Eagles still haven't made contract offer to Walter Thurmond, per report

It was reported last week that the Philadelphia Eagles haven't opened negotations with impending free agent defensive back Walter Thurmond. Now there's more reason to believe the Eagles won't get a contract extension with him done before NFL free agency begins.

BTW, I'm told it doesn't look great for #Eagles getting deal done w/Walt Thurmond before March 9 start of free agency. No offer made yet.

— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) February 24, 2016

There's obviously still time for things to change, but for now it's looking like the Eagles might let Thurmond test the market. That doesn't necessarily mean the Eagles don't want Thurmond back. It does mean that they only want him back at a reasonable rate, however. And if another team makes a bigger offer to Thurmond, and it only takes one, then he's gone.

The Eagles losing Thurmond wouldn't be the end of the world. He might not be a great fit in Jim Schwartz's new defense anyway. Still, Thurmond made a number of impact plays for the Eagles in 2015. He was a good starter at safety. If the Eagles lose Thurmond, they'll need a new starter next to Malcolm Jenkins (who wants Thurmond back). The problem with that is there are no obvious in-house replacements to take his place. Chris Maragos is a special teams ace. Maybe Jerome Couplin and/or Ed Reynolds could be something but they're far from proven at this point.

The bad news is that losing Thurmond means the team has another roster hole to fill. The Eagles may very well need another new starting safety in 2016. The good news is that they'll have some options in the NFL Draft and free agency.