The Philadelphia Eagles pride themselves on being ahead of the curve when it comes to the NFL landscape and that manifested itself in November of last year when the team added accomplished veterans Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh to the interior of the defensive line after the injury bug hit.
Both Joseph and Suh had maxed out at least a Pro Bowl level (in the case of Suh, it was an All-Pro standard) during lengthy careers in which they made a lot of money. Neither closed the book on continuing to play into their mid-30s but they also didn’t need to play, especially if it meant going through “the grind” for the veteran minimum.
Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman essentially created a new market for others to copy moving forward by convincing Joseph and Suh to go ring chasing for half a season. No “voluntary” offseason activity, no training camp, and no 17-game grind for aging players, all for a decent paycheck about double the prorated minimum.
Call it the Mercenary Market.
Admittedly it’s a limited market – one in which only contenders needing reinforcements due to attrition would even begin to think about. Even borderline playoff teams, never mind struggling clubs, will simply default to the usual next-man-up mentality with younger, more cost-effective players and hope to develop them while getting the start-up costs out of the way.
But, for the handful of teams that really have a chance at Super Bowl glory, this new avenue is a smart way to do business as long as the supply is there.
The Eagles didn’t even accomplish their ultimate goal last season, coming up just short in Super Bowl LVII against Kansas City but the Joseph and Suh experiments were considered successes inside the building with both players contributing mightily to an NFC championship roster.
Suh, now 36, also liked how his 13th and perhaps last NFL season unfolded and noted his training-camp days are over.
"I have no desire to be in a training camp," Suh said Monday on NFL Total Access, where he’s serving as a guest analyst this week.
That means the clock starts for him Week 1.
"I will come in and watch and look and give some advice, but when Week 1 happens, I'll be ready,” Suh said.
The reality, though, is that organizations probably will not be ready to stifle the potential growth of long-haul players for a stop-gap until championships are in reach and learning on the job isn’t conducive to reaching that ceiling.
Moving forward the Eagles themselves are planning to go with Fletcher Cox and youth on the interior of the defensive line by ramping up things for Jordan Davis and bringing in his old Georgia teammate Jalen Carter, the No. 9 overall pick in last month’s draft.
Third-year pros Milton Williams and Marlon Tuipulotu are also in the mix, along with free-agent pickup Kentavius Street, seventh-round pick Moro Ojomo, and first-year player Noah Elliss.
Last season Philadelphia looked deep as well right up until they weren’t when Davis suffered a high-ankle sprain, Tuipulotu was shut down for the season with a PCL injury, and practice-squad elevation Marvin Wilson failed to step up.
As long as players like Suh and Joseph want to play, and keep themselves in shape, another situation will almost surely unveil itself.
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