Under the Radar Players Primed to Compete in 2015

With the season winding down, most fans have shifted their attention towards free agency and the draft. While those two avenues offer ample opportunity to improve the team, it's important to assess internal options as well. Here's a list of four players I'll be keeping my eye on this Spring.

ILB Najee Goode (25 years old, 6-0, 244lbs)

If not for a torn pectoral muscle in Week 1, Goode was set to play a significant role on the 2014 defense. In 2013, Goode filled in for an ailing Mychal Kendricks for the Week 11 match-up with the Redskins and made plays all over the field, finishing with six tackles, one sack, two passes defensed, and he should have added an interception to that stat-line.

He struggles with man coverage against tight ends with a little more wiggle, but he's stout against the run and offers much more athleticism than DeMeco Ryans. From a money perspective, it makes more sense to release Ryans and let Goode battle it out with Travis Long and a rookie for the other starting position. There wasn't a drop off when Casey Matthews and Emmanuel Acho filled in for Ryans this season, and Goode is a significant upgrade over that limited duo.

Analyzing the Cap

The past 48 hours have been a field day against the dysfunction pouring out of NovaCare's second floor. A new report surfaces every hour about clashing egos and the future demise of the Chip Kelly era. But, for the purpose of this article, let's just assume Chip Kelly and Howie Roseman can be professionals and co-exist, while continuing to build a winning program in Philadelphia.

The salary cap is never an issue in Philadelphia. Joe Banner was always a wizard at creating flexibility and freedom from a money standpoint, and apparently Howie Roseman took great notes. With the cap number increasing again in 2015, and in-house extensions looming, now is a great time to analyze the current cap situation.

To begin with, the NFL hasn't stated exactly what the 2015 cap number will be. The only thing currently known is it will be somewhere between $138.6 million and $141.8 million. For firm estimates, let's go with a $140 million projection.