Eagles Overhaul Continues

You’ve heard of change for the sake of change? This offseason in Philadelphia, it’s all about change for the sake of Chip. Philadelphia’s third-year head coach, who was granted decision=making power over personnel in a front-office shakeup shortly after the season, is certainly exercising his new rights liberally.

The Eagles have replaced LeSean McCoy with Frank Gore and swapped Cary Williams for Byron Maxwell. The team has also added LB Kiko Alonso and re-signed QB Mark Sanchez while waiving good-bye to WR Jeremy Maclin, who is headed to Kansas City to reunite with Andy Reid.

The Eagles won a heated bidding war for Maxwell, who is cashing in despite being Seattle’s fourth-best defensive back a season ago. Nonetheless, Maxwell has outstanding size and physicality, two things that have been missing from a Eagles pass defense that ranked as the league’s second-worst outfit a season ago.

The upgrade at cornerback may be undone by a downgrade at pass rusher, however. Trent Cole, who posted 14.5 sacks over the last two seasons, appears ready to move on. He started on his Twitter account on Sunday: “Spending the day with the Browns today and tomorrow. Next stop will be the Colts.”

The change-up at running back is a risky decision, as well. On one hand, Philadelphia saved a lot of money, paying Gore less than half of what McCoy will make on his next contract in Buffalo. On the other hand, it is never a good idea to purposely get older at running back.

Gore, who will be 32 at the start of next season, has seen his rushing total decrease each of the last two seasons. The hope is his more decisive and powerful running style will be a better fit in the Eagles’ up-tempo offense.

No matter if Gore is able to turn back the clock, there is no getting around the fact that Kelly has run off DeSean Jackson, McCoy and Maclin over the last two years, losing his three most accomplished playmakers. It’s a strategy that reeks of arrogance, as Kelly believes their contributions are easy to replace in his aggressive offensive system.

The crazy thing is Kelly might be right. Just look at what Sanchez did in eight starts last season, completing 64.1 percent of his passes after completing his 55.1 percent of his attempts during his five years with the Jets. He also improved his passer rating by nearly 17 points (71.7 to 88.4). Those numbers allowed him to cash in with a two-year, $9 million deal to stay with the Eagles.

Kelly rebuilt the Sanchize, but rebuilding the rest of his unbalanced roster will be markedly more difficult. And he’s trying to do it just like he does everything else … as quickly as possible.

Chargers Bring Back Flowers

Chargers GM Tom Telesco beat the clock in his efforts to keep his two most important free agents from hitting the open market. San Diego agreed on Sunday on a new four-year, $36 million contract for CB Brandon Flowers. The deal follows another key re-signing that took place at the NFL Combine, when San Diego re-signed LT King Dunlap for four years and $28 million.

Both players bet on themselves and won. Flowers joined the Chargers last offseason on a one-year, $3 million deal. He instantly provided leadership and savvy to San Diego’s secondary, pacing the team with 10 pass breakups and three interceptions. When Flowers and 2014 first-round pick Jason Verrett are on the field together — along with FS Eric Weddle — the Chargers boast one of the better secondaries in the NFL.

Verrett, who is recovering from shoulder surgery, gave a promising update to San Diego’s official team page over the weekend.

“Right now I’m good,” he explained.  “That’s all I can say.  I’m doing exactly what I should be doing around this time.”

Flowers and Dunlap (who re-signed for four years and $28 million after completing a two-year, $6 million deal) were the only players the Chargers felt they could not afford to lose in free agency. Having re-upped both players, Telesco will now turn his attention to his second-tier of in-house free agents, a list that includes RB Ryan Mathews, WR Eddie Royal, CB Shareece Wright and SS Marcus Gilchrist, each of whom was a starter last season.

The plan is to let all four players test the open market. Gilchrist, who made the biggest play of San Diego’s 2014 season with a game-winning interception against the Rams, has already drawn interest from the Redskins. Washington’s new defensive coordinator, Joe Barry, spent last season as an assistant coach with the Chargers.

Familiarity is the name of the game in San Diego, as well, as the team is expected to sign OG Orlando Franklin away from the Broncos early this week. Franklin, who has experience with head coach Mike McCoy from their time together in Denver, has started 63 of a possible 64 games over the last four seasons and can play either guard or right tackle.

Smith Done in Baltimore

Torrey Smith confirmed he is not returning to Baltimore in an online post on Sunday. Although he did not reveal which team he will play for next, he knows for certain he is moving on after the market priced him out of the range of the cap-strapped Ravens.

“Although I may no longer be a member of the Baltimore Ravens, at heart, I will always be a Raven,” Smith wrote. “What we accomplished together is timeless.”

Smith is coming off a disappointing season in which he caught just 49 passes for 767 yards, although he set a career-high with 11 touchdowns. The season prior, when Steve Smith was still in Carolina, Torrey Smith had 65 receptions for 1,128 yards.

The 49ers are considered the frontrunners for Smith’s services, which is ironic, given that San Francisco just went through a sloppy divorce with Jim Harbaugh, the brother of Smith’s head coach in Baltimore. The Colts and Texans have also expressed interest in Smith, although the Texans must first resolve Andre Johnson’s situation.

San Francisco, which is not expected to re-sign Michael Crabtree, needs a speedy receiver to help stretch the field and prevent defenses from overcrowding the line of scrimmage to stop Colin Kaepernick.

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