👋 Good morning! Four years and $240 million?
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Programming note: We are gonna push back the offensive coordinator talk until next week, I had a little pickup basketball injury last night and did not have the time to get to everyone. Today is gonna be a shorter newsletter. Next week, though!
As always, you can reach me at [email protected]
On To The Offseason
Think back to two years ago.
After the Eagles collapsed and lost in Tampa Bay in the wild-card round, it took Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni a few weeks to get all of their ducks in a row. That made things worse for them when they had to face The Big Bad Philly Media. It was at that presser that Nick was famously asked the Office Space style, “What would you say you do here?” question.
This year, Howie and Nick did not waste any time (probably because Nick, with a Super Bowl, has more job security than 2023). As as Bo said on yesterday’s pod, it went swimmingly for them. There was much more focus on Nick, who talks four times a week during the regular season, because of the focus on the offensive coordinator.
Anyway, time will tell what this offseason has in store for the Eagles. Bo and EJ broke down the big takeaways here:
Howie hinted at something everyone suspected, that he will have to change the makeup of the team. The offense is older and expensive, while the defense is young and cheap. As the defense will become older and expensive, you need to get younger and cheaper on offense. Expect the Eagles to go offense early and often in the draft.
“It’s hard to find great players and A.J. is a great player.” Howie basically said that A.J. Brown is exactly what the Eagles are looking for from their players, but he did not come out and say they were keeping him. After all, you can try to get a great player with the draft compensation that A.J. Brown would command. Or Howie could be playing this straight and I am reading way too much into this. Time will tell!
Assistant interviews…
Michael Clay: The Bucs interviewed Clay for their special teams coordinator position, and I guess it’s unclear if Clay is staying or going. If they allowed this interview, I guess he could be on the move? As long as Joe Pannunzio (aka “Joe Peezy”) sticks around.
Christian Parker: Interviewing for the defensive coordinator job in Dallas. Please, anyone but the Cowboys.
The Giants’ John Harbaugh coverage: The victory laps being taken in New York for a guy who just lost the division to 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers are pretty wild.
Smack talk aside, Harbaugh should at least bring some juice to a moribund franchise.
It seems like Harbaugh is taking Todd Monken with him to be the OC in New York, and that duo has certainly had success (with Lamar Jackson, I may add). I will be curious to see how Harbaugh interacts with Joe Schoen, I could see a power struggle between the two of them down the line a la Chip and Howie.
Pittsburgh 6, Flyers 3: Orange and Black are down bad right now. That’s all I got.
Francisco Renteria: Yesterday, we mentioned that Ranger Suárez initially signed with the Phillies as a 16-year-old for $25,000. Well, Francisco Renteria did not come that cheap.
The Phillies signed the 17-year-old Venezuelan shortstop, ranked the No. 3 among MLB Pipeline’s 2026 international prospect pool, for a franchise-record $4 million bonus on Thursday.
Renteria earned comparisons from one evaluator to Konnor Griffin, the Pirates’ 2024 first-round pick who ascended to No. 1 overall prospect status in his first year of pro ball. Others see even more in the tank for Renteria’s right-handed hit tool due to his advanced offensive approach and considerable bat speed. He’s presently a contact monster, which when coupled with his excellent understanding of the strike zone and his plus-plus raw power, leads to him having one of the highest offensive upsides in the 2026 international class.
Sounds good to me. Like all high-school aged baseball prospects, we have no idea how Renteria will translate to the pros. I remember getting very excited back in the day about Jhailyn Ortiz, who the Phillies also signed for about $4 million. That one did not pan out.
From what little video I watched of Renteria, there is not a lot of projection when it comes to his body. He is all of 6-foot-3 and moves like a big-leaguer already. The Phillies decided to shop at the top of the prospect pool this year instead of spreading their money out.
But it’s important. The Phillies spent $3 million on Starlyn Caba three years ago and it fetched them two years of cost-controlled Jesús Luzardo. Good piece of business! Aroon Escobar is one of their top prospects, too.
Kyle Tucker to the Dodgers: Enjoy baseball this season, everyone. Because there is no way we are playing at the beginning of 2027.
Some good injury news: Via Kyle, Dominick Barlow did not need an MRI for his back contusion and it seems like he will be good to go. Good news, he had to be helped off the court by two of his teammates.
Another weekend, another 🍽️🏈 Football Smorgasbord 🏈🍽️ for all of us! The four NFL divisional games, plus a fascinating college national championship on Monday.
Here is my official Eagles Fan Hater’s Guide To The Playoffs. I am not saying that all Eagles fans should follow this formula, just that I am doing so an Eagles fan.
🙌 The team that I want to win: Buffalo
✅ By all means, would have no problem: Seattle, LA Rams, Chicago, Houston
🚌 Sorry, I cannot get over the bus thing: Denver
❌ Rooting against your fanbase: New England, San Francisco
It’s really not a terrible year to be a hater, at least from my perspective.
As a long-time hater, there have been some absolutely tragic conference championship Sundays over the years. Two that stick out are 2011 (New England over Baltimore, NY Giants over San Francisco) and 2023 (Kansas City over Baltimore, San Francisco over Detroit). Those Super Bowls left me with nobody! I am not sure that even current New England and San Francisco reach the level of the Brady Pats, Eli Giants or 2023 49ers to me.
The Philly sports schedule for the weekend:
Fridee: The Sixers are back in action against Cleveland (7:00 p.m., ESPN and NBC Sports Philly), and this one is pretty important in my opinion. Not only are you neck-and-neck with the Cavs in the Eastern Conference, they punched you in the mouth on your home court the other night. Darius Garland is not playing tonight, let’s see a response here. Try not to embarrass yourselves in front of Tim Legler again.
Saturdee: The Flyers have lost five games in a row, so who better to play than the team that has also lost five games in a row? That would be the cellar-dwelling New York Rangers (1:00 p.m., NBC Sports Philly), whose fans are all chanting “Fire Drury!” Most notable chant at MSG since “Potvin sucks!”
Nothing professionally on Sunday, but I do want to highlight the local college hoops slate: Villanova-St. John’s, Temple-Florida Atlantic, La Salle-St. Bonaventure and Penn Dartmouth. And then The Martelli Bowl is Monday.
Your tentative Friday schedule at PHLY:
🎙️ The Anthony Gargano Show: 9:00 a.m.
⚾ Phillies: 12:00 p.m.
🦅 Eagles: 2:00 p.m.
🏀 Sixers: Pre and post-game
Have a great weekend. Let’s make it a good one today.
Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
PHLY SPORTS
