Marcus Smith is officially under contract in Philadelphia. (Twitter/@Eagles)
More NFL offseason: League minicamp dates | Latest news, notes
The Eagles 2014 draft class is officially under contract. The seventh and final player to sign was first-rounder Marcus Smith, who signed his deal on Monday.
The 26th overall pick signed a four-year deal with a team option for a fifth year. Although the terms haven't been announced, the deal is expected to be worth $7.80 million and include a $3.99 million signing bonus.
"It means everything," Smith said of signing his contract. "I've been waiting on it for a long time, been wanting to sign my contract just to get everything over with. It just feels great to be an Eagle and have no worries and go on the field and do what I do best."
When Smith signed the deal, he said he had a special someone on his mind.
"When I put the pen to paper, the first person I think of is my mom," Smith said, via the Eagles official website. "She did so many things for me and I just feel like I could go out and do something special for her."
CBSSports.com senior writer Pete Prisco gave the Smith pick a B. Prisco believes the pick gave the Eagles exactly what they needed: A young pass rusher.
The Eagles originally had the 22nd pick in the draft, but they traded with the Browns, who grabbed Johnny Manziel with pick No. 22. The Eagles got a third-round pick in the trade that they turned into former Oregon receiver Josh Huff.
NFL Hot News
Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski looks to be running without limitations
Another Gronk update!Ben Volin of the Boston Globe wrote Sunday that Rob Gronkowski is making good progress on his way back from January knee surgery. Volin wrote that Gronk "was actually bursting, planting, and cutting" during a practice lasst week and "doesn't look like he's having any limitations." Gronkowski underwent surgery to repair a torn right ACL and MCL in January.
However, Volin added: "Whether he'll be ready to play in the first month of the season is another matter."I know some of you out there are already drafting your teams for this season. As we enter July, the drafts will only pick up. The only thing I can say to that is this: Stop.Well, that's impossible. But at least slow down. Do whatever you can to delay your draft as deep into the summer as possible. I know you are eager to get the fantasy season started. I know I am. But by drafting now, you are opening your roster up for injuries before it does anything for you. Don't you remember what happened to Dennis Pitta and Jeremy Maclin early in training camp last year? Lower your risk of injury -- and unneeded stress -- by drafting in late August or early September.I know many of you don't care and can't help your draft urges, but besides getting burned when one of your early round picks goes down due to an injury in camp, another reason to delay your draft is so that you have a clearer picture on the health of players who are currently recovering, like Gronkowski. As Volin said, we don't currently know what his availability is for the first month of the season. We probably won't have an answer to that end until at least mid-August. But if you're drafting now or anything time within the next month, you will probably have to spend a pretty penny to own Gronk. Do you feel lucky?Lastly, I should point out that Volin's observation came one day before an ESPN Boston article about, among other things, how well Danny Amendola is looking in OTAs. It's another instance of taking all of these positive on-field reports in May and June with a grain of salt. I'm still expecting Amendola to miss multiple games due to injuries again. Whatever you do, just don't ask Danny about his injury history.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment