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Howie Roseman: Eagles will shift focus to NFL draft

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PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Eagles will pivot from free agency to focusing on the NFL draft, executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said Thursday.

That doesn’t mean the Eagles are completely finished with free agency after making two trades and signing six new players. If Roseman can find a bargain or two after the initial spending rush, he’ll do it.

But the Eagles’ initial checklist is complete.

“We had a targeted list of things we wanted to try to address in free agency,” Roseman said. “We feel very fortunate that we were able to get these guys in here.”

The Eagles now have about $10.3 million in salary-cap space, according to ESPN’s Roster Management System. That number is closer to $12 million on Spotrac.com. Either way, the Eagles are getting close to a point where they won’t have cap space for anything else.

There are two other considerations here. The Eagles have to leave cap space to sign their draft picks. Their rookie pool will likely be close to $6 million. They have a total of nine draft picks, including the eighth pick in the first round.

The second concern is defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. Roseman has said repeatedly that the team plans to work out a contract extension with Cox. That will mean significant money. Of course, they can use the $7.8 million on their cap for Cox’s current deal to offset new charges once a contract is negotiated.

“Fletcher is in a separate boat,” Roseman said. “We want to sign Fletcher Cox. We don’t have any intention of him ever leaving the building.”

The Eagles can also create more space. They are likely to release backup quarterback Mark Sanchez, which would save $3.5 million on the cap. With Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel both signed to new contracts, Sanchez will either be traded or released.

In terms of their to-do list, the Eagles handled most of it. They added a starting offensive guard, Brandon Brooks, as well as Daniel to their offense. They signed linebacker Nigel Bradham and defensive backs Leodis McKelvin, Rodney McLeod and Ron Brooks.

They seem a little light at running back after trading DeMarco Murray.

“We’re excited about Ryan Mathews and [Darren] Sproles,” Roseman said. “We have Kenjon Barner on the roster. We felt like we had a position of depth.”

There is some thought that the team could use a veteran wide receiver to replace Riley Cooper and provide some leadership for the young players on the roster.

“Obviously, we’re happy where we are currently today,” Pederson said. “We have three tremendous tight ends on the roster, four that are going to compete for those roster spots there. With the three young receivers that we have, we feel like we can be a dynamic offense in the National Football League.”

Clearly, the Eagles could look to address those spots with lower-priced free agents. They were not in the market for wide receivers Marvin Jones, who signed with the Detroit Lions, and Rishard Matthews, who left Miami for Tennessee.

Whatever the Eagles can’t do in free agency, of course, they will have to get to in the draft.