Bell mentions Eagles as potential landing spot this offseason, Maddox at safety

Le’Veon Bell has said that he will return to the Steelers this season in week seven. This is peculiar given that the Steelers just started shopping him around to other teams. Bell has also stated that he believes the Philadelphia Eagles are among his potential landing spots this offseason. Other candidates as landing places for Bell are the Browns, 49ers, Jets and the Colts. For Philadelphia, this would be a true luxury pick up, but is it feasible?

Can the Eagles afford Le’Veon Bell?

The Eagles are currently projected to be 20 million dollars over the cap next season. This means that Howie Roseman will have to make some moves to get his team under the cap. In addition, if the Eagles were to sign Bell they would need to free up an additional $15 million minimum as Bell has publically stated that he wants to be paid starting quarterback money.

Le’Veon Bell. Photo by Sports Illustrated.

For the Eagles this would mean more cuts. Clearly the Eagles could not bring back Ronald Darby, Jay Ajayi or Darren Sproles. The Eagles would likely not be able to pay Brandon Graham either and others would likely have to take pay cuts.

The worst part for the Eagles, however, is Carson Wentz’ impending contract. He will likely command top-five compensation for a quarterback which will heavily restrict the Eagles ability to secure Bell and a well-built team around him.

Overall, Philadelphia could technically afford to pay Bell. However, it would not be a smart move for the Eagles team as a whole. It would weaken the Eagles at many other positions and only strengthen the running back position making it a poor idea.

Overall the chances of the Eagles securing Le’Veon Bell’s services are fairly low, say a 10% chance. However, never put it past GM Howie Roseman to surprise everyone time and time again.

Eagles move nickel corner Avonte Maddox to safety

Avonte Maddox. Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.

While the Eagles are losing starting safety Rodney McLeod to a season-ending MCL injury, they decided to address the issue with an in-house solution by moving Avonte Maddox from corner to safety. He provided good coverage and even came up with an interception. Eagles’ defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz says “there’s a lot of carryover between nickel and safety. Even though some things are new, he’s got excellent quickness, great eyes for the football. He’s got the combination of being able to cover and also play the run. All the things we liked about him as a nickel we also like about him as a safety”. Schwartz also noted that we should expect to see Maddox there more in the coming weeks.

Featured image from The Inquirer at Philly.com/Associated Press

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