Thursday, April 9, 2009

New PE.com article is posted

I answered some regular questions.

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=17627


As for some additional subjects...

RE: Anquan Boldin

I don't have a good read on what the Cardinals want to do with him. They're either being very secretive or haven't made up their own minds. On one hand, I don't think they like him dictating action to them. That would lead them to keep him another year. At the same time, he's got excellent value at this point and Larry Fitzgerald clearly showed he was the better player last year. You keep Fitz and build around him. They've got some young guys already in place...Steve Breaston and


RE: Hidden Gems

Solid list by Don Banks. DT Brigham Harwell is a solid player. LB Russell Allen is a guy I wrote about at Scoutsnotebook recently. He could be a SAM target. I haven't paid much attention to Butler. I need to do some study on him. Biggers is a quality player. I didn't get to see Toler play, but he's of interest. I'll be putting together my own list in the next week or so.


RE: Chad Johnson

I'm sure the Eagles are checking into him. They might be interested if the price was right. I'm not so sure, but the situation is worth looking into. At the same time, you also want to know what the asking price is for figuring out how that might affect you on draft day. Knowledge is power.

Too often fans and the media think that checking a player out means showing positive interest. Sometimes you are being thorough in regard to the player. Other times you are just on a fact finding mission for how the situation might play out involving other teams.

The notion that the Eagles would deal a 1st rounder for Chad is ludicrous. He is very talented, but he's got major baggage. Chad has been a huge sideshow in Cincinnati. In Philly he'd be an overwhelming media force, good and bad. I don't know if Reid wants any part of that. Plus, we are talking about a guy who got into a fist fight with his coach at halftime of a playoff game. Where's Buddy Ryan when you need him?


RE: more on Peters

There is an absolute downside to his situation. I totally get that. He's coming off a bad season. He wants mega-money. He held out all summer long and that affected his play. Jason didn't handle his situation well last year.

I don't think bringing any of that stuff up is being unreasonable at all. You always have to look at every side of a situation. There is always a risk. The only safe move in NFL history is the Eagles drafting FB Dan Lawlor. With a name like that, how can you go wrong?

Back to reality for a second. Peters vs Lito is an interesting comparison. Lito signed a big deal back in 2004 and was one of the best paid CBs in the league. The CB market exploded in the next couple of years and Lito decided he wasn't fairly paid. Unfortunately, he wasn't in top form in that period. Lito played well in 2006, but really struggled in 2005. He was up and down in 2007. He wasn't out-performing his contract. The market changed and he was unhappy.

Peters signed a 5-year, $15M deal in the summer of 2006. He played well at LT that year. He made the Pro Bowl in 2007. Pro Bowl LTs are worth triple what he was getting. The Bills exasperated the situation by signing two marginal veterans, Derrick Dockery and Langston Walker, to big deals. Peters outplayed both the new guys, but was making less money. That led to him asking Buffalo for more money. They were reluctant to pay him and that's when we got the holdout.

The situations are similar, but also very different. I find it a lot easier to side with Jason because he out-performed his contract. Lito just wanted more money. That's a key difference in my mind.

Never apologize for disagreeing. Dissent leads to good discussion.
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4 comments:

Adam S. said...

I want Boldin on this team, but we're not sure of the asking price and I wouldn't give up too much for him. I don't think I'd be happy if they gave up either of the 1st rounders for Boldin or Chad. Earlier in the offseason I really wanted them to trade for Boldin and he is still one of my favorite non-eagle players but I'd much rather they took Pettigrew & Moreno.

Why can't I fall asleep and wake up on the 25th!!!

Unknown said...

The part that bothers me the most is that he didn't play well this past season. I don' like when money issues affect a players performance on the field.

Was his drop in performance because he was pouting and his effort wasn't solid (Lito), or was it more do to his holdout simply putting him behind the curve this season?

Tommy Lawlor said...

Strictly the holdout.

I wouldn't be in support of going for this guy if I had questions about him.

Cliff said...

I rarely read ProFootballTalk.com because I think Florio whines too much, but my dad loves it so I clicked on to see their latest mock draft. Florio projects the Eagles to draft Beanie Wells and a OT from UConn. That part I don't care about because I think all mocks are silly, but the first dozen comment posts on the page are from pissed off Eagles fans. LOL. Got to love that.

On another note, does anyone else find it odd that the University of Conneticut is almost never refeered to as "UConn" in regards to their football program? I mean, I don't live in that market, so I can't be certain, but I never hear ESPN or national media refer to their football team as "UConn" like they do durring March Madness.