Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Big Red Opens Up

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The big news of the day is Andy Reid finally admitting (be brave, Big Red...be brave!) that our QBs just might be available in a trade.  No confirmation from him on whether water is wet or if the Pope wears a funny hat.  All jokes aside, this is a big step. 

Publicly admitting that the team is "entertaining offers" doesn't mean that a deal is imminent or even that a deal is guaranteed to happen.  It does spare us the horror that Andy was in denial and genuinely expected all 3 QBs to return.  He still says that is possible, but it no longer seems like his main goal.  Thankfully. 

You can read the full intereview in the Daily News blog here.

Now that Reid has acknowledged that a trade is real and being talked about we have to jump on the rumor mill and deal with all kinds of crazy reports. 

Ashley Fox of the Inquirer has an article up that has some interesting nuggets.  She says one "source with ties to the team" thinks we'll deal Kolb and keep McNabb.  My reaction?  No way.   There is virtually no chance that happens.  The Eagles did talk to at least one team about Kolb. They told the other team what the asking price is and the conversation quickly shifted over to McNabb.  Nobody wants to give up a pair of 1st round picks for Kolb. 

There are a few people reporting that the Eagles have lowered their asking price and now will settle for less than a 1st rounder.  I'm highly skeptical of this.  I doesn't jibe with what I've heard and some of the other offers that the Eagles have already had thrown their way.  The Eagles asking price in one potential deal was a 1st and a 3rd round pick.   Obviously compensation changes from team to team because of where the trade partner may fall in the draft.  There is a huge difference in a Top 10 pick and a pick in the late 20s or early 30s. 

 Comcast has a good report up.  Derrick Gunn heard from one source that the Eagles would settle for as little as a 3rd round pick.  Impossible.  Reid will keep Donovan another year before he deals him for that low an offer. 

Reid also acknowledged that the team is getting trade offers for Sheldon Brown.  I mentioned the other day that there was some likelihood to a deal involving him.  I think it is a matter of who and when, not if. 


FOR WHOM THE BELL PLAYS

RB Mike Bell is officially an Eagle.  The Saints decided not to match his offer.  I can say without hyperbole that we now have the deepest, most talented stable of running backs in the history of football.  Give or take.  I do like the addition of Bell and think he's what we need.  The last thing I wanted was another scatback with great hands.  We don't want to give Andy or Marty any extra reasons to throw the ball. 


COMP PICKS

The NFL awarded us a pair of Compensatory picks in the 7th round.  This isn't much to get excited about, but every pick helps in a deep draft.  One reminder...Comp picks cannot be traded.  We have to use them.


NICKEL DT

One good bit of info in the Reid interview is the fact that Trevor Laws will be given a chance to play DT in the Nickel/Dime defensive units.  Darren Howard had that main role the last two years.  He had a variety of guys play alongside him.  I hated the fact that we didn't put Laws out there.  He is the kind of upfield attacking DT that I want out there on 3rd/long.  Laws is big and strong enough to play the run (draw plays), but has the quickness and penetrating ability to get in the backfield and be disruptive.  Trevor has battled small injuries the last couple of years at Training Camp and they've slowed his progress.  He needs to have a strong summer and take advantage of the opportunity in front of him. 
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17 comments:

Myron said...

Tommy: how would you feel about trading McNabb to the Rams for their 2nd round pick and a player, or 2nd round pick and a 3rd/4th or something like that?

A St. Louis 2nd round pick is functionally a 1st round pick, so in effect it would be somewhat like trading him for a low 1st, no?

Also, I really don't think that trading Kolb away is completely impossible. If a team offers a good enough deal, like a high first round pick plus additional lower picks or a player or two, I could easily see the Eagles pulling the trigger. You stockpile the team with good players, and expect a good 3-4 more years from McNabb, and then re-draft your replacement QB. Kolb isn't that special that they can't find a replacement to groom yet again, like say, a John Skelton or something, or even Terrelle Pryor next year.

Unknown said...

I think the only way the Eagles would trade Kolb is if they could take a very good player or two /and/ have a very high pick (possibly next year) to draft a top QB. Otherwise it'd be far too risky. A McNabb trade makes much more sense.

Do you guys listen to any NFL podcasts btw?

I listen to Espn First Draft but thats it. Any recommendations for both general NFL and eagles podcasts would be appreciated!

Ben Hessel said...

http://boards.philadelphiaeagles.com/index.php?showtopic=579605

Interesting article. Saying that something will happen within the next week? I don't know how much I believe the timeline, but I will say that I don't think it's a coincidence that, within the last several days, this stuff has gotten hot. Reid's admitting it, Schefter and Caplan (who I feel are pretty reliable guys) are saying it's almost a gaurantee, and I think it could all happen for as little as a high 2nd round pick.

I don't think we'll get a top 10 pick (buffalo, oakland) unless McNabb will either A) sign an extention, or B) we throw in another player (sheldon?) or draft pick of our own. (I only mention this to say that, unfortunately, Eric Berry seems very unlikely... but let's wait and see)

Matt said...

If Washington offered you #4 or their first round pick next year would you take it? Washington hasn't been mentioned really at all as a potential trade partner. For good reason I guess, you don't want to face McNabb twice a year if you can avoid it. But at some point, if Washington's offer was well above what else you were receiving wouldn't you have to think about it?

Unknown said...

@Matt
I was thinking the same thing. I don't know that Washington would necessarily offer anything significantly greater than another team would (or if they really would want McNabb), but hypothetically speaking, how significant of a difference would the value of an offer need to be to accept a rivals offer over say an AFC team's offer?

Unknown said...

Back to the gap thing.

I mentioned the Pete Jenkins and the 2-gap and he said

'@Davesbeard: AR did say 90% 1-gap, but they will mix up fronts from time to time to give different looks.'

Some confusion maybe.

Unknown said...

http://boards.philadelphiaeagles.com/index.php?showtopic=579613

Breaking news sometime soon apparently. Probably a load of hot air.

ZackISM said...

Tommy,

If we trade McNabb & Sheldon Brown - there is no way this team can say anything other than this is a rebuilding phase. Maybe the term isn't good - but it's the truth.

We'd have basically 0 players from the 2004 playoff team, a large portion of the 2008 NFC runner up gone. I'm not saying the "quick" rebiuld or going young is a bad thing - just that it's the case. If these trades happen, winning in 2010 isn't priority #1 (and I'm okay with it), but it simply is the truth in my mind.

Unknown said...

@ ZackISM

Maybe, however we would have either Ellis Hobbs or a Rookie at CB and Kolb at QB. While they would be new players, with some more added talent on D that team could easily be as good as last years.

bthackra said...

Would STL do this?

Trade the #1 overall pick for McNabb and our first round (#24) pick?

My first reaction would be no. But...STL still gets a marquee QB at a much better value/less $ risk, plus they still have a 1st rounder (ie. they don't lose draft picks for McNabb- important for a rebuilding team). We draft McCoy (who we had in for a visit I think) and it would help better explain all the salary dumping we have been doing.

Just seems like one of those bold moves the Eagles catch us with out of left field. Would also let Howie put a pretty big stamp on his role as the new GM.

Myron said...

Edward: "The B.S. Report" with Bill Simmons is always fun to listen to, but that's mostly dead football-wise during the offseason. But it's an excellent podcast for the playoffs when they bring in all of those different analysts with different angles, like Aaron Schatz from footballoutsiders.com and some Vegas guys who have inside info on point spreads.

Unknown said...

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-eagles/McNabb_to_the_Rams_on_the_table.html

Has been floating around for a while, has been discredited and now seems to be on the table again. We'll see.

If true what do you guys think? Would be a good spot for a corner.

Unknown said...

Awesome cheers Myron, i'll give that a look!

Ben Hessel said...

@ Edward.

High second and Atogwe (who we've been talking about here for a while)?

If he's healthy, DO IT! Yea we'd all like more and to be in position for Berry (referring some to the last SN mock draft), but I don't think that's McNabb's realistic value. We'd also be in good position for a big trade up on draft day.

Unknown said...

The thing that's different this year about the draft is how the days are set up.

They talked about this on NFL.com. There is now more value to the first pick in the 2nd and 4th rounds. Instead of having to run around trying to quickly make trades and decide on your board, you now have an entire night to regroup for the 2nd and 3rd and regroup for the 4th through 7th.

So now the first pick in the 2nd round probably holds more value now than it ever did.

Unknown said...

Andy literally used the words "I'd love to have that first pick in the second round"

Looks like there's a chance he's getting it!

Danyo said...

@ZackISM

6 years is a long time in football. How many players on today's roster do you expect to be on the team in 2016?

I think it's pretty darn impressive how the Birds have rebuilt nearly the entire team while remaining (mostly) competitive.

I agree that winning in 2010 doesn't seem to be our #1 priority - nor should it be. Our main goal should be to build a team that can continually compete at a high level over the next several years.