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Bowen: Eagles expect leadership from new, young WRs Smith, Jeffery

THE EAGLES' wide receiving corps, in addition to being ineffective - yes, some of you are thinking of less kind descriptions - also was this: really young and inexperienced.

THE EAGLES' wide receiving corps, in addition to being ineffective - yes, some of you are thinking of less kind descriptions - also was this: really young and inexperienced.

The sage of the group was 24-year-old Jordan Matthews, playing his third NFL season. This proved less than ideal, questions of talent aside. As Nelson Agholor's confidence melted down, there seemed to be no one on hand who could lead the 2015 first-round pick back from the void - even the team's 36-year-old wide receivers coach, Greg Lewis, was an NFL coaching novice.

The addition of wideouts Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith in free agency was about adding talent, certainly, but it also was about adding leadership, about providing experienced guidance, the first step there having been taken earlier in the offseason, when Lewis was fired in favor of veteran coach Mike Groh.

The dean of the group now is Smith, who has six NFL seasons and a Super Bowl title behind him at age 28.

"I've been luckier than most young guys in this league, because I played with Anquan Boldin and Steve Smith (in Baltimore), two guys that are Hall of Famers in my book," Smith said Friday, after signing his three-year, $15 million contract. "One thing those guys taught me was, you give everything you know, knowledge-wise, so that the person you're competing with can take your spot. But then you work hard so that doesn't happen.

"That's the way I feel here being brought in as a 'veteran guy.' I have to make sure I'm a good leader and leading by example, while I'm also doing my job and trying to make plays."

This theme also emerged with Jeffery, and when Eagles de facto general manager Howie Roseman spoke.

"Most definitely," Jeffery said, when asked whether he wanted to be the kind of mentor Brandon Marshall was for him when Jeffery came to the Bears as a second-round pick in 2012. "The young guys, they always need some help . . . a little guidance here and there . . . If I could just teach those guys what the older guys taught me."

Roseman spoke of wanting Dorial Green-Beckham (6-5, 237) to learn from a more polished big man like Jeffery (6-4, 230), and for Agholor to learn from Smith, "how he is every day."

Roseman made reference to player personnel vice president Joe Douglas, who was a Baltimore scout when Smith was drafted and a Bears executive last year who got to know Jeffery.

"That was one of the big things Joe has talked about since the day he walked in, about having guys in the room who have done it before, to help the younger players," Roseman said. "It was a great example for us, just watching Atlanta (in the playoffs) and seeing (pass rusher Victor) Beasley with Dwight Freeney."

Jeffery didn't do much to clear up the mystery of how the highest-profile under-30 wideout on the market ended up taking a one-year deal with the Eagles, a contract potentially less generous than the $14 million figure reported Thursday. The NFL Network's Mike Garafolo said Jeffery actually is getting a $1 million guaranteed base, a $7.75 million signing bonus, a $750,000 workout bonus and another $4.5 million in incentives, for yards, catches and making the Pro Bowl.

This explains how the Eagles are still under the salary cap; the hit apparently is $9.5 million, instead of the full $14 mil.

Roseman called the Jeffery contract "a win-win situation."

"When you have guys on one-year deals, you still have options," he said. "You have tags at your disposal. You have exclusive negotiating rights before free agency. For us, we thought it was a great opportunity to get a player who is extremely talented and has something to prove, and wanted to be here."

Jeffery called Philadelphia "a perfect fit, the right situation for my family," but he didn't want to talk about the possibility of signing for a longer term later.

Roseman said the Eagles targeted Jeffery going into free agency. Left unsaid was that they surely envisioned a longer deal at a lower annual rate. But Roseman emphasized that they weren't signing some guy they didn't know much about, just because he was considered one of the top free agents. (Ahem, Byron Maxwell, ahem.)

"I think the other thing when we talk about all these guys, and Alshon in particular, Joe (Douglas) was with him in Chicago. Dwayne Joseph, our pro director, was with him in Chicago; our wide receiver coach was with him in Chicago; (running backs coach) Duce Staley, we all know about him in South Carolina (where Staley and Jeffery grew up and played). We had a lot of information on him, and he wanted to be here, which is always a good thing to have, and he was excited about the direction we were going in. We've got a long way to go and a lot of things to do, but we felt like (Thursday) was a good day."

Both receivers, not surprisingly, said quarterback Carson Wentz was a factor in their deliberations.

Jeffery wrote for theplayerstribune.com about texting with Wentz after agreeing to become an Eagle. He recounted the story for reporters.

"Like I texted him, my job is to help him win the MVP. Which I truly believe - the sky's the limit for him," said Jeffery, 27. "He said, 'I don't really care about MVP. I want to win championships.' I was like, 'That's right. That's the right mindset, the right attitude.' "

Smith said: "I've watched Carson play from a distance. You can see that he has that 'it' factor. He's still young, so he's not perfect. But I know that he has the potential to get it done. To be able to play with a guy like that, and also grow with him, I'm looking forward to it."

Smith, released two seasons into a five-year, $40 million free agent deal the 49ers came to regret, reportedly has only a $500,000 Eagles guarantee. He said this wasn't a problem, "because I'll make the team." Of course, if he makes the team and gets hurt, it just might become a problem.

The length of the Jeffery deal, the one-year contract signed by guard Chance Warmack, and the lack of investment in any of the three players from a guarantee perspective raised the question of whether these were the "Band-Aid"-type moves Roseman disparaged earlier in the offseason. He offered clarification Friday.

"For us, a 'Band-Aid' is a guy who's in the twilight of his career and doesn't have a lot of time left, and probably not someone that you would want to extend going forward," Roseman said. "But in terms of what we got here, you know, we got guys who are in their 20s, mid- to late 20s, which is always stuff that we talked about, and guys that we have an opportunity, if they do a good job, to keep here for the future. I think it's consistent with what we've been talking about. We're excited that we were able to get those particular guys."

bowenl@phillynews.com

@LesBowen

Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog