"With the 21st pick, the Eagles...."

 And what will commissioner Roger Goodell say after that?

Let's list the most likely options:

* draft a running back;

*draft a wide receiver or tight end;

*draft a lineman;

* trade up to get one of the above;

* trade down to get one of the above and something else;

* trade the pick and something else for a wide receiