Eagles awarded two compensatory draft picks
Predictions had the Eagles getting three extra picks, but apparently wide receiver Mike Wallace counted against them when analysts thought he would not.
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The NFL announced the compensatory picks for the 2019 entry draft on Friday. The Eagles picked up fourth- and sixth-round selections, bringing their total haul to eight for the April 25-27 selection process.
Compensatory picks are awarded by way of a formula the NFL does not disclose, matching a team’s losses in free agency the previous year to what it added in the free agents it signed. There is a maximum of 32 total picks added each year. Previously, reports indicated the Eagles were in line for three compensatory picks, with another sixth-rounder joining the selections that were announced.
The discrepancy seems to be over Mike Wallace, the free-agent wide receiver the Eagles signed last spring. Overthecap.com and other sites predicted Wallace’s weight and workout bonuses were structured so that Wallace’s money wouldn’t count on the Eagles’ tally sheet for what they added in free agency. (Wallace suffered a broken ankle in the second game and didn’t play again last season.) It seems the NFL did not follow this line of reasoning, after all.
Still, the Eagles have five picks in the first four rounds of a draft that is seen as critical to their future. Last spring, because of trades made in successful pursuit of the Super Bowl LII title, the team ended up with only five draft picks, its lightest haul since 1989.
The 2019 draft is said to be especially strong along the defensive line, an area where the Eagles might shed some higher-priced veterans, including Super Bowl hero Brandon Graham, who is scheduled to become a free agent next month.
Elliott, Lovato signed, Maragos cut
The Eagles announced they have signed kicker Jake Elliott and long-snapper Rick Lovato to one-year contracts, and they released safety and special-teams ace Chris Maragos.
Maragos, 32, signed with the Eagles as a free agent in 2014, fresh off winning a Super Bowl with the Seahawks. He was the Eagles’ leading special-teams tackler during the period ranging from 2014-17, with 49, but Maragos suffered a complex, devastating knee injury on Oct. 12, 2017, during an Eagles victory at Carolina. He has not played since.