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Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the Eagles are reportedly expected to trade Mychal Kendricks this offseason. (OK, don’t actually stop me, because I need to get through the rest of this post. But you know what I mean.)
For real, though, Ian Rapoport says the Eagles’ weakside linebacker is expected to be shopped to other teams now that Nigel Bradham is staying in Philadelphia.
The #Eagles keep one of their own, and now they are expected to shop LB Mychal Kendricks, who has a 7.6M cap hit. https://t.co/Q7rG9LhcMi
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2018
In addition to Bradham staying, the Eagles also reportedly signed free agent linebacker Corey Nelson. Nelson reportedly turned down an offer to stay with the Broncos because Philly was offering him more playing time. The Eagles reportedly see Nelson as a weak-side linebacker, so that strongly indicates Kendricks isn’t in Philly’s plans moving forward.
Again, this should come as a surprise to no one. The 27-year-old Kendricks played well in an increased role last season but his performance has been erratic throughout his career. He’s a clearly not a favorite of Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who only played Kendricks in about 27% of Philly’s defensive snaps in 2016 when Bradham and Jordan Hicks were healthy.
Kendricks has a $7.6 million cap figure in 2018, which is the ninth highest on the roster. The Eagles can save $4.4 million by trading or cutting him. Shipping him out to another team would also allow the Eagles to recoup a draft pick, which would be great since the Eagles currently only have six selections in the 2018 NFL Draft and none on Day 2.
If money wasn’t an issue, keeping Kendricks around for depth would be ideal given Hicks’ injury history. But the addition of Nelson gives the Eagles more insurance there. Philadelphia also has 2017 fifth-round pick Nate Gerry returning for his second season. He factors into the equation. So does the fact the Eagles could draft another linebacker this year.
This finally feels like the offseason that Kendricks will be traded. He requested as much last year and I think the Eagles will grant it to him this time around.