Saturday, March 6, 2010

Afternoon Update

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Aaron Kampman is a player that I'm still high on.  I heard yesterday that nothing was going to happen between him and the Eagles.  I was doing some reading today and stumbled across this nugget from the Florida Times-Union (JAX):

Kampman had been rumored to be drawing interest from Tampa Bay, Philadelphia and Seattle. But by coaxing Kampman to take his first free agent visit to Jacksonville, the Jags may have increased their chances of landing him. Kampman’s representatives remain in contact with Philadelphia, but it’s unclear whether he plans to visit the Eagles or any of the other teams that have expressed interest.
Let's examine this for a second. That line could work a few ways.  If Kampman's agent is calling the Eagles to ask if they are interested that is technically the two sides staying in contact, even if the Eagles continue to say no.  The interest from other teams certainly helps Kampman's bargaining power.  And he needs that, being 30+ and coming off an ACL tear. 

The comments could also mean the Eagles have re-thought the situation and decided that they do have interest in Kampman.  Maybe they just want him on a 1-year deal.  Maybe they only want him cheap. 

The Jags spent most of Saturday talking, but the author of the above article added these Tweets this afternoon:

It doesn't appear that anything is imminent w/Kampman or Osgood. But we shall see.

Jags are trying hard to get something done, according to my sources 

The Jags want him, but they may be apart on money / terms.  We'll have to wait and see how this plays out.  I'm going to continue to hope Kampman stays on the market and gets back into our plans, but I won't be holding my breath. 


RETURN OF A MAN CALLED HANK?

Aaron Wilson is reporting that the Eagles are one of 3 teams looking at WR Hank Baskett.  He is a UFA at this point.  Hank would be an ideal addition because he knows the system and can play on STs.  That would give us the flexibility to draft a WR if we wanted or rely on Hank and Reggie Brown as the backups.  Kevin Curtis will be cut at some point. 


ANSWER

RE:  LB Nick Roach

Someone asked about Nick as a possible RFA target.  I've got Nick on a list of players the Eagles might like at WLB.  He played MLB and SLB for Chicago, but would be a good WLB fit for us.  He is 6'1, 234.  He got on the field last year when Urlacher went down.  Roach played pretty well.  He had 2 sacks, 7 TFLs, and 3 FFs.  He is solid, physical LB.  He can hit and tackle well.  I can't say a lot about his cover skills, but he was solid in that area coming out of Northwestern.  No way we give up a 2nd for him.  We'd have to trade a player or get them to take a lesser pick.  I don't even know if we'd offer a 3rd.  Nick is an interesting potential target. 
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20 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the update Tommy :)

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Baskett is the perfect type of signing for us IMO. DSJ/Maclin/Avant/Reggie/Baskett is a 5some in which EVERY single WR plays special teams and has starting experience (well, except Avant but he plays a ton of snaps). It also allows us to draft more RBs/CBs in later rounds to develop instead of going for another WR.

I wonder if he wants to come back?

Tommy Lawlor said...

Another bit of Kampman info:

"The Eagles reportedly wanted to host free agent Aaron Kampman Friday, but his player rep wouldn't allow it.
It's believed that the agent turned down the Eagles because they weren't willing to commit to an offer. He wants to ensure that teams are serious about Kampman before sending him to take a physical. Kampman visited the Jaguars on Saturday, though it appears that he left without a contract."

Maybe that is good news.

Myron said...

Tommy, someone else brought it up and I thought it was an interesting question:

Do we have Peppers in 2010 if Heckert was still the GM? Or was the prerequisite monster contract needed to compete with the Bears for Peppers simply unacceptable for the Lurie and Banner regardless of who is doing the negotiating?

Either way, I'm not really that upset after I've had time to think about it. Signing a 30-year-old player to the largest contract ever paid to a non-quarterback is a terrible cross to bear if he doesn't live up to his reputation. Sure, he'd be great to have, even at that price, if we can be assured of double-digit sack seasons for the next 3-4 years, but Julius Peppers is no Reggie White, as you have noted yourself.

Tommy Lawlor said...

I'll write about Howie tomorrow.

Short answer...no. Chicago went all out to get Peppers and pulled it off. Heckert would not have made a bit of difference.

Joe Banner is the lead in all FA moves because he's the money guy. The GM helps figure out who to go after. Howie wanted JP. He did his part.

Tommy Lawlor said...

Now Jeff Maclane is saying the whole Kampman non-visit story is false, per an Eagles source.

That would make sense. Agent could be trying to drum up interest in a guy that teams are scared of.

Myron said...

All I know is that I will be rather depressed if we don't make at least *one* impact signing in free agency this year.

I think I will be borderline suicidal if we do nothing in free agency, and then proceed to do something ridiculous come draft day such as reach for a marginal OL in the first round, or trade down for some "project" player. Drafting Carlos Dunlap would also qualify as a ridiculous draft day move.

Anonymous said...
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Unknown said...

Well, Kampman signed in Jacksonville.

Does thie mean we have to draft a LDE in the first round (DE class = top heavy)?

What are possible trades for a big LDE with pass rushing ability?

ZackISM said...

Well 2 days down in free agency/trade period, and for me, a lot of hope is lost.

Primary target should have been Julius Peppers - and apparently was - no deal.

No deal with role players Kyle Vanden Bosch or Aaron Kampman.

No interest shown in Antrel Rolle or Karlos Dansby. Unable to pull off a trade for Kerry Rhodes.

