Philadelphia Eagles adding offensive weapons around QB Carson Wentz

The Philadelphia Eagles entered free agency with a lot of positional needs and not much cap space.

But they've done a pretty good loaves-to-fishes job of addressing those needs pre-draft without gutting the rest of the roster.

The Eagles' top priority going into the offseason was getting more offensive weapons to put around their young quarterback, Carson Wentz. Toward that end, they signed two veteran wide receivers -- Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith.

Jeffery was regarded as the top free agent wideout on the market, and initially seemed too pricey for the cap-strapped Eagles.

But they managed to find enough room to sign him to a one-year, $9.5 million deal that includes another $4.5 million in incentives. Smith, who is coming off two disappointing seasons with the San Francisco 49ers after catching 30 touchdown passes in his first four years with Baltimore, was signed to an affordable three-year, $15 million contract.

Jeffery and Smith dramatically upgrade a wide receiving corps that had a collective eight touchdown catches last season. Slot receiver Jordan Matthews was the only wideout without more than 36 receptions.

They should be godsends to Wentz, who finished 25th in passing, 29th in yards per attempt and 28th in third-down passing as a rookie.

Philadelphia also used free agency to add depth to the offensive line (guard Chance Warmack), bring in a backup to Wentz (Nick Foles) and add a pair of defensive veterans -- defensive end Chris Long and cornerback Patrick Robinson.

The Eagles are expected to focus on defense in the draft, particularly edge-rusher and cornerback. That said, there's a very good chance they go offense with their first-round pick -- the 14th overall -- to get yet another weapon for Wentz.

Philadelphia has been very interested in running backs Dalvin Cook of Florida State and Christian McCaffrey of Stanford. And with Jeffery on just a one-year contract, they also have interest in the three projected first-round wideouts -- Corey Davis of Western Michigan, Mike Williams of Clemson and John Ross of Washington.

"We're not one player away," said Eagles owner Jeff Lurie, whose team finished 7-9 last year and missed the playoffs for the third straight year. "We have lots of holes, which we recognize. We have to draft really well over the next few years to accomplish what we want to accomplish early on in Carson's career."

Howie Roseman, the team's executive vice-president of football operations, said in February that the Eagles weren't interested in "band-aids" in free agency. Yet they signed both Long and Robinson, two veterans on the downsides of their careers, to short-term deals.

"I know what I said earlier about band-aids," Roseman said this week. "But there also are opportunities to get value in free agency, certainly at this time of year, and we're looking for any way to improve our football team."

With eight picks, Philadelphia is expected to draft multiple cornerbacks in a draft that is said to have one of the deepest cornerback crops in history. Both of their starting corners from last season -- Leodis McKelvin and Nolan Carroll -- no longer are with the team. McKelvin was released and Carroll signed with the Dallas Cowboys.

The 32-year-old Long adds depth to a pass-rush that had a middle-of-the-pack 37 sacks last season. He spent last season as a role player with the Super Bowl-champion New England Patriots, finishing with four sacks.