The Eagles’ wide receiving corps played a large role in Nick Foles posting a ridiculous ratio of 27 touchdown passes to just two interceptions during the 2013 season, but multiple key pieces of that unit will be facing free agency this offseason. With both Riley Cooper and Jeremy Maclin poised to hit the open market next month, GM Howie Roseman tells Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com that the Eagles’ wide receiver situation is “complicated.”
“You have guys that you want to have back,” Roseman said, “And also, what resources are you going to devote to that position with the guys who are already on the roster? And then you look at it in the draft, obviously a very strong position, so I think … it’s a complicated situation but we’ve never ruled out bringing both of those guys back.”
As Mosher writes, the Eagles have the cap flexibility to re-sign both players, particularly since a knee injury wiped out Maclin’s season and likely derailed his chances of earning a lucrative long-term deal. Still, the club has other positions to address, as well as a few players who will need to be extended within the next year or two. Throw in the fact that Roseman’s comments suggest the team is eyeing receiving options in the draft, and it stands to reason that perhaps Philadelphia will let Cooper or Maclin walk.
A source tells Mosher that the Eagles and Cooper have yet to engage in extension talks of any substance, though that will likely happen later this month, perhaps at the league’s scouting combine. It’s not clear how far talks with Maclin have progressed, if they have at all. But for what it’s worth, Mosher wrote last month that he had a “hunch” the club would re-sign Maclin to a one-year pact and let Cooper walk.