Today was apparently Give Injured Veteran Players Money Day.

DeMeco Ryans was signed to an extension. Jimmy Bama has the details on that.

Chip Kelly loves Ryans. He values him as a player and as a leader. Now Ryans will be an Eagle in both 2015 and 2016. On the surface, this seems like bad news for Mychal Kendricks. Kelly loves Kiko Alonso and Ryans. He doesn’t seem as emphatic when talking about Kendricks.

But Kelly might be willing to keep 3 starting ILBs. The Eagles generally play the most snaps in the league on defense. You could rotate the 3 ILBs to try and keep them all as fresh as possible. And all 3 have had recent injuries. Imagine if when Kendricks got hurt last year, you had Alonso and Ryans. Or that when Ryans got hurt, you had Kendricks and Alonso.

It is possible the Eagles will deal Kendricks. I don’t want them to do this any more than you do, but my opinion apparently matter’s less than Chip’s. Kendricks is entering the final year of his deal so if you aren’t committed to him long term, this is the time to deal him. Having him play this year and then leave as a free agent…that is the worst possible outcome.

We’ll know in about 6 weeks.

Now on to the Miles Austin side of things.

WR Miles Austin and the #Eagles have agreed on a one-year deal worth $2.3M base with another $700K available in incentives, source said. — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 30, 2015

The more I think about this, the more I see Austin in the slot, like Jason Avant in 2013. Avant didn’t play on STs. He was just a solid veteran WR.

Some have asked if Austin could replace Riley Cooper. I guess that is possible, but I don’t feel that’s a likely scenario. If you get rid of Cooper, you want a clear upgrade. Austin would be more of a lateral move there.

There are a lot of good WRs in the draft. The Eagles could add one or two and have a much better looking receiver corps. You can’t count on those rookies to play like Jordan Matthews. That’s why you need someone like Austin who can be productive right away. He has limitations, but you know what you’re getting.

The one concern with Austin is durability. He’s had a lot of nagging injuries in his career, especially hamstrings. This could be the ultimate test for sports science.

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