Philadelphia is interested in retaining one of their depth offensive linemen.
The Philadelphia Eagles are placing the right of first refusal tender on restricted free agent Nate Herbig, according to a report from NFL insider Adam Schefter.
This right of first refusal tender is the lowest possible RFA tender; it’s a one-year contract offer worth about $2.4 million.
It’s not necessarily likely but it is at least possible that another team signs Herbig to an offer sheet. If that’s the case, the Eagles would have a week to either match the offer or decide to allow him to walk. Given that Herbig was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent, the Eagles would receive no draft pick compensation upon his departure.
Bleeding Green Nation previously raised questions about the Eagles’ use of this RFA tender on Herbig.
REVIEW: Herbig didn’t see regular starts until after both Brooks and Driscoll were out for the season. He was somewhat surprisingly inactive for the Eagles’ playoff game against the Bucs.
OUTLOOK: The Eagles like Herbig enough to go to him if they really have to … but they’re not really eager to get him out on the field. Herbig is a restricted free agent this offseason. It would cost $2.4 million to tender him at the lowest level. He’s not worth that much when the Eagles are regularly able to find quality depth with Jeff Stoutland around. The Eagles should gauge his interest in signing a short contract extension that gives him some money up front but keeps him cheap and under team control for an extra year. Otherwise, let him test free agency and only bring him back if he doesn’t receive interest on the market. I could see the Jaguars potentially having interest in Herbie with the Doug Pederson connection down there.
Herbig is a decent, experienced, versatile depth option to have around and, at just 23 years old, it’s possible he still offers untapped upside. Extending this RFA tender is hardly the worst thing they could do but it does put him as the 18th highest number on their 2022 salary cap. This when he’s not a starter and not even necessarily a top backup since Jack Driscoll might be ahead of him on the depth chart.
The Eagles have until 4:00 PM Eastern on Wednesday, March 16 to offer an RFA tender to their remaining restricted free agents: Boston Scott and Greg Ward. If they don’t, they’ll both become unrestricted free agents, which seems likely to happen. In related news, Alex Singleton is reportedly not being tendered.