Monday, March 29, 2010

Monday Thoughts

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Sorry for the late update.  Busy day.  I did a lot of checking, but didn't come up with many good answers.  With Reid and Banner out of the office* there isn't much going on in terms of negotiations.  The rumor mill is in full force.  The feeling in NFL circles is that the Raiders are still the team to beat.  I'm still hearing that Jacksonville and Buffalo are in the mix.  No real updates on offers.  The same names are still being thrown around.  I'll keep checking and will let you know when I get wind of something new or really interesting.

* UPDATE --- Banner / Reid might be back in Philly by now.  


ANSWERING QUESTIONS

RE:  1-gap / 2-gap

There is still a lot of confusion on this issue.  Adam Caplan continues to say we're a 1-gap team and have always been one.  I think he is confused on this issue.  Dave Spadaro is going to interview Sean McDermott on this issue at some point.


RE:  depth at RDE

Juqua Parker becomes the top backup on both sides.  We have Abiamiri, who is recovering from knee surgery, to play on the left side.  There is a hole to be filled in the draft.  There is always the possibility of adding a veteran FA.  I don't think we'll go this route, but it will depend on how the draft goes.  I'll post a list of mid-round targets in a day or two.  We all know the names at the top of the draft. 


RE:  timing of QB trade

I think the Eagles would like to get something done in the next 10-14 days.  The key is the other teams.  They have to put the right offer on the table.  As soon as that happens, the deal can go down.



RE:  Berry early / Kyle at 24?

That is a distinct possibility.  We allowed 27 TD passes last year.  That is completely unacceptable.  The pass rush wasn't great, but we had serious coverage issues.  We're not one player away from fixing this.  We could easily go DB-DB in the 1st with a trade or DB-DB in the first couple of rounds without a trade.


RE:  Daniel Teo'Nesheim

There is a lot to like, but he's not a great pass rusher.  He was real athletic at the Combine, but that doesn't show up on game tape.  Good role player, but I see him more as a LDE than a pass rusher on the right side.


RE:  compensation

I think a lot of people will be surprised with what we get when the deal goes down.  There will be no yard sales with our franchise QB.  He stays or we get a good deal.
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24 comments:

Unknown said...

Do either of the Raiders unsigned RFA LB appeal to you. Kirk Morison or Thomas Howard, should they (OAK) be involved in QB trade?

greg said...

Tom- You mentioned Reid and Banner were out of the office. Yet some reports suggest they are back in the office. Are you sure they are still away?jeff McLane of the Philly inquirer suggests they are "both back". http://twitter.com/Jeff_McLane Also, you continue to maintain that we will be surprised with the compensation the Eagles will receive if we pull the trigger to trade #5. Everyone else seems to believe we can get a 2nd and another conditional pick. You think we can and will do considerably better in return for #5?

Unknown said...

"RE: timing of QB trade

I think the Eagles would like to get something done in the next 10-14 days. The key is the other teams. They have to put the right offer on the table. As soon as that happens, the deal can go down."

I swear I will go nuts if we continue to have these daily rumors about McNabb for the next 10-14 days with just breaks on the weekends. I appreciate it is a fairly complicated and involved process but the rumors have gone crazy recently.

Tommy Lawlor said...

RE: Reid / Banner

I may have misunderstood something said by someone to me. Both guys could be back.


RE: compensation

I don't want to sit here and get everyone's hopes up falsely. That is why I don't post every rumor I hear. I try to gather information and pass on what I feel is relevant. I am hearing that teams are offering better than a 2nd and conditional pick.

Cliff said...

The national media (ESPN) is starting to irk me more than usual. Favre is M.I.A., so they've latched on to this McNabb stuff with all their fangs.

Of course, the only angle they run is "the Eagles are disrespecting McNabb." They don't mention that, despite all reports to the contrary, the Raiders are still a NFL organization. It's not literally a "black hole." If I were the Raiders, I'd feel really bad about all the indirect bashing they've taken during this McNabb mess.

Second, ESPN fails to mention that the Eagles have a QB waiting in the wings! I have not heard one mention of the fact that both QB's have expiring contracts and the Eagles literally need to make a decision on who to keep. It's not like they're entertaining offers for McNabb on a whim.

As usual, I question why I even listen/watch ESPN.

ZackISM said...

Tommy,

Any comment on the Samuel report (as well as Brown)?

I know you've disagreed with me in the past, and probably still do - but if the Eagles aren't doing a "re-build" they are doing a heck of a job making it look like one.

I mean - you take out McNabb, Samuel & Brown - the average age of the team before draft picks is a ridicilous 25.12 years old (with Sav & Akers included).

I know I've argued it to death - but with each rumor that comes out - I don't see how this team is building to compete for a title this year. 2011, 2012, 2013? Maybe, but this has the makings of a very, very young squad.

Tommy Lawlor said...

Asante Samuel is not on the trade block. That is a bogus report.

Sheldon Brown is on the trade block.

Danyo said...

I understand the "we get a good deal or he stays" company line, but I don't believe it. I think we MUST trade McNabb at this point. Can you imagine how awkward it would be to try to bring him back as the 2010 starter? Besides it being obvious that the team has lost it's faith in him, there would be a neverending circus of media noise and probably some locker room discord as well.

Netherman said...

@ Jason

"I swear I will go nuts if we continue to have these daily rumors about McNabb for the next 10-14 days with just breaks on the weekends. I appreciate it is a fairly complicated and involved process but the rumors have gone crazy recently."

This is why I stopped visiting PFT website among others. It feels like the new paradigm is to post as many inflammatory rumors as possible quoting "unnamed sources close to the situation" to boost web traffic ratings. PFT even went out of their way to pat themselves on the back after having record numbers of web hits at the start of free agency. I appreciate that Tommy does his best to separate the wheat from the chaff. I have pretty much settled on making this site, Iggles Blog, and PE.com for the multimedia as my sites of choice for all things Eagles.

izzylangfan said...

It seems to me that if the Eagles are going to get a high draft pick, then McNabb has to be willing to sign a long term deal with the new team (save possibly Oakland). Thus, if McNabb only wants to go to a winner or team with a familiar set of coaches he might have a lot of control of his own destiny.

Now flash back to last year when McNabb miraculously got a new guaranteed deal without extending his contract. That deal seemed to suggest that McNabb somehow had the Eagles over a barrel and that he was being something of a prima donna in a snit over his (deserved) benching in that Ravens game.

So if he was a prima donna then, why wouldn't he be one now and make life miserable for the Eagles if they want to give him the boot.

Netherman said...

@ Dan, I don't feel like the team has lost faith in McNabb. I just think they feel like they have 2 viable starters and in a year with a strong draft class feel there is value in parlaying him into a pick we can use on a true need. I am ready to start the Kolb era, but I recognize that he could turn out to be less productive than McNabb. McNabb can be frustrating as all hell but when he is "on", he is unbelievable. Too bad you never know when that will be.

Unknown said...

The trade has gotta be about value. They obviously see this is a chance to give Kolb a shot and see if he can be the accurate west coast QB he has the potential to be. At the same time getting as high a return for Donovan as they're ever gonna get. I think it'd take alot for Donovan to upset Andy Reid so much that he lost faith and /wanted/ to trade him.

@Tommy

Interesting Fandemonium about Fokou and SAM. Relieving to see you have faith that Fokou could be a good starter for us. Wouldn't say no to AJ Edds if he fell to us in the third though.

Unknown said...

PFT subscribes to the theory that you throw as much doodoo at the wall and then see what sticks. That way you can get away with posting as much inflammatory information to boost traffic and get away with it, because once in a while you get a rumor right.

Really if there were no people out there willing to buy whatever PFT was selling, websites such as them (or the entire celebrity magazine industry) wouldn't be able to survive, and we might get more websites like Tommy's and less like PFT.

Unknown said...

*as much doodoo as possible

Unknown said...

As long as there are websites like this one to read, a bit of idle banality like PFT outputs doesn't hurt. Keeps my tweetdeck feed active.

OtherWhiteMatt said...

I still think McNabb will be the starter come opening day. I don't think they will get enough from a team that McNabb wants to go to.

And I highly doubt the Raiders are even talking to the Eagles. There has been no substantial evidence they have, except that "Al is crazy." Even anonymous Raider sources are denying the trade talk.

This of course makes me happy because I want McNabb and not Kolb.

Myron said...

Tommy, how badly do you think the Eagles covet Eric Berry? How much influence would Jauron and McDermott have if they identify Berry as "my guy for the future"?

And if they truly covet him as a their defensive building block of the future, how much are they will to do to try to get him? Would they go so far as to move up into the top 5?

Myron said...

Also, how could they possibly bring back McNabb at this point and keep him as the starter for 2010 after publically acknowledging their willingness to move on with Kolb?

I think I can also speak for most other fans of the team in that I'd be furious if they didn't move on this offseason from McNabb after the deluge of speculation and rumormongering we've all been exposed to thus far.

Unknown said...

Another 14 days would make me go insane.

At this point, I REALLY want #8 overall from Oakland. That gets us Eric Berry or Derrick Morgan. Either way, our defense gets a massive upgrade.

---

I was looking at possibilities...and we could conceivably leave this draft with Eric Berry (#8) and Kyle Wilson (#24) in the 1st round. Now that's upgrading the secondary.

Unknown said...

Its Eric Berry or bust for me. I'm just having too much fun with this whole Eric Berry is the second coming of jesus thing. The season would be so much less interesting without an Eric Berry watch.

Unknown said...

Michael Silver over at Yahoo has an interesting article about the Mcnabb situation.

I think he's off the mark about a lot of things, first of all why wouldn't Mcnabb absolutely positively be worth at least a first round pick? If he's a supposed "franchise" quarterback who's actually younger than Peyton Manning, how could you ever give him up for less than a first round pick? Its disingenious to suggest on one hand that the Eagles might settle for less than a first rounder and their demands are too high and on the other state that Mcnabb is one of the most visibile players in the organization and a franchise quarterback. Thats counterintuitive.

As for Howie Rosemans style, well, I doubt he's trying to bamboozle anyone. Mcnabb in my mind, if he's as good as everyone keeps saying he is, is worth at least a first and then some.

We won't settle for Oaklands 2nd just to "save face". That would be absurd.

Unknown said...

seriously. AJ Feely got traded for a 2nd round pick...

Myron said...

Stephen: Yeah, the double message sent regarding McNabb is ridiculous. On one hand, people are willing to pay lip service to McNabb by calling him one of the "elite quarterbacks" of the NFL and the one player Philadelphia is most indebted to for all of their winning seasons, and yet on the other hand almost everyone you ask would be hesitant to part with more than a 3rd round pick for the guy.

Hello? I know McNabb is a bit on the old side, but Kurt Warner and Brett Favre proved that 40 is the new 30 for quarterbacks. And if he truly was an "elite", franchise quarterback, wouldn't merely a first round pick be considered a veritable steal as exchange for his services?

Last I heard, Jay Cutler was shipped off for not one, but *two* first round picks. Of course, he was a younger player, but the fact remains that a franchise quarterback deserves to demand a high draft pick or multiple draft picks, period.

Unknown said...

Yeah its this ongoing thing with Mcnabb where on one hand the media crucifies the philly fans and eagles organization for "dissing" mcnabb but on the other can't seem to give him the respect that they demand out of the fans, as if though we're indebted to him or something.

Frankly I'm so tired of everything to do with Mcnabb, I don't feel he's progressing as a quarterback, and I don't feel he's nearly as polished as a vet like him should be. I know he can be a terrific pocket passer, I know he has those skills, but he's just not getting it done. I hope he can get it together and win one before his career is over but I'm doubtful.