The Philadelphia Eagles knew that keeping the band together for another run at a Super Bowl would be a tall task. 

Philadelphia has important contributors set to hit free agency and receive substantial offer sheets from teams around the NFL. The full list includes Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, James Bradberry, Javon Hargrave, T.J. Edwards, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. All are set to receive a hefty payday as soon as free agency opens up. 

But the Eagles may be in trouble if they hope to retain Garnder-Johnson. The Athletic's Zach Berman reported that Philadelphia could lose big on the star safety in the open market. 

Take a look at what Berman wrote: 

The Eagles will have a list of headliners signing elsewhere in two weeks. General manager Howie Roseman has actually been transparent about this reality in his public statements. It doesn’t mean they won’t try to keep some of their top free agents — you’ll find those who speculate Philadelphia will be aggressive trying to keep Hargrave and Gardner-Johnson — but the way the Eagles are banking on 2024 compensatory picks shows they’re resigned to the reality that they won’t re-sign top free agents.

Look for Hargrave, Gardner-Johnson, James Bradberry and Isaac Seumalo to all sign deals that put them at or near the top of their positions and give the Eagles a favorable spot for the compensatory pick formula.

Keeping a good football team together is really expensive. That is why teams like to compete and win while a large portion of their star players are still on affordable team-friendly deals. Philadelphia got to the Super Bowl utilizing that formula. But now it is looking at trying to keep its stars, and it simply may not be feasible. 

Retaining Gardner-Johnson is looking increasingly unlikely. The compensatory picks won’t be available until 2024. The Eagles will need to rely on their offense to win a large portion of their games next season. With the number of defensive stars heading for the doors, Philadelphia has to hope its offense remains as dominant as it was in 2022. 

Losing Garnder-Johnson is really just emblematic of the casualties that take place when a team is too good so quickly. And it just puts more pressure on Jalen Hurts to do more with a less-loaded roster, which, in the end, could be a disaster. 

Feature image via Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports.