The Eagles once again had an opening for their third receiver position.
It was a role that rookie Johnny Wilson reportedly had an inside route to early in camp. Many thought free agent signing Parris Campbell would be a favorite, but he’s been injured and not played for several weeks.
Wilson has struggled with drops in the preseason games (an issue that plagued his college career, as well). Fellow rookie Ainias Smith has had bad games in both of his appearances this pre-season.
With all that, it’s been electric punt returner Britain Covey who has stepped up as the possession receiver this preseason.
Through the first two games, he has 30 yards on six catches but it seems like he’s locked up a spot. He did play 38 snaps in the first game along with making his 26-yard punt return, but he appeared for just nine snaps in the second game, which seems to indicate the Eagles do not want him to get injured.
With Smith struggling and Campbell injured, there really wasn’t a question who would be the punt returner for the Eagles, but with his showing solid ability playing receiver with the second team in preseason. That and his standing out more in camp is a bit of a continuation of how he ended last season, where he made a catch on one offensive snap in week 16 last year and then turned in a solid three receptions for 35 yards in the week 18 game when he got a bit more run with the offense.
It’s looking more and more like Covey might be a player who could be rotating in at receiver much more frequently this year and that could bring Howie Roseman and the front office to offer him a new contract.
At the moment, the former undrafted free agent is in the third and final year of that contract. It was the exact same position Reed Blankenship would have been in if he hadn’t already signed an extension with the team earlier this offseason.
Now, the team isn’t without some leverage, as Covey would be a restricted free agent after this season and that gives the Eagles a very good shot at keeping him but Howie and the rest of the front office are pretty on top of just keeping the guys they like. If they want to try and sign Covey to a deal that’d guarantee they have his rights in 2025, they will. The bigger question may be beyond that, however.
If the Eagles believe Covey will become an impact receiver, now is the time to get an extension done. Obviously teams around the league will pay more for a top punt returner who can also be an active receiver in each game than they would for a special teams standout alone and that may lead the Eagles front office to offer Covey a deal that guarantees him more money than he’d normally get on an RFA deal in order to add a year or two of team control that’s intended to keep the cost down on a guy who’s value may well go up around the league.
That’s exactly the type of move Howie Roseman has made a name for himself off getting ahead of and should be something to look out for in the near future if the two sides can work out an agreement.
