Kyle Rudolph is expected to undergo foot surgery soon, and he may be in for extensive rehab. The new Giants tight end is believed to be dealing with a Lisfranc injury, Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets. The troublesome foot malady can be difficult to shake, but Rudolph expects to be ready for Week 1. This injury is similar to what Evan Engram dealt with in 2019. Engram underwent surgery to address his Lisfranc issue in December 2019 and was ready for training camp last year. Rudolph’s timetable is considerably more condensed, which likely led to the delay in the veteran tight end signing his Giants contract. Engram and Rudolph would give the Giants one of the NFL’s top tight end tandems, but the former’s injury history and the latter’s current issue cloud that situation to some degree.
Here is more from the NFC East:
- GM Howie Roseman and Eagles scouts had differing opinions on which players to select with the team’s top two draft choices last year. The veteran GM and Eagles coaches’ preference for Jalen Reagor won out over the consensus scouts’ preference: Justin Jefferson. Roseman also veered from his scouts’ recommendation in Round 2, tabbing Jalen Hurts over safety Jeremy Chinn, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes. The Eagles will bank on the latter move this season, having since traded Carson Wentz and seemingly signed Joe Flacco to back up Hurts. Chinn went to the Panthers at No. 64 — 11 picks after Hurts — and finished second in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. Going to the Vikings one pick after Reagor, Jefferson finished second in the Offensive Rookie of the Year voting.
- Frank Reich‘s future took a major turn in 2018, when Josh McDaniels‘ backtracking on his Colts commitment ended up re-routing the Eagles OC to Indianapolis. This came shortly after Reich played a key role in the Eagles’ first Super Bowl championship. Reich nearly saw his status change in 2017, however. A front office push for Reich’s firing existed, according to McLane, who adds Doug Pederson managed to save Reich’s job. In Wentz’s first season — a 7-9 Eagles campaign, which was also Reich’s first as Eagles OC — the team ranked 22nd in total offense. They rose to seventh in 2017, with Wentz finishing first in QBR. The Eagles, who promoted Mike Groh to replace Reich and then fired Groh after the 2019 season, have since hired Reich’s top Colts protégé (Nick Sirianni) as head coach.
- Brandon Graham agreed to restructure his deal to provide the Eagles with additional cap space last month. Graham’s adjusted contract can be classified as a one-year extension, with Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweeting the new deal is worth nearly $20MM over two years. The Eagles converted Graham’s salaries into prorated bonuses, with the 11-year veteran set to earn barely $1MM in base salary in each of the next three seasons. The team tacked on three void years to the contract, per OverTheCap, which indicates each of Graham’s cap numbers over the life of this through-2023 contract are south of $10MM.
- After hiring Dan Quinn as defensive coordinator, the Cowboys brought both Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee over from Atlanta. The latter’s deal will be worth the veteran minimum, according to ESPN.com’s Todd Archer (on Twitter). Kazee will count just $988K against the Cowboys’ cap. Attempting to return from an Achilles tear, Kazee will collect $250K guaranteed.
Why even have scouts? I could be GM for the eagles with a better success rate. Howie is a contract guy who got them into cap hell. He made good moves in FA in 2017, but it is not sustainable to pay dudes in FA to win. You can’t whiff on an entire draft class and expect to succeed.
I’m not as down on Roseman’s tenure as everyone (not especially high on it either, mind you), but those two decisions look pretty bad. Hurts was attractive for many reasons, but it looks bad to pick a guy that you at the time had no intention of starting. So by picking him and ignoring his scouts, Roseman was really banking on his long term value. Chinn, however, was a really great rookie that played at a position of need for Philly. Jefferson should have been a no brainer over Reagor though.
Scouts don’t know everything, but those two picks potentially could be hard for years to come.
Makes you wonder how many other times he ignored the scouts tho.
Oh yeah, I agree completely with you.
Every team misses on picks, but Roseman’s choice of Hurts made no sense whatsoever given the status of Wentz at the time and the needs of Philadelphia at receiver for the 2020 season (losing Nelson Agholor to F/A and Alshon Jeffery to a major foot injury in 2019). Clearly Roseman is a Roseman fan, but maybe he’ll get his comeuppance when the Eagles finish 6-11.
I agree.
Lurie should sell the Eagles,new owner get rid of HR.let us have a good team again,I do believe the owner is a a big part of the problem.
I preferred Jefferson at No. 21, but my main problem is that you could have traded back to select Reagor and gotten something extra. Hurts could have been selected in the third round and still gotten Chinn in the 2nd.
If the Eagles really wanted things to work out with Wentz, you don’t draft a QB in the first or second round at this point. If they didn’t believe Wentz any longer, then they should have traded him before last year’s draft.