Only the Vikings and the Raiders will devote more cap space to their respective offensive lines than the Eagles, as Paul Domovitch of Philly.com details. Philadelphia has clearly made the decision to reinvest in its front five after a 2015 season that saw the club rank 20th in pass protection and 30th in adjusted line yards, both of which are Football Outsiders metrics. Guard, specifically, has been addressed, as former Texan Brandon Brooks scored a $40MM deal with the Eagles, while Stefen Wisniewski will compete to start on the interior, and will at worst act as a top reserve.
Here’s more from the NFL’s two East divisions…
- Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie missed the Giants‘ voluntary workouts today while attending to a personal matter, but he’s expected to return to OTAs on Tuesday, a source tells Jordan Raanan of NJ.com. On its face, the item isn’t all that newsworthy, but DRC’s absence did give first-round cornerback Eli Apple the opportunity to take reps with the first-team defense.
- The Bills could be a suitor for the recently-released Brian Hartline, opines Joe Buscaglia of WKBW (Twitter link). Hartline was cut loose by Cleveland on Monday in an effort to save roughly $3MM against the 2016 cap. Buffalo is in need of wide receiver depth, and recently met with free agent pass-catcher Andre Roberts. Hartline might come with an even more affordable price tag than Roberts, and would presumably act as the Bills’ No. 3 behind Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods.
- The Redskins have a history of free agent flops, and Rich Tandler of CSNMidAtlantic.com fears that high-priced newcomer Josh Norman will be the next in that long line. Norman isn’t a true shutdown corner who can take the opposing team’s receiver out of the game, says Tandler, adding that Norman hasn’t posted a ton of interceptions in the past. Even though Norman can contribute, Tandler doesn’t see him putting up the kind of production that some fans are expecting.
Zach Links contributed to this post.