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The Eagles hosted DB Marlin Jackson last night and today. He left without a contract. He came to us from Baltimore and is now headed to the Jets. Is Marlin on a free agent tour or just trying to travel along the eastern seaboard?
Jackson tore ACLs in 2008 and '09. All of his suitors are trying to see where he is physically. Jackson says he's in a good spot in the rehab process, but what else is he gonna say? Wouldn't you love just once for a guy to say "Wow, I am so far behind it is ridiculous. I sure hope none of these teams is dumb enough to think I'm worth signing for the upcoming year."
No official word yet on whether Jackson would play CB or FS, but I have to think it would be S. Jackson was never a burner and coming off 2 ACL surgeries rarely increases your speed. I was going to dig up some Colts tape from his days as a starting Safety, but put that aside when it became clear he was going to continue meeting with teams.
Jackson would come here as a band-aid. You sign him and then draft someone in the 1st or 2nd round. That player can have the job if he earns it. If not, Marlin is the man in the middle. I still like O.J. Atogwe very much, but if the Eagles are going to make a strong push in the draft to land Earl Thomas or Nate Allen...then going after Atogwe wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. Going after Jackson would.
The Eagles still have hopes for Quintin Demps and Macho Harris. The problem is that you can't count on them. You sign Jackson, or a similar vet, and then have a competition between the 3 guys and the rookie. May the best man win. It is possible the board will break wrong and the team won't land a top flight rookie. Then you just have Jackson battle the young guys for the job. No one is guaranteed anything at FS.
Marlin already has an in with the team. He and Jason Avant were college teammates. It sounds like they remain close friends. If Avant vouches for the guy...how am I supposed to say no?
UPDATE --- Jackson just agreed to terms with the Eagles. Here's the story.
SALPAL HAS...USEFUL STORY?
The Mayans were wrong. The world won't end in 2012. It is coming much sooner than that. SalPal actually offered up some worthwhile news, which in itself is a worthwhile news item. Sal says that he's hearing that Pete Carroll is making a strong push for either McNabb or Kolb. Apparently Pete is desperate to win right away and thinks our QBs could help him do just that.
Look at the NFC West for a minute. The Rams are bad. The Niners are tough and physical, but can't score any points. The Cardinals have been good with Kurt Warner at the helm, but now he's off to eat dinner at 430pm with the other retirees. Are the Cardinals still a good team? Nobody knows, including them.
If Pete Carroll takes his 1st round picks and trades them for McNabb and WR Brandon Marshall, that might be enough firepower to make Seattle the favorites in the division. I think McNabb and Carroll would be a great fit personality-wise. Donovan might thrive in a balanced offense that used a lot of bootlegs and other throws on the move.
Stay tuned to see if anything comes of this report. Let's hope SalPal is dead on the money this time around.
QB WATCH 2010 UPDATE
The Browns signing of Seneca Wallace doesn't really make a difference to us. I didn't think of the Browns as serious contenders for Mike Vick anyway. They want Kevin Kolb. They'd love to pair him with Wallace to solidify QB. Kevin isn't going anywhere minus a trade offer so ridiculous that you simply could not turn it down. Cleveland might have interest in McNabb. Again, the addition of Wallace shouldn't affect any desire to deal for Donovan. Seneca is a good backup and spot starter, but I don't see him as a full time starter.
BUF likes McNabb a lot. The question is whether he'd be willing to go there and sign an extension. They won't give us a high price to rent #5. I really think the Bills are the team to watch. That fanbase is jonesing for a good QB and the owner is an older guy who would give anything to get back to the playoffs. The Bills are apparently open to dealing their 1st.
CLE is a mystery team. No one knows what they'll do. Quinn isn't the answer. Wallace is mostly a backup. Single-wing with Cribbs?
Are the Eagles being too ambiguous? I don't think so, but it is possible. I'm fairly certain that 31 NFL teams know that Vick is available. Working out the details is the tricky part. I also wonder if any team sees him as a future starter. That affects things greatly.
The McNabb situation is confusing. There are NFL teams, fans, and media members who are convinced that Big Red means it when he says that McNabb will be the guy in 2010. Other see this as a smoke screen and negotiating ploy. Andy does have a great poker face.
McNabb will not get an extension to stay in Philly. The only way that could happen is if he does stay for 2010 and we have some magical 15-1 year where we break scoring records and win the SB. Anything short of that means McNabb is on the move after this year. Kolb trusts Reid very much and wants to be an Eagle, but he would walk the second that McNabb signed a deal to stay here. Kevin wants to play.
RANDOM STUFF
RE: Lito trade
I was told the team had a good deal worked out, but Lito had crazy contract demands and the other team nixed the deal.
RE: Greg Ellis
To the best of my knowledge, Greg played LDE for the Raiders last year. He started 14 games. He had 7 sacks and posted okay numbers. He could be a player we'll target just before or after the draft. Greg still knows how to get to the QB.
DRAFT NOTE
I posted a list of my Top 35 prospects over at ScoutsNotebook.
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Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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17 comments:
Better change this up Tommy. Jackson signed for two years.
nevermind you already added the "update".
Hopefully there is some weight behind ole salpal's comments. If he is correct then do you see Denver getting the #6 pick and us getting the #14 pick? or vice versa? Also would you think there would be other pick involved or just straight up 1st for McNabb?
Ooooo man do I hope Sal Pal is right about Pete Carroll.
Damn Lito for his crazy demands.
I'd be very interested in Greg Ellis right now. I think him and JP could do well on that side together. If only Chris Clemons returned to late 2008 form.
Personally, I think the Marlon Jackson signing is somewhat useless unless Macho or Q2 fall off the face of the earth.
useless might be a stretch. It's NEVER a bad idea to have good competition for a spot that has no clear cut starter. Jackson is the most accomplished of the three guys there. If he is healthy, emphasis on IF, he could really help the Eagles out. Plus he is more versatile than Demps, as he can play nickle corner in a pinch.
Depth in the secondary is good thing. I still wanna see us aim for a stud Safety in the draft, tho.
I don't have an issue with Reid being ambiguous about the QB situation. This situation is very different than the Cutler situation. Cutler was very publicly attacking the Broncos front office. Here in Denver, every little tidbit was a big story...Cutler puts his house on the market, Cutler won't return calls, etc. I don't know how you can realistically be ambiguous in that situation. Reid on the other hand has been pretty loyal to McNabb. None of us really know what he is thinking, so why not squeeze for every bit you can get. If things don't work out, I like the fall back plan of Reid saying he never wanted to trade him to begin with. We don't need another circus.
I really like this signing. There's plenty of upside if he can get back to being healthy and not much downside if he's just a role player.
Well now that the Eagles have picked up a safety from the old scratch'n'dent isle, now is the perfect opportunity to draft a pass-rushing end in the draft that will make an impact immediately.
So you think DEs drafted usually don't make an impact in their rookie year? Brian Orakpo did. Dwight Freeney did. Guess who looks like Dwight Freeney in this year's draft?
Brandon Graham. The Eagles MUST draft Brandon Graham (or maybe Jerry Hughes) this year. Stay away from Carlos Dunlap, Derrick Morgan, or Everson Griffen. Please, please draft Brandon Graham or Jerry Hughes.
If they do that, they can realistically expect a 8.0-12.0 sack season from him, even as a rookie.
The Jackson signing is akin to the Sean Jones signing, in my opinion. It's good to have a vet competing with the young guys. There will be a lot of "real" competition to get on the field with that group. Think about it...
1) You have a future high draft pick who has been dying to get back on the field and play football.
2) You have a sophomore player who had a pretty good rookie year and got a taste of being the starter.
3) You have a player who was "supposed" to replace Brian Dawkins who has the skills and instincts to be good, but knows he was passed by because he didn't work hard enough.
All three FS's will come to TC with something starting experience and something to prove. That's not a bad thing. Plus, we could always add a FS in the draft to throw in that mix.
To add to your comments about the Browns... ESPN is reporting that the Browns are still shopping Quinn, so I would say they're still actively pursuing another QB even after signing Wallace. Something's going on.
The key to the Marlon Jackson signing is that it allows the Eagles to be flexible in the draft and even free agency. We can draft the best available now, if we get a great safety in the first round great. If we draft one in the second or third round then we still have a plan for this year while the new player develops. The way the secondary stands now Mikell, Harris (he'll get at least two years before the Eagles give up on him) and Jackson will probably make the roster as well as whatever safety we draft. Brown, Samuel and Hobbs will also make the team as corners. Hanson, Demps and the others will have to fight for the remaining two or three spots. But if we draft a safety and/or sign another safety those available spots will be reduced accordingly but Jackson can be flipped to nickel CB if needed. So we have strengthened the position without reducing flexibility.
If healthy there is a good chance Jackson could be an excellent safety. Our 2009 problems in the secondary started with the loss of Dawkins and were significantly exacerbated by the loss of Bradley forcing so many adjustments that the corners ended up making too many mistakes. The addition of Jauron to the coaching staff is also a significant addition to improving the situation.
So while the Eagles didn't make the big splash on the first day of free agency they were ready to pounce when the Colts didn't tender Jackson and when Jauron came loose. IMHO Brilliant!
Correction to above post. It should be the remaining one or two spots since the Eagles should go with eight or nine defensive backs although I think 10 is a remote possibility.
So it turns out that Seattle had been inquiring about Kolb, not McNabb. Boooooo!
@Cliff
I agree completely that the Jackson signing is like the Jones signing of last year. I thought Sean was going to be a difference maker, turned out otherwise. Here's hoping history doesn't repeat itself and that Jackson's knees are/will be healed.
Leave it to SalPal to get our hopes up. *Sigh*
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I do like the Jackson signing. It increases our flexibility heading into the draft. If we don't trade up for Eric Berry (Common Cleveland, McNabb for #7!) or Earl Thomas, then we can develop a project for a year while Jackson holds down the fort. I still want to draft a ton of DBs though. Saturation Drafting. Best guys win.
Read this on PE.com today:
Speaking to "people who have engaged with the Eagles," La Canfora said that ""their sense of the situation"" is that it would take at least a second-round pick for a team to pry away Michael Vick. For Donovan McNabb, "it would take at least a first-round pick to start any real cogent discussions." And Kolb? "It would probably take both of (Seattle's) number one picks to get that deal done. That's how serious they are about Kevin Kolb being a part of their future."
LOVE the part about Kolb! Glad to hear they are serious about keeping him as the future of this franchise. Sp when are developing a pill to allow you to sleep for a month? Cuz I would love me some of that.
@Adam S.
I don't read that PE.Com as entirely good news. If McNabb has a gangbusters season this year, a SB appearance or such, do the Eagles really let him leave? Where does that leave Kolb? If McNabb is not among the elite and the Eagles are serious about putting Kevin in place, then McNabb leaves with no compensation to the team. Also, presumably by then Vick is gone, which means a #2 qb need be put in place.
I think the strongest hand the Eagles have is right now, and they oughta' play it. Sometimes the cards ain't worth a dime if you don't lay 'em down.
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