It was revealed, after the fact, that the Philadelphia Eagles and head coach Chip Kelly would have signed Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds had he hit the market in free agency last offseason.
While the two weren't able to complete their desired union then, it seems the stars may be aligning for the pair the second time around.
The Steelers are currently projected to be nearly $2 million over the salary cap for next season, and that is without Worilds' salary on the books - he played under the transition tag last year for a one-year value just shy of $10 million.
Keeping him will be a difficult, if not necessarily impossible, proposition.
Worilds had a shaky start to the season, but he's a young and, as Steelers GM Kevin Colbert recently said, "ascending" player; he may just have to complete that ascension at another NFL destination - a destination like Philadelphia.
"Worilds is definitely a name to watch," writes Sheil Kapadia of Philly Mag. "There was indication last offseason that the Eagles were interested, and the Steelers run a similar scheme to the Birds. Worilds turns 27 next month and had 7.5 sacks in 2014."
The 6-foot-2, 262-pound Worilds played 98 percent of the snaps for the Steelers last season. He finished with 59 tackles and an interception.
In the meantime, the Eagles have their own pending free agent outside linebacker in Brandon Graham.
Graham is reportedly seeking a contract worth $30 million over four-years with $20 million guaranteed and may also be eyeing a move back to defensive end with a team that employs a 4-3 defense.
"The guess here is that the Eagles will make a push to sign Graham, but ultimately he'll land with a 4-3 team that views him as a starter," writes Kapadia. "Graham played 43 percent of the snaps last year and performed well in a rotational role, but it's clear he wants to get more opportunities to rush the passer. Having said that, it's not a given that he's gone, especially when you consider it's a pretty strong market for edge defenders (see next section)."
When you add in the advancing age and out of whack cap hit for Trent Cole, the potential loss of Graham and the altogether unknown nature of last year's first-round draft pick, Marcus Smith II, outside of Pro Bowler Connor Barwin, there seems to be an almost certain and significant turnover at the outside linebacker position in Philly coming this offseason.
