most of the focus on the Schoen-Daboll tenure involves the players they have brought in, and rightly so. Sometimes fans lament the lack of talent left to them by Gettleman, and rightly so for that too, although Gettleman did bequeath them Dexter Lawrence and Andrew Thomas. But even all these years later, the influence of the Jerry Reese era still makes itself felt in the Giants’ never-ending quest to reach the promised land of being a consistently competitive team that occasionally wins it all. With the departure of Saquon Barkley, the Giants currently have zero players on their roster from drafts earlier than 2019. At the end of 2023 they had one, Justin Pugh, who came back under emergency circumstances when the offensive line was effectively nonexistent and whose 2024 status is undetermined. They did have some veterans who entered the league with other teams, but only a few who were key players.

What’s a realistic range of outcomes for Washington’s draft picks in 2024? – Hogs Haven
Round 1, Pick 2 – Jayden Daniels (QB). Washington’s new QB1 is going to be given every chance to succeed in his rookie season. “Success” would surely look something like this: Best Case Scenario – CJ Stroud (R1, P2). Stroud played in 15 games, threw for over 4,100 yards and notched 26 total TDs. He helped lead the Texans from a 3-13-1 record in 2022 to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth in his rookie season. If Daniels can match Stroud’s Offensive Rookie of the Year season, there will be wild celebrations in DC. Worst Case Scenario – Anthony Richardson (R1, P4). Taken two slots after Stroud, Richardson went 2-2 in the first five games for the Colts before going down with injury and missing the rest of the season. Concussed in week 2, and suffering an AC joint sprain that required shoulder surgery in week 5. Richardson is already well down the path that many worried he might go down before the draft.

Marcus Mariota chose 0 as a reminder that he’s being doubted – PFT
Marcus Mariota will be the first quarterback in NFL history to wear the number 0. On Friday, he explained the decision to embrace the jersey designation. “Zero is something for me that’s just a reminder,” Mariota said. “I’m in year 10. People don’t think I can do it anymore. It’s just kind of a reminder everyday of ‘nobody really gives you a chance.’ And it’s cool to be able to remind yourself.”

New Penn State allegations show the football program has learned nothing from the past – SB Nation
New allegations are looming over the Penn State football team, specifically head coach James Franklin and his involvement in the firing of former director of athletic medicine, Dr. Scott Lynch. Lynch is suing the school for wrongful dismissal, claiming that his job was terminated due to repeated clashes with Franklin for being unwilling to medically clear players before he and his staff believed they had recovered. Testimony about Franklin’s meddling in the health of student athletes is significant, but Thursday gave way to another allegation from inside the program that is far more reprehensible than wanting athletes to return to the field before they were able to.