So far I have to say I'm extremely disappointed in the Eagles. It looks to me like they're going to try and sell us on the only minor changes were necessary.

Tommy - do you think they are now just playing for 2012 or 2013? I mean you'll have a tough time convincing me that they are better today than the team that got destroyed two weeks in a row by the Cowboys.

nicolajNN said...

The off season is not over yet. As Tommy said in his earlier post we should have patience, I'll admit that I have had doubts about whether we are going to be a better team and if we can fill our needs, but I will wait and see what happens, I'm sure FO has a plan.

Tommy - Do you think it's likely we trade Vick for a player or more, instead of picks. Would you do that? Maybe we can get better value that way.

It also appears we are interested in Mike Bell.

Eddie said...

bleed green forever just posted that robert mathis was released. did i miss something or are they wrong. if they are right i think all our focus should be on him.

Unknown said...

There's talk about Donte Whitner being available for trade from the bills. Any thoughts on him Tommy?

I wouldn't want to spend more than our top third on him personally.

Myron said...

Well, our FO is certainly batting a thousand.

Peppers? He's going to help Lovie Smith keep his job next year, instead of taking us to a Super Bowl.

Rolle? He's going to be covering DeSean Jackson for the Giants next year.

Kampmann? I guess he'll be rehabbing in Jacksonville.

All I'm going to say is that they had better NAIL this draft. As in, starting caliber free safety and starting caliber defensive end. Pull off some trades, move up in the draft, rip somebody off - I don't care - do something.

If I see an offensive lineman drafted @ #24, or some ridiculous trade-down, I'm going to be very upset.

Dr. Ogrodnick said...

I just don't understand this team. If the idea is to keep Mcnabb and go for it, great, then go for it. If the idea is to rebuild, great, then trade Mcnabb, get Kolb in there, and rebuild. The Eagles seem to be unsure what they want, and it is going to make next season a regression.

Pitmanite said...

i think they want to trade mcnabb, but he really holds all the cards right now, so it's not that easy. nobody is going to give up a high draft pick for mcnabb unless he agrees to a contract extension. therefore, he'll essentially have to sign off on the trade. that seems to me like a decision that has to be handled pretty delicately.

i do have to admit though that i will not be happy if they keep mcnabb and then just add to our defense to the draft. our defense needs some seriously help, and we can't say we're keeping mcnabb bc he gives us the best chance to win right now, and then just build w/ rookies through the draft.

Cliff said...

Peppers chose to go for the cash in Chicago instead of getting a realistic shot at a Super Bowl in Philly. I have to think Kampman was offered a good contract from the Eagles after Peppers was signed, so he too must have chose cash over a shot at playing for a contender as well.

The FO can't force these players to sign. They also can't invest that much money in players so old. I really wanted Kampman, but when he chooses a team like the Jags over us, it sends a clear message that he's not interested in playing for a competitive team.

Prem Prakash said...

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I think the fo has made the right decisions so far with the top tier free agents. They've acted in a professional, non-Dan Snider manner. Peppers demanded way too much cash. He's a guy with all the skills in the world who won't live up to his potential. I don't know what his story is, but he reminds me of Kearse, who had plenty of energy but used too much of it on pursuits outside of football (such as the fairer sex). The fact that Julius chose the Bears over a contender makes it so I wouldn't be surprised if he cashes his fat checks and then mails it in on game day. I've always liked Kampman, but he's a question mark due to age and knee. Rolle would have been a great acquisition, but he got a ton of money from the Giants, way more than one would have thought he could have commanded.

The Eagles signed Weaver and they must be entertaining qb offers, hopefully a trade or something will dazzle us soon.

Myron said...

The Eagles certainly made the right decision if you're an accountant for the organization.

But if you're a fan who wanted to see them improve the team, in some way, in an uncapped year, they let you down.

If it were *my* money, I probably wouldn't throw a boatload of cash at Peppers either. But it's Jeffrey Lurie's money, and he has plenty of it, and throwing away a chunk of it on a player like Peppers would undoubtedly improve the team, even if Peppers isn't the second coming of Reggie White and takes 50% of his plays off, and even if the contract needed to secure Peppers would be egregiously large.

It just shows you that Westbrook was right - they're interested mainly in being a profitable franchise: selling just enough tickets to increase the bottom line. Being an elite team or winning a championship is mostly irrelevant to this team - being able to do so would be nice, but not at the expense of their careful bean-counting.

Again, if they don't completely nail this draft - i.e. do something shocking like trade up to grab Eric Berry, or rip off another team for draft picks and manage to snag Brandon Graham AND Earl Thomas, for instance - my rooting interest in this team is going to be very tepid in 2010 and I won't go into the season expecting a repeat playoff appearance.

Unknown said...

Eagles supposedly bringing in Marlin Jackson for a visit if he makes it out of Baltimore. What is it with this team and players with dodgy knees? If he's physically fit it could be a great signing but what are the chances of that? I guess he wouldn't be needed to start any time soon.

Netherman said...

Atogwe - something does not seem right here. Read a linked article on PFTalk.com from Chicago saying they should now go after Atogwe. They quoted a stat that Atogwe had more takeaways than any other safety including Ed Reed over some period of time. Which makes me wonder, if he is that great, why do we hear not one peep about him? Why isn't Spags, who is a JJ disciple, not putting any effort into retaining him? Something does not smell right here.