Green With Envy
With free agency right around the corner, the Philadelphia Eagles have wasted no time in ensuring Nick Foles has no shortage of weapons at his disposal next season. Over the last few days, they’ve re-signed wide receivers Riley Cooper (five years, $25 million) and Jeremy Maclin (one year, $5.5 million) in order to further strengthen an offense that was one of the NFL’s best in Chip Kelly’s first year.
Let’s take a closer look at the how the dual signings could impact players on your dynasty rosters.
Nick Foles QB PHI
As our own Dan Meylor pointed out in our recent Philadephia Eagles team capsule, the sky is the limit for Foles as he posted a ridiculous quarterback rating of 119.2 (best in the league) and an equally unbelievable 27:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio on his way to 2,891 passing yards last year.
After being one of the biggest surprises in all of fantasy football, Foles will have to deal with something he’s never had to deal with in the NFL this upcoming season – expectations. With Maclin and Cooper back in the fold joining perennial uber-stud LeSean McCoy, an emerging Zach Ertz and the explosive DeSean Jackson, Foles will have no shortage of options to throw to each and every Sunday.
There are those out there who believe last season’s production was a fluke. While nobody can possibly expect a two-interception regular season coming again, it’s more than realistic to think Foles can post 3,200 yards, 30 touchdowns and around ten interceptions in this offense. The signings of Cooper and Maclin do nothing but solidify his status as a low-end QB1 in dynasty leagues. There is risk with Foles since we don’t have a large body of work, but those who take risks are the ones who are typically rewarded in dynasty leagues.
Jeremy Maclin, WR PHI
It was a little surprising to see Maclin settle for a one-year “prove it” deal this off-season without even testing a market that looks to have some more money floating around with the salary cap rumored to be getting larger over the next three seasons. Regardless, he’ll return to battle Cooper for WR2 duties in Philadelphia and a right to start opposite DeSean Jackson for yet another season.
There are obvious questions about Maclin’s explosiveness after his second torn ACL on the same knee. If healthy, he should have little trouble beating out Cooper and playing a significant number of snaps next season. He’s never lacked for production when healthy, as he’s posted 258 catches for 3,453 yards and 26 touchdowns over his five years as an Eagle.
Dynasty owners need to take a wait and see approach here. If his health holds, Maclin could serve as a low-end WR2 or high-end WR3 with upside in Chip Kelly’s run-first offense. However, expectations should be tempered. The best case for dynasty owners is to see Maclin return to form, prove he’s 100% healthy, then hit the free agent market again next year in hopes for a more prominent role on a team.
Riley Cooper, WR PHI
I’m personally shocked Cooper was able to land a deal this big. In his fourth season, he had his best year with 47 catches for 835 yards and eight touchdowns, but that accounts for 34% of his career catches, 55% of his career receiving yardage, 53% of his career touchdown total and 100% of his comments at Kenny Chesney concerts.
While he could simply be a late bloomer, this isn’t a player who has shown game breaking ability in reality or fantasy. He’s a good blocker and fits the Chip Kelly scheme, but he’s likely more valuable to the Eagles in reality than he is to owners in fantasy. If Maclin bolts after next year, his prospects could be better moving forward, but Cooper has the look of a flex play at best right now.
DeSean Jackson, WR PHI and LeSean McCoy, RB PHI
The “Seans” and their fantasy owners really have little to worry about here. If anything, bringing back Cooper and Maclin may just keep defenses a little more honest and ease up some coverage on these two. They’re going to get their targets, there’s no doubt about that. I will say Jackson doesn’t have quite as much leverage in contract talks at the moment, though.
Jason Avant, Damaris Johnson and Arrelious Benn, WRs PHI
Avant won’t be on the roster next season and the other two receivers here lost any type of sleeper appeal for next season. Chip Kelly can feed a lot of mouths, but even he has a limit. Johnson should likely stick around on some deep rosters, but the other two can be safely removed from your teams.
Zach Ertz, TE PHI
With Brent Celek likely moving on to free agency, Ertz is set to have a much bigger role next year. Cooper coming back does take away some of his red zone appeal, but Ertz is a great target for dynasty league owners as he still possesses TE1 potential.
Eric Decker, WR DEN
You may wonder why he’s on this list, but the answer is simple. With Maclin off the market, Decker will have no shortage of suitors. With the salary cap getting bigger, he’s about to cash in somewhere and it’s most likely not going to be Denver.
Stay with us all off-season as we’ll be doing what we do – staying busy!
Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK
