With the free agency period and NFL draft now concluded, most experts have pegged the NFC East as a two-team race between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.
The Cowboys added CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs via the NFL Draft, while the Eagles acquired Darius Slay via trade and signed Javon Hargrave in free agency.
The Ringer broke down every NFC division after the 2020 NFL Draft and it was deemed that the Eagles were the NFC East’s most improved team.
NFC East. Team That Improved the Most: Eagles. A lot of Eagles fans are still parsing Philadelphia’s decision to draft quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second round, but they shouldn’t get hung up on that for long. The Eagles front office added a significant amount of talent this spring that should contribute immediately. First-round pick Jalen Reagor should give the offense a dose of playmaking that it lacked last season, and general manager Howie Roseman doubled down at receiver by trading for burner Marquise Goodwin. With Reagor and Goodwin in the fold and DeSean Jackson returning from an injury, a lack of explosiveness should no longer be an issue in Philly. Roseman and the front office have consistently addressed areas of need with multiple players in a single offseason, and that also applies in 2020 at cornerback. To fill one of its outside corner spots, Philly traded third- and fifth-round picks to Detroit to acquire Darius Slay. The Eagles gave Slay a three-year, $50.5 million extension as part of that deal, and then made up some value by nabbing Nickell Robey-Coleman on a one-year, $1.4 million contract—a bargain for a proven slot cornerback. Along with improving the back end of their defense, the Eagles also signed defensive tackle Javon Hargrave to a three-year, $39 million deal. With Hargrave, Fletcher Cox, and Malik Jackson on the interior, Philly has a chance to overwhelm opposing offensive lines.
Slay and Hargrave were each named instant impacts, while Nickell Robey-Coleman was named an under the radar player who could emerge for the Birds this season.
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