Anthony Mazziotti
The reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles have a lot of question marks heading into the offseason. Will they trade Nick Foles? Will they re-sign Nigel Bradham? What will Jason Peters and Darren Sproles do? How will Howie Roseman get under the cap?
To me, the most underrated move the Eagles need to get done is re-signing Beau Allen. Here’s why:
After Fletcher Cox and Tim Jernigan the Eagles defensive tackles are Destiny Vaeao and Elijah Qualls. Both Vaeao and Qualls were in workout clothes during the Super Bowl. Vaeao appeared to be good in a pinch during the 2017 season and we only saw limited snaps out of Qualls. Last season Destiny Vaeao had 10 total tackles and Elijah Qualls had four. Beau Allen had 20 and one sack. If the Eagles don’t re-sign him defensive tackle will go from a deep strength to a potential liability.
If Beau Allen walks in free agency the Eagles will need to either sign a similar-style defensive tackle in free agency or use one of their draft picks to add depth. In my humble opinion, I think it would be in the team’s best interest to keep the known commodity with playoff experience.
I know it’s not necessarily the most important thing, but Beau Allen is also a great locker room guy. He fits the culture here perfectly. Plus he’s a social media gold mine, check out some highlights below:
Update: I’ve got hands #athlete pic.twitter.com/5pi3QdYe8J
— Beau Allen (@Beau_Allen) February 9, 2018
Now that we won the Super Bowl I officially did not peak in High School #2009HomecomingKing
— Beau Allen (@Beau_Allen) February 8, 2018
You already know what time it is!! ??? #EaglesCrucialCatch #forsuz pic.twitter.com/6j02azwp0s
— Beau Allen (@Beau_Allen) October 8, 2017
Get to da choppah!!! ??? #RunEaglesRun pic.twitter.com/aTJ3FyPi7c
— Beau Allen (@Beau_Allen) January 3, 2016
Ultimately football is a business, it will come down to dollars and cents and if Beau’s price is too high he won’t be in midnight green next season. Judging by his past performance, he won’t get the money that Bennie Logan got last offseason (one year 8-million dollars). Upon looking at other defensive tackle’s salaries and their performances I think Beau Allen can be re-signed to a team friendly deal. Frostee Rucker, Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle, finished last season with 29 tackles and 1.5 sacks. His salary was 1.08 million dollars last season. Based off that logic I think the Birds can lock Beau Allen to an annual salary similar to that which isn’t back breaking in the least.
I understand that re-signing Beau Allen is probably the least of the Eagles’ worries right now, but I think having him as a key cog in that defensive line rotation for the next four years will do wonders for our trenches, the locker room, and everyone that follows him on Twitter and Instagram. Bring back Beau! Four more years!
You can follow Anthony Mazziotti on Twitter (@AntMazziotti) and e-mail him at [email protected].
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