4 Eagles who won’t be back after massive Saquon Barkley, Bryce Huff deals

3. Quez Watkins, WR

Despite entering the league as a sixth-round pick out of Southern Miss in the 2020 draft, there were always high hopes, especially among Eagles fans, for what wide receiver Quez Watkins could be for this offense. To put it in a nice, slightly imperfect box, the optimistic outlook was that the speedster could be a B-movie version of DeSean Jackson, a deep threat taking the top off of defenses.

Particularly early in his career, there were flashes of that. He averaged more than 15 yards per reception over his first two years in the league but saw his role diminish over the 2022 and 2023 seasons. This past year, he was all but an afterthought in the Eagles passing attack, being targeted just 21 times over the nine games he played, and finishing the year with only 15 catches for 142 yards, the second-lowest total of his career.

Whatever the hopes were for Watkins at one point, they clearly have run their course by now. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are the top dogs, but even with a need for more receiver depth, the Eagles are moving in another direction. The team signed veteran DeVante Parker to likely step into a similar deep threat role, and they don't have a surplus of cap room now to continue beefing things up by bringing Watkins back.

Again, this isn't necessarily a case of the Eagles being entirely priced out when it comes to a pending free agent, but rather that their current moves and roster construction don't make it all that sensible to consider re-signing Watkins.