Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Domo: Why Eagles should & shouldn't pursue these receivers

MAYBE THE LIGHT finally will come on for Nelson Agholor next season and maybe it won't. Maybe the lump of clay that is Dorial Green-Beckham will eventually take the shape of a playmaking wide receiver and maybe it won't.

MAYBE THE LIGHT finally will come on for Nelson Agholor next season and maybe it won't.

Maybe the lump of clay that is Dorial Green-Beckham will eventually take the shape of a playmaking wide receiver and maybe it won't.

Despite saying encouraging things about both players last week at the NFL Scouting Combine, Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman and his staff can't afford to sit on their hands and wait for that to happen.

They have to approach free agency and the draft as if Agholor and DGB never will be significant contributors, because, well, that's where the smart money is right now.

They need to add wide receivers, plural, and they need to start the process now, not next month in a draft that is deep at a lot of positions but not wideout.

Here's a look at what's on the shelf right now and why the Eagles should - and shouldn't - be interested in each of them:

Brandin Cooks

5-10, 190

Reasons to be interested: He's young (only 23) fast, talented and still under contract. He has 215 catches in his first three pro seasons, including 78 last year, and has 17 touchdown catches the last two years. He has 33 catches of 20-plus yards the last two years and would give Carson Wentz a much-needed vertical threat and an effective third-down weapon.

Reasons not to be interested: There are multiple bidders for Cooks and he won't come cheap. While the Eagles need to upgrade their wide-receiving corps, they also can't afford to spend foolishly for him. The fact that the Saints seem willing to part with a talented player such as Cooks raises the question of whether they know something about Cooks that nobody else does. Then again, the Saints have been doing a lot of dumb things the last few years and this might just be the latest example of that.

Terrelle Pryor

6-6, 240

Reasons to be interested: The converted quarterback caught 77 passes for 1,007 yards with Cleveland in his first season as a wide receiver. Pryor, 27, is only going to get better and better as he learns the position. He is a big target who would help the Eagles on third down and in the red zone. He caught 17 third-down passes last year, 16 for first downs. He was targeted 13 times in the red zone and had nine receptions with four touchdowns.

Reasons not to be interested: The cost. Pryor will cost a fortune to sign. The Eagles probably could create enough cap space to sign him by releasing some veteran players. But it wouldn't leave them with much room to do anything else.

Alshon Jeffery

6-4, 230

Reasons to be interested: He's a big target, and at just 27, he fits the building-around-Carson requirement. He'd immediately make the Eagles better in two areas where they struggled last season - third down and the red zone. Jeffery caught 64 third-down passes for the Bears in 2013-15, 53 of them for first downs. Had six red-zone TDs in '14.

Reasons not to be interested: As with Pryor, the cost. Jeffery will get overpaid in a big way in free agency and really isn't in the Eagles' price range. Plus he's a boom-or-bust guy. Might help a team win a Super Bowl or might be a major disappointment. He's missed 11 games the last two years and had just six touchdowns in 2015-16.

Torrey Smith

6-1, 205

Reasons to be interested: Had a pair of disappointing seasons with the 49ers, which should make him more affordable than some of the other guys on the market. Smith, who just turned 28, is a vertical threat with a 17.0 career yards-per-catch average. In four seasons with Baltimore, he had 30 touchdown catches, including 11 in 2014. Had 36 catches of 20-plus yards in 2012-13. Had 14 red-zone touchdowns in a three-season span from 2012-14. The Eagles' top two personnel men - Joe Douglas and Andy Weidl - both worked for the Ravens and are very familiar with Smith.

Reasons not to be interested: Aside from his poor production in San Francisco the last two season, I can't think of any.

DeSean Jackson

5-10, 178

Reasons to be interested: Zoom, zoom, zoom. Even at 30, Jackson still is one of the league's most dangerous vertical threats, which certainly would benefit an Eagles offense that had the fourth fewest 20-plus-yard pass plays in the league in 2016. Carson Wentz had just a 31.3 percent completion rate on throws of 20 yards or more, and had seven of his 14 interceptions on 20-plus-yard throws. Jackson has 70 catches of 20-plus yards in the last four years, including 19 last year with the Redskins, which was the sixth most in the league.

Reasons not to be interested: Age and cost, for starters. Then there's the fact that he's never been very productive on third down and in the red zone. Jackson never has been a third-down weapon. He has caught more than 13 third-down passes just twice in his nine pro seasons. Same thing in the red zone. He has 10 red-zone TD catches in his career.

Pierre Garcon

6-foot, 210

Reasons to be interested: Garcon's age - he will be 31 in August - wouldn't seem to make him appealing to a team that wants to build around a young quarterback. But Garcon brings a leadership quality that could be very beneficial to a young receiving corps, as well as give Wentz a valuable third-down weapon. And while he's no spring chicken, he isn't showing any signs of decline. Last year with the Redskins, he recorded just the second 1,000-yard receiving season of his career.

Reasons not to be interested: The age factor and money. Even at his age, there figures to be a pretty good market out there for Garcon when he hits free agency Thursday.

Kenny Stills

6-1, 194

Reasons to be interested: Stills will turn just 25 next month. He's missed just one game in four years with the Saints and Dolphins and never has averaged less than 14.8 yards per catch in his career. Figures to be a little more affordable than some of the bigger names.

Reasons not to be interested: Not particularly effective in the red zone. Has just three red-zone TDs in four years. Has caught more than 42 passes just once since turning pro.

Kenny Britt

6-3, 215

Reasons to be interested: An impressive size-speed guy. He had a career-high 68 catches last year with the Rams and was among the league leaders in third-down receptions with 26.

Reasons not to be interested: The guy was an off-the-field train wreck for much of the early part of his career. You name it, he was arrested for it. He seems to have matured, but do the Eagles really want to take a character gamble on a guy who will be 29 in September?

Terrance Williams

6-2, 209

Reasons to be interested: Another impressive size-speed player. Has averaged 15.8 yards per catch over his career. Had an impressive 72.1 percent catch rate last season. Had five red-zone TDs in 2014.

Reasons not to be interested: Basically was the fourth receiver in the Cowboys' offense behind Dez Bryant, Cole Beasley and Jason Witten. Never has had more than 52 catches in a season.

pdomo@aol.com

@Pdomo Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog