Bennie Logan Willing to Give Eagles a Hometown Discount?
Is Philadelphia willing to back up the truck for Bennie Logan?
After paying Fletcher Cox, Zach Ertz, Brandon Graham, and Vinny Curry last year, the Eagles face a tough decision with another member of their young core.
Defensive tackle Bennie Logan will be entering his first round of free agency this offseason, and could be a candidate to return to Philadelphia.
Logan told NJ.com Eagles beat writer Eliot Shorr-Parks he hasn’t envisioned himself with another team, and doesn’t plan on entertaining many offers.
“I never entertain this team, that team. I’m just going to enjoy my offseason, go back home, relax and see what happens.”
I have been around here for four years. I have a great relationship with these guys. I enjoy playing next to Fletcher, Brandon Graham, Connor Barwin,” Logan said. “The relationship we have…trying to start over, do something new is not something I would be looking forward it. This is where I see myself at.”
However, it’ll depend what Logan considers a discount. Logan would most-likely ask for top-10 average annual value, which would put him in the $10-12 million per year average range. The low-end value there is more than Cowboy Tyrone Crawford and Giants’ Damon Harrison.
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Philadelphia’s defense has allowed the fourth-fewest rushing touchdowns this year, and the seventh-most takeaways. Logan has contributed primarily as a run defender, originally drafted to be a nose tackle by Chip Kelly with the 67th-overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft out of LSU.
In 50 career starts and 58 games for the Eagles, Logan has 5.5 sacks with 125 tackles playing on the inside of a tenacious defensive line. His run defense comes up stronger than his individual stats, and has been an anchor for the Eagles for years.
Philadelphia is expected to enter the 2017 offseason with a tight cap window, but still have the ability to open up some space financially. Defensive end Connor Barwin is a bad fit for Jim Schwartz’ 4-3 wide-nine scheme, and is better suited as a 3-4 pass rushing linebacker. Moving Barwin would save the Eagles nearly $8 million.
Other veterans such as Jason Peters, Chase Daniel, and Ryan Mathews could either be on the move or simply asked to take a pay cut. Peters and Daniel will most likely restructure their contracts, while Mathews time in Philadelphia looks to be short lived.
