Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Reggie's Trade and Other Stuff

***

Reggie Brown was dealt to Tampa for a 6th round pick in 2011.  Why make this move?  Couple of reasons.  First, it has been clear for a while that Reggie isn't part of the plans any longer.  He filled in okay when needed, but didn't play so well that you felt obligated to keep him.  He did play on STs in 2009, but didn't particularly stand out. 

Unfortunately other teams could see the writing on the wall.  They had little to no interest in Reggie, or at least giving up anything for him.  You can be sure the Eagles worked the phones in hopes of landing a 4th or 5th.  If a late rounder in '11 is the best offer we go, so be it. 

The move opens up a roster spot.  That will likely be filled by Hank Baskett some time in the next 7-10 days.  I'm assuming there isn't going to be much competition for Hank.  He is a very good backup for us.  Hank is a terrific blocker, good STer, and can make big catches from time to time. 

If we add Hank, that puts us back to 4 solid receivers.  Kevin Curtis is on the roster, but that is a mere formality.  The Eagles are shopping him to see if there are any takers.  When healthy, KC is still a solid receiver.  He's had problems staying healthy the last two years and he also got Wally Pipped.  Jeremy Maclin got his job and isn't about to let it go.  Curtis has a bonus due in June.  There is no need to cut him before then.  Keep him around to see if you get any offers.  Maybe some Bear wideout will be in an accident and Mike Martz will want his former protege.  There is virtually no chance KC returns to Philly. 

We need a 5th WR.  I'm sure we'll look to the draft for someone.  There are some interesting guys available in the mid to late rounds.  We'll talk about those guys at a later time.  I don't think Jordan Norwood or Dobson Collins is going to seriously challenge for a roster spot.  .


TRADER VIC'S

The team is shopping Mike Vick.  They want to deal him.  There are rumors that the Eagles are asking for a 2nd rounder, but that would just be negotiating.    There is no way they really expect that.  I think getting a 3rd would be a major coup.

Are the Eagles being greedy?  Maybe.  SF had serious interest, but then turned to David Carr.  I had heard that compensation was worked out between the teams.  If true, SF preferred Carr to Vick or backed off of Vick because he wasn't going to be happy as a non-starter.  That is the wildcard in this situation.  Will Vick accept being a backup / role player?  If not, teams are going to be hesitant about acquiring him.

Vick might have his most value in the summer, when some team will lose a starter or backup to injury.  I hope we don't wait that long.  I'm willing to accept less value to get the situation over with.  I'm afraid that Mike will put his foot in his mouth in an interview and turn off all other teams.  This is also a deep draft.  There are no guarantees about next year.  Give me a 4th rounder and I'm happy.  Make it a 3rd and I'm ecstatic.

As for the notion of keeping Vick and getting a Comp pick in 2012...junk.  The only way you get a pick that high is if the guy signs a mega-deal, plays at a high level, and then we don't sign anyone that would cancel out that loss.  Ridiculous notion.  Vick isn't getting a mega-deal from anyone until he shows starting potential.  6 of 13 was okay for a guy coming out of a coma, so to speak.  2010 is the year he needs to really sell himself.


DEALIN' DONNIE

Be patient.  The lack of QB targets in FA and the draft is a huge problem for many teams.  There are all kinds of rumors about McNabb and the Eagles out there.  Keep your eyes on Buffalo and Cleveland.  Those are the teams with their butts in the breeze.  It seems likely that Bradford will be a Ram.  Jimmy Clausen's value is sinking like GM stock.  Colt McCoy is nice, but is he the answer?  Those teams literally have no one to put on the field that makes any sense.  At QB you want a young guy to develop or a proven veteran.  Both teams come up 0 on both counts.  


JUDGING

We can't make a fair appraisal of the offseason until at least May 1st.  That's when we'll have an idea of the key moves made by the team.  Yeah, we're sitting on our hands so far.  Is that wrong?  Maybe.  The Eagles are hesitant to add mid-level players.  I think they should mix that in more.

At the same time, there just aren't players I really want.  I'd like to add O.J. Atogwe, but what if the team is targeting Earl Thomas or Nate Allen in the draft?  Do you add Atogwe and then pass on those guys?  I'd love a DE or CB, but there really aren't good choices.  If we get to May 1st and have a bunch of questionable additions I'll gladly join in the bashing of the FO.  I can't get too fired up right now because we still could do some exciting things.  We do have plenty of picks, plus some guys to deal. 
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18 comments:

Tommy Lawlor said...

From previous set of comments:

"Blogger mcud77 said...

So is Kevin Curtis asking Andy:

"What expendable mean?"


Funniest thing I've read all day. Well done, sir.

Unknown said...

"There are rumors that the Eagles are asking for a 2nd rounder, but that would just be negotiating. "

This is what I assumed. When I later saw a piece on how comp picks are valued, I realized Lombardi's comment was way off-base. Good lesson on taking things at face value... I assume a team has offered a 4th, the Eagles want a 3rd, so they ask for a 2nd in hopes of improving the offer.

Cliff said...

This blog is like playing "six degrees of separation from Sylvester Stallone" these days. Geeze.

Anyway, I knew this was a good post when I read the words "Wally Pipped." Thanks for addressing some of our issues.

You didn't talk about Marlin Jackson. I read a ridiculous article from Les Bowen that suggested Jackson would enter Training Camp as our starter at FS. He used Peter King as his supporting evidence. That's when "ridiculous" entered my mind. What do you think?

Matt said...

How does the acquisition of Seneca Wallace by Cleveland play in to the Eagles QB trade options? With the David Carr situation you mention and now Wallace, I'm a little concerned the teams that would/should want Vick/McNabb are starting to look elsewhere.

Unknown said...

The problem with the eagles I feel is that their value oriented approach, not wanting to lose the game of chicken so to speak, backfires sometimes. I mean look at Lito Sheppard, if we had dealt him the year before for a 2nd or a 3rd or whatever the offer was, we could have saved ourselves a year of malcontent CB play and gotten a better draft pick than the one we are going to get to boot.

With Vick, I wonder if we're shooting ourselves in the foot now and not going to get as much later.

Mcnabb for a high round pick to use on Eric Berry and whatever pick next year. Make it happen!

Adam S. said...

The inactivity so far is killing me but I'm a patient man. I understand that this isn't a 40 yard dash. I also think people are overlooking the development of our own young players when looking at wether or not the team has improved since the loss in Dallas. Are there holes as of today? Absolutely, but every team has them, that's what the draft is for. April 22nd cannot get here fast enough.

bthackra said...

Insightful as always, thanks. If you had to guess, McNabb or Kolb being traded with BUF and CLE as logical fits, which seems more likely to you? Would either give a top 10 pick for McNabb? I find it doubtful Holmgren/Heckert would. With BUF, would McNabb go their ( i.e. sign extension)? If Andy wants a #1, it would seem the young franchise guy (Kolb) would be more likely to get that from either CLE or BUF.

In looking at past big QB trades in the league, when did they happen? early in offseason, or late? Cassell, Cutler, Schaub, Bledsoe (to BUF), etc.

izzylangfan said...

The problem with trading Vick for a high draft choice is that the guy cant keep his mouth shut and is totally tone deaf to how he might be perceived. Further his out of controll rants to the press are an indication that any rehabilitation that might have occurred is more likely manufactured by the Eagles public relations department than true refomation by Vick in reality. The guy is a loose cannon.

Unknown said...

@Matt

I doubt the acquisition of Seneca Wallace would have much bearing on Cleveland trading for/not trading for Kolb or McNabb.

Wallace is simply a Holmgren guy, but I seriously doubt they are looking for him to start. They're still in the market for a big time QB.

Now Vick, on the other hand? Every time a San Francisco signs a David Carr (or when likely '10 backups Delhomme and Derek Anderson sign somewhere), the market for Michael Vick shrinks that much more.

Unknown said...

Moral of the story...

I think the Eagles need to trade Vick for what they can...and soon.

With McNabb/Kolb, they can afford to be a bit more patient.

frankfurtler said...

Do you think that potentential trade partners trying to negotiate compensation for Vick
means ranking him with the rest of the (and potential)NFL QB leftovers?
(insert obligatory eeewgulp)Delhomme, Boller, Leinart, Ramsey, Losman, Bulger, Pennington, Feely, Culpepper just to name a few.

Cliff said...

@ izzylangfan

What rants to the press? I live in Vick's hometown, i.e. anything he does/says is FRONT PAGE NEWS immediately. Other than the Playgirl thing (which wasn't his doing) and the Panthers comment (again, harmless) I can't think of anything "loose" or "cannony" that he's done lately.

Pitmanite said...

i just bought madden on my iphone. i went w/ kolb as my starter and he had a total rag arm. he made made chad pennington look like jeff george. i struggled mightily on my first two drives and had to bench him in favor of donovan.

i'm now thinking we might want to hold off on being so quick to trade mcnabb.

Unknown said...

Pit you need to rush this information to Andy Reid ASAP, before its too late.

Unknown said...

A few questions for you Tommy,
First, in terms of the possible Vick trade, do you think the FO being publicly ambiguous about their desire to trade Vick really helps us in trade negotiations? We always seem to deny putting people on the trading block when in reality, we are reasonably active with trades. It seems some other teams are not as afraid to let it be publicly known that they are willing to trade players. For example, last offseason, the Broncos made it clear that Cutler was on the trading block and IMO, they certainly did not end up with less value in the trade had they instead kept it more secretive. It just doesn't seem to me that if we announced publicly that we are willing to listen to offers for Vick but that we also are willing to keep him if we do not receive a reasonable offer that we would lose any leverage in terms of negotiations. For a player like McNabb, that may not work as well because if you don't trade him, McNabb will feel disrespected. But for Vick, you can make the argument that they are also trying to help him find an opportunity to start, but if it doesn't work out, they value him more in his role in our offense than what we would have gotten in return in a trade.

My second question is, ignoring Vick, is it realistic to think that we would go into next season with the QB situation the way it is without doing anything? What I mean by that is, if we don't trade McNabb or Kolb (I don't really see the latter even being a possibility), would the FO be comfortable with the fact that McNabb and Kolb will both be on expiring contracts at the end of the season? It seems to me that doing that would be a huge distraction throughout the season. McNabb is already asked every time he is around reporters if this is his last season with the Eagles, or if he will get traded, and you can tell it has started to bug him. If he goes into next season without an extension, it will just continue all season long.

I guess I ask that question because if the answer is no, and the Eagles must prevent McNabb from being a lame duck QB, doesn't that sort of force their hand a bit? The way I see it, if they keep both McNabb and Kolb, they have to extend McNabb just to prevent the distractions, but that means Kolb's contract expires at the end of the season. I know he has said all the right things so far, but it is clear he wants his opportunity to start. My guess is that if McNabb is extended, Kolb will not want to stay with the Eagles and will leave in the offseason. Thus, if they truly feel Kolb is the future, it seems they either have to trade McNabb this offseason or deal with the distractions all year which will likely hurt their chances at a superbowl and in the end receive nothing for McNabb.

Sorry for the long winded question, but I just wanted to hear your thoughts.

ZackISM said...

@Cliff -

Why wouldn't he enter as the starting FS if they sign him to play FS?

I must be missing the huge talent that he'll have to beat out. I mean Macho Harris had 0 INT's, 0 FF's, and 3 passes defensed last year. And our secondary didn't exactly keep other teams passing games shut down.

So in my mind when the options (assuming Marlin Jackson is signed) are:
Marlin Jackon
Macho Harris
Quinten Demps
Rookie

It wouldn't exactly shock me if Marlin was penciled in as the starter.

ZackISM said...

I'm sure someone's mentioned it, but Tommy what are your thoughts on: Greg Ellis?

I know it's been years since he's played in a 4-3. But he has played both LDE & RDE - and while he's antient (and wouldn't be a typical Eagles signing) - he is the type of pass rusher I think could help this team. Your thoughts Tommy?

Unknown said...

I like Marlin Jackson. Good interview, think he'd be a great depth signing with future starting potential.