On Tuesday afternoon, word broke that veteran free-agent wide receiver Anquan Boldin had agreed to terms with the Detroit Lions, although the Philadelphia Eagles reportedly also made a serious run at Boldin's services.
The team's reported interest in Boldin is a bit surprising, given the fact that the Birds had already signed three veteran wideouts during the offseason — Chris Givens, Rueben Randle, and T.J. Graham.
Despite these additions and the presences of several young talents where the club invested high draft picks, the Eagles were not satisfied with their wideouts and tried to make another upgrade.
On paper, the Eagles offense isn’t scaring anyone.
Defensive coordinators look at the Birds personnel and they see an injury-prone and mediocre starting quarterback in Sam Bradford. They see an injury-prone, average-at-best featured running back in Ryan Mathews. But most of all, they see a completely unimpressive collection of options at the wide receiver position.
One of the worst things that Chip Kelly did to this franchise was his dismantling of the offense’s premier talent. Letting DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin go were major mistakes that led to Kelly’s undoing, and will still haunt the franchise for years to come.
The Eagles have invested draft picks in the first, second and third rounds of their recent drafts into the position, but have been left with nothing but question marks.
Jordan Matthews is the best player of the bunch, but drops too many passes and probably is best suited to be a complementary No. 2 receiver.
Last year’s first-round pick Nelson Agholor was incredibly disappointing as a rookie. In today’s NFL, rookie receivers have no trouble bursting onto the scene, but Agholor was completely invisible despite serving as a starting receiver in his rookie year.
The last time the Eagles spent a pick that high on a wideout that was that unproductive in his rookie year, you would have to go back to the days of Freddie Mitchell. Part of the reason for Agholor’s struggles can be blamed on Kelly, whose poor game-planning and general lack of innovation in play calling really didn’t give Agholor much of a chance to shine.
Josh Huff has flashed explosive playmaking ability, but he hasn’t been nearly consistent enough, and could be in danger of being released before the summer is over.
Veteran additions Givens and Randle bring some needed experience and a little upside to the table, but both also come with red flags. Givens has gone through multiple franchises without being able to establish himself. Randle had some productive numbers for the Giants, but the fact that New York made no effort to re-sign him raises a lot of concerns.
There's a lot of uncertainty within this unit and little for opposing defenses to fear.
If the young wideouts struggle in the preseason, and the veterans fail to bring anything to the table, it's very possible that the Eagles could look to trade options to help bring some more explosiveness to their aerial attack.
Denny Basens is a staff writer for Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @DennyBasens.
