When it comes to undrafted free agency and finding productive pieces in it, there is perhaps none better than Howie Roseman! And 2022 looks no different as Howie invested significant financial resources to land 4 names specifically.

Undrafted free agents make the league minimum salary which for 2022 is $705 000. The leverage a team uses to set themselves apart from the rest is guaranteed money and signing bonus. There is a limit on what can be given out in the form of a signing bonus, but total guarantees are at the discretion of the team.

In recent years, in fact, the guarantees delved out to some UDFAs exceed those of picks on day 3. Guarantees should not be taken lightly as those are what equal dead money on the cap. If you are giving that much to someone undrafted there is a likely plan to have them on your game day roster or give them every opportunity to compete for a spot.

Let’s dive into the four names who earned themselves over $200 000 in guarantees from the Eagles on their UDFA deals and why it’s significant.

QB, Nevada, Carson Strong

The biggest steal of the NFL draft, not just the Eagles draft, was LB Nakobe Dean, there is no arguing that. Landing a 1st round talent in the 3rd round is deserving of a long standing round of applause.

Per Mike Garafolo below, the second biggest steal of the draft may also be under contract with the Eagles now. Strong was widely mentioned as a day 2 pick, largely in the third round. In the end teams medical staffs ultimately stepped in and stopped most teams from pulling the trigger on it.

He had a unique knee surgery reattaching cartilage in the knee in his junior year of high school. This followed him to Nevada where he went onto have another surgery during his college tenure. The belief is there could be more procedures to come that just weren’t worth the risk in some teams medical professionals opinions.

For the QB factory that is Philadelphia, Strong makes a ton of sense as a cheap, potential backup behind Hurts. Of course, with the upside to start if something happened to Hurts. Which can in turn lead to a potential profit if they choose to deal Gardner Minshew, who only cost them a 6th round pick last season. There are still a number of teams looking into veteran backups and competition for their weaker quarterback rooms.

Strong is almost a polar opposite quarterback to Hurts. He has a huge arm with great velocity and touch, making him. He is also far more accurate. But what he has in arm talent, he lacks almost completely in mobility. He can maneuver around a pocket to find a better spot to set his feet and throw. Beyond that when trying to create for himself he looks like end of career Phillip Rivers or Ben Roethlisberger.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Strong in and Minshew out by week 1 of the 2022 season.

CB, Clemson, Mario Goodrich

If you couldn’t tell by Eagles Twitter leading up to the draft and even more aggressively on draft weekend. There might be a need across from Darius Slay at the CB2 spot. With the departure of Steven Nelson, the Eagles are left with a couple players acquired in-season for day 3 picks (Tay Gowan and Kary Vincent) plus a couple priority undrafted free agents.

Howie Roseman has expressed confidence in the secondary on a number of occasions this offseason. Insisting that it’s more of a media and fan generated need then what is felt by the team.

Mario Goodrich is one of the priority UDFA’s. Goodrich was a top 10 cornerback recruit nationally out of high school. In his first two seasons he was more of a reserve and 2020 he played some of the season after surgery on an ankle injury. 2021 was the ultimate coming out, with 42 tackles, 10 pass breakups and two interceptions across 12 starts.

Goodrich is an aggressive corner at the line of scrimmage, but lacks the speed on the outside to chase and keep up with the faster wide receivers of the NFL. Lance Zierlien says he has great Cover 2 traits, but might be worth more of a look at safety with his ability in run support and to tackle.

How many cornerbacks is that now that are better off getting looks at safety that have come through this organization?

RB, Oklahoma, Kennedy Brooks

After finding their identity in week 7 last season as a run first team, the Eagles opted to not bring back Jordan Howard. One of the driving forces behind that rushing success. Somebody needs to become the thunder to Sanders and Gainwells lightening.

Brooks seems to be the perfect fit! He opted out of 2020 due to Covid but in the three seasons he played he finished with over 1000 yards in all of them. He finished his career at Oklahoma with a massive 7 yards per carry on 472 attempts.

Despite those stats I think it is important to note, Kennedy Brooks is likely not going to emerge as the running back that takes Miles Sanders’ job. Or stops the Eagles from re-looking at the position next offseason. Nothing stands out that makes you go wow. He is just a solid running back who can foot short yardage and early down work for a running back room.

Although he lacks overall in speed, mainly his burst, and athleticism. He makes up for it with good vision, good size and incredible durability. There is no reason he shouldn’t make this Eagles roster. When push comes to shove, he would bring more to this room then Boston Scott if they opted to only keep three running backs.

DT, Idaho, Noah Elliss

The Eagles look like a team potentially transitioning to more 3-4 looks versus 4-3 on defense. One of the largest pieces of evidence, they are getting big, very big, at the interior of the defensive line. Jordan Davis, the Eagles first round pick at 13, is a 6-6, 340 pound mountain of a man. Now, Noah Ellis is a 6-4, 346 pound defensive tackle.

Ellis, out of Idaho, really didn’t show much in his first two seasons. In 2019, he suffered a season ending injury after five games. Then in 2021, they were a league with a shortened spring season due to covid. He played in 6 games producing 18 tackles, 1.5 for loss and 1 sack. He exploded in the fall over 10 games, eight starts, where he generated 46 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 1 sack and 3 pass breakups.

The defensive tackle position is relatively wide open in Philly after the 2022 season. Fletcher Cox is done after this year. Javon Hargrave is in the last year of his contract. And the future of the interior seems to be in place with Milton Williams and Jordan Davis. But what about the future DT3 and 4?

Elliss is a size and power problem for interior offensive linemen and eats up space and gaps. He also possesses nice athleticism giving his incredible size. If Elliss can show up and show the coaching staff what they want to see, he can easily usurp any other defensive tackle fighting for a roster spot. At the very least he lands himself on the practice squad.

The fact that these four undrafted players grabbed nearly $1 million in guarantees combined is a big deal.

Howie is building with a vision of getting younger for a change. Prior off seasons have been full of adding bridge gap veterans, restructuring passing their prime veterans who Howie, coaches or fans love and a drive to remain mediocre.

Howie has found great success with late round picks and undrafted players in the past. Fans have no reason not to believe there is some intriguing potential in these four names. After all, Howie showed them the money.

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