Andrews To Philly

PE.com is reporting that Stacy Andrews is visiting the Eagles. PFT reported that he already agreed to a deal. Very good signing.

Andrews (6'7, 342) is the right tackle of the future. His only drawback is that he's coming off a major ACL/MCL injury. That happened in late December. I would think that him playing in 2009 is a longshot. Stacy and his agent let it be known recently that he was on track to be ready for June minicamps. Right. That's when Megan Fox and I will be announcing our engagement and GM stock will be $200 a share.

Being an OL it is possible that he can come back quicker than a skill player. Those guys have to run at full speed and then make abrupt cuts. An OL has to fire off the ball and adjust to defenders, but not running full speed while doing that should make it easier on the knee.

Maybe Stacy goes on the PUP List. At that point he would sit out the first 6 games and then be eligible to return between weeks 7-10. If not, he'd go to IR and miss the year. That's more likely.

Worst case scenario is that Stacy misses all of 2009 and is back on the field at full strength in 2010. No matter how you look at it, the Eagles have found a long term solution at RT. This is predicated on the basis of him staying healthy. You can bet the Eagles doctors will check his knee out carefully and only okay him if things look good for the future.

Aside from getting a talented player in Stacy you have to think the Eagles expect a side benefit in the return of Shawn Andrews, his brother for those who don't know. Shawn has been a player that I didn't count on to be part of the Eagles plans because of some issues he's dealing with. The presence of his brother at RT should be a good thing and hopefully will make Shawn comfortable with coming back. If you think of this as a 2 for 1 deal the Eagles made a great signing.

What happens at RT in 2009? This is still a mystery.

If Tra comes back to the team, Todd can slide out to RT for a season. If Tra moves on (more on that later) then Todd needs to take over LT.

On the current roster you have Winston Justice and Chris Patrick who can play the right side. Neither option is great. Jon Runyan is coming off knee surgery himself. I don't know if he'd be interested in a 1-year deal. One interesting option could be Daniel Loper of the Titans. He has not started a regular season game in his career. The Eagles could offer him the RT job for this year with the notion of him then being able to be a top FA in 2010.

If Andrews is able to comeback at midseason, maybe you could get away with either Justice or Patrick for 6 games. That isn't ideal.

The x-factor would be Shawn. He could slide out to RT for half the year or the entire season. The only problem is that you need a good backup plan in case something happens and he either gets hurt or something bizarre happens.

The Eagles could draft someone, but this gets tricky. Stacy is the RT of the future. Todd is likely the LT of the future. If they pick someone, it has to be a player who can play OT, but also slide inside to G or C in the future. Too early now to start throwing around names.

STATUS OF EAGLES FAs

Brian Dawkins is reportedly being offered a one-year deal by the team. I hate to say it, but that's smart. Dawk has struggled at times in the last couple of seasons. You cannot make a long term commitment to him.

Tra sounds like someone who is upset with the team and won't return. I think he wants big money. I think the Eagles will pay him well for a year, but don't want to commit to him long term. Tra is the best OT on the market, but teams who want a run blocker will hate him. Anyone who watches the NFC-CG will be discouraged by him. I can see some team overpaying for him. The Eagles won't try to match that.

Sean Considine is on his way to Jacksonville. He's high character and could be a solid player in their system. They like to do a lot of Cover 2, which he knows from his days at Iowa.

LJ Smith has reportedly signed with the Falcons. Good for him. LJ isn't my favorite player, but he didn't quit on the team like #26 did. Plus, hopefully it takes Atlanta out of the running for a 1st round TE.

Buck is a Bronco. I hope they feed him the ball and he puts up big numbers. I'd love to see him thrive in his new setting.
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