Eagles Release Kevin Byard, Saving $13 Million In Cap Space

The first, albiet unsurprising, move of the Eagles Off-Season has happened. Per Adam Schefter, the Eagles have released Safety Kevin Byard. They acquired the former All-Pro ahead of the trade deadline. The hope was that he would bring stability to a struggling group of Safetys. It never quite worked out. Now his time in Philly is over after one half-season.

Kevin Byard was due to carry a cap hit of $14,417,088. By releasing him, that cap hit drops to just $711,000. Meaning they save over $13 million with the move, making it a no-brainer for them. Byard didn't play anywhere near well enough to justify a $14 million cap hit. Even if he did play well, it is a move they still likely would have made given the cap savings.

At one point in his career, Kevin Byard was amongst the best Safeties in the league. But at 30, it seems he has lost some of what made him so special earlier in his career. Whereas he was once a playmaker, he had just 1 interception last season. But beyond being less of a playmaker, he seemed to just struggle in his role on the Eagles' defense. Granted you could say that about nearly everyone on the team last season.

The question now becomes what do they do with that cap space, and how do they replace him at Safety? It gives the Eagles a decent chunk of change to spend this off-season. Especially when you add on that the NFL Cap jumped $30 million this season to begin with. But they do also have a lot of players who will need new deals soon. Notably Devonta Smith and Landon Dickerson.

With that said, most reporters expect the Eagles to be busy in free agency. There should be at least one big splash. And that splash could come in the form of a Safety.

The Eagles will pick 22nd overall at this year's NFL Draft. The draft this season starts on April 25th and will be hosted in Detroit. It will be among their most important picks in recent memory. Last year it felt like the Eagles were already a great team, and were just looking for an extra piece. But we learned that this is a deeply flawed team, in dire need of help. Getting a great player at pick 22 will be key to them getting back on track.

They need help at cornerback, linebacker, and safety. If Haason Reddick gets traded, they will need help at Edge Rusher too. Plus with Howie Roseman, we know there is always a chance he goes O-Line. They might not have an immediate need there. But Lane Johnson is nearing the end of his career, and I would never put it past Howie to use a premium pick to bring in the RT of the future. It will not be what fans want. The Eagles should use it on someone who will help them right now. But Howie's history means we can't rule it out.

Surprisingly, in the 88 years, the NFL has been holding the draft, the Eagles have only held the 22nd pick 6 times. They only actually made a selection there 4 times. Two of those picks came from when pick 22 was still outside of the 1st round. Twice they started with pick 22 but traded it either for more picks or in one case for a player. And more recently, they traded up to pick 22.

So before we get to the draft in late April, let's go back through their history at the 22nd pick. Has that pick historically worked out for them? Or is having it a bad sign?

In this case, the Eagles traded up with the Ravens to acquire the 22nd pick. They gave up picks 25, 127, and 197. The Eagles then used that pick to take Andre Dillard. He started only 9 games for them and was gone after 4 years when the Eagles did not pick up his option.

The Eagles started out with pick 22 in 1997. But they never actually used it. They sent it to Dallas for picks 25, a 1997 5th round pick 155th overall, and a 1998 3rd round pick (85).

The Cowboys took TE David Lafleur, who flamed out of the NFL within 4 seasons. But the Eagles pick at 25, DE Jon Harris, was out of the NFL after only 2 seasons with 2 sacks. Their pick at 155, TE Luther Broughton didn't make the team and wound up on the Panthers. He did return a couple of seasons later when they traded for him. But he never developed into an impact player.

With the 85th pick the next season they took Allen Rossum. He went on to set a club record at the time for kick return yards. So it was not a complete wash. He is still 2nd all-time in Kick Return yard behind Brian Mitchell for the Eagles.

The Eagles Georgia love affair might have started in 1990. Because in that draft they used the 22nd overall pick to select CB Ben Smith out of Georgia. He played just 3 seasons with the Eagles and racked up 5 interceptions. Not exactly what you are looking for out of a 1st round pick.

The Eagles originally owned pick 22 in 1989, but shipped it to Indy for OG Ron Salt. Ron Salt played 3 seasons as the Eagles RG. He was solid, but maybe not worth a 1st round pick. He also missed the first 4 games of his first season here after being suspended for using steroids. The Colts used the pick on Andre Rison. He went on to become an All-Pro WR, just not with the Colts. He was part of the deal the following season for the Colts to get up to pick 1 to select Jeff George.

Back in 1955, pick 22 was still a 2nd round pick. With that 2nd round pick, the Eagles selected Buck Lansford. He was a Guard out of Texas. He made 1 Pro Bowl for the Eagles and played 3 seasons total here. In those 3 seasons, he swapped between LG, LT, and RG.

In 1948, pick 22 was a 3rd round pick. With it, the Eagles took a QB, Paul Campbell, out of Texas. He decided to stay at Texas. In 1950 he finally signed with the Eagles, but was cut without ever playing a game in the NFL.