Where the Ex-Eagles Have Landed

Bradley Fletcher signed a one-year deal with the Patriots today, according to multiple reports. With the exception of James Casey, all of the notable players that fell from the tree during Chip Kelly‘s massive offseason shakeup have found new homes.

Here’s a recap:

Bradley Fletcher
New team: New England Patriots
New deal: 1 year, max of $2.5 million (per Adam Caplan)
Quick thought: Fletcher and Cary Williams were both signed by top-end teams. Some think this reflects poorly on Billy Davis and his system. Could Davis have put his corners in better situations at times? No doubt. But let’s not get carried away here. No matter the scheme, your corners are going to be locked in a good amount of one-on-one fights throughout the year. The Eagles’ starting tandem — and Fletcher in particular — lost too many of them, plain and simple. Patrick Chung is an example of how being surrounded by good players can lighten your load and limit the degree that you’re exposed, and that could happen with Fletcher and Williams as well. But they aren’t suddenly going to become much better players because they’re out of Philly.

Cary Williams
New team: Seattle Seahawks
New deal: 3 years, $18 million ($7 million guaranteed)
Quick thought: Seattle brought Williams in to help make up for the loss of Byron Maxwell, who cashed in with the Eagles to the tune of 6 years, $63 million ($25.5 guaranteed). Given the supporting cast around him — particularly at safety — it would be no surprise if Williams held his own with the Seahawks. You can make the case that the Eagles would be better off with Williams on the roster, particularly if they had been able to restructure his deal and lower his $8-plus million cap number. As far as we can tell, though, a new contract was never discussed.

Nate Allen
New team: Oakland Raiders
New deal: 4 years, $23 million ($11.8 million guaranteed)
Quick thought: Just a stunner of a deal. Hard to imagine that another team came close to this number. You can look at this as evidence of just how desperate teams are for quality safety play, but mostly this just feels like the Raiders being the Raiders. Good for Allen. We had nothing but positive experiences covering him, and wish him well.

Todd Herremans
New team: Indianapolis Colts
New deal: 1 year, $2.25 million (1 million guaranteed)
Quick thought: Herremans carried a cap number of just north of $5 million in ’15. Given his recent injuries and how much the Eagles have spent this offseason, the move makes sense from a financial standpoint. Now they need to figure out how to replace him.

Trent Cole
New team: Indianapolis Colts
New deal: 2 years, $14 million ($8 million guaranteed)
Quick thought: Cole recognized that his old contract did not reflect his current value, and was willing to restructure. The two sides never got close on a number, though, and Cole left feeling disrespected, apparently. His departure led to the re-signing of Brandon Graham. Given that Graham can be more of a long-term answer, this could work out OK for the Eagles.

James Casey
New team: Free agent
New deal: N/A
Quick thought: Casey reportedly had visits with Cincinnati, Washington, Denver, Arizona and Jacksonville. Looks like he’s taking his time finding a new home, but he will find one. He was schedule to make $4 million this season before being released.

LeSean McCoy
New team: Buffalo Bills
New deal: 5 years, $40 million ($26.5 M guaranteed)
Quick thought: McCoy was broken-hearted when word of the trade first came down, and wasn’t exactly excited about heading to Buffalo. The Bills made it a less bitter pill to swallow by inking him to a generous new deal that ups his guaranteed money from zero to $26.5 million. In the process, they reduced his 2015 cap number to $5.5 million. He was scheduled to count $10.25 million against the Eagles’ cap this season. The combined cap number for DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews this year is $7 million.

Jeremy Maclin
New team: Kansas City Chiefs
New deal: 5 years, $55 million ($22.5 million guaranteed)
Quick thought: Maclin is the only player on this list that the Eagles were truly committed to keeping. They would have retained Cole at a team-friendly price, but they really pushed to make something work with Maclin. Their decision to not match the Chiefs’ lucrative offer in the end leaves a big hole at receiver. Was it the right call? Sheil and I debated that today.

Nick Foles
New team: St. Louis Rams
New deal: N/A
Quick thought: Foles remains on the last year of his rookie deal and is scheduled to make a touch over $1.5 million this season, per spotrac. It will be interesting to see if the Rams try to get a new contract done before the season or take the wait-and-see approach.

All-in-all, the ex-Eagles did very well for themselves over the past couple weeks.

(Note: We originally didn’t have Foles included on this list because he didn’t receive a new deal, but decided to add him after a couple of you asked about his omission. We gave further thoughts on the QB move here.)