It appears as if the Eagles are trying to walk an extremely fine line.

When NFL free agency began, I thought I knew what the Eagles were doing.

Coming off a stinging end-of-season meltdown and embarrassing loss in the wild card game to the Bucs, Howie Roseman appeared to be a man on a mission, adding Bryce Huff as a young, up-and-coming edge rusher, shockingly signing Saquon Barkley for the backfield, bringing back CJ Gardner-Johnson to solidify a safety spot, and nabbing a number of other role players of varying degrees of importance.

It sure seemed like the Birds were going all-in for 2024, welcome news for head coach Nick Sirianni, who is undoubtedly coaching for his job this season. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was brought in to do a lot of the heavy lifting, while Vic Fangio was added to architect a defense that had become one of the worst in the NFL by season’s end.

That’s why it was so weird that the Haason Reddick trade rumors persisted before free agency began, ultimately culminating in his trade to the New York Jets last Friday for a conditional 2026 third round pick that will become a second if Reddick hits certain playing time and performance bench marks.

In short, the Eagles swapped out a proven superstar pass rusher in the 29-year-old Reddick, a player who tallied 27 sacks in his two seasons in Philadelphia, for a player in Huff who logged a career-best 10 sacks, 21 QB hits, and 67 QB pressures in 2023. In doing so, the Eagles didn’t really save themselves anything in terms of the salary cap this year, via Over The Cap:

According to multiple outlets the Eagles will pay Reddick’s roster bonus prior to officially executing the trade with the Jets. That will leave the Eagles with $21.515 million in dead money from Reddick’s contract, which is essentially the same cost on the salary cap as if he were still on the team. They do, however, save themselves $14.5 million in salary for the year.

Once the decision was made to sign Huff and go younger at edge, it became clear Reddick or Sweat’s presence on the roster was in jeopardy. The Eagles chose to stick with the younger player in Sweat (27), and Reddick became expendable.

So instead of keeping a Pro Bowl edge rusher and signing him to an extension that would have lessened the cap hit in 2024 and kept a player aging into his 30s for another few years after that, Roseman made the calculated gamble that Huff is an ascending player who can become an every down contributor over the next 3-4 years. He’s also counting on Nolan Smith to see increased playing time and contribute in the way a second-year, first round pick should.

It is a bold strategy that could end up paying off if Huff and Smith progress the way Roseman and the front office believe they will, but it could also make them weaker in 2024, a season in which nothing less than a Super Bowl appearance will be acceptable.

Haason Reddick played twice as many snaps on early downs last season compared to former Jet Bryce Huff, generating 17 more pressures than him on such downs.

Reddick was one of three players to record 6 or more pressures in 8 games in 2023 (M. Parsons, J. Allen).#TakeFlight https://t.co/2KcnJxkJ2W pic.twitter.com/07W9ekbKGn

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) March 29, 2024

Roseman and the coaching staff have a delicate balancing act to juggle, as Roseman himself acknowledged after the trade (via Eagles.com).

“I think that anything you’re trying to do, you’re trying to blend what you’re trying to do this year and what you’re trying to do in the future,” Roseman said. “I think that’s the hardest job. Don’t want to get into any specifics with any conversations with players but have tremendous respect for the player and person.”

The Eagles need to make sure that draft picks are progressing and receiving enough playing time to do so, yet they also need to win as many games as possible this season. It’s hard to argue the Eagles’ defensive line is better now than it would be if Reddick were still manning one of the edges, but they clearly believe it is worth this roll of the dice.

The conditional third round pick acquired in this deal will not be able to help the team in 2024, nor in 2025 (barring it being packaged in a trade). Instead, that player won’t be an Eagle until 2026, at which time Sirianni, Moore, and/or Fangio could be long gone. Roseman can make a deal like this because he knows he isn’t going anywhere. Job security allows a general manager to swing a deal for a potential second round pick that won’t be an Eagle until after two more seasons have been completed because he knows his neck isn’t on the line if things don’t work out right away.

It’s likely the Eagles have finished their off-season heavy lifting in terms of free agency. Perhaps there will be draft trades that bring a quality veteran player to the Eagles, but more likely than not, the rest of the roster will be filled in with their 2024 draft picks and free agents on one-year deals. The Eagles will enter the season with Huff, Sweat, Smith, Brandon Graham and potentially Zack Baun as their primary edge rushers, and it’s fair to be concerned trying to split the baby at one of the most important positional groups on the team will hinder or help their chances of reaching the only acceptable goal here in 2024.

Getting back to the Super Bowl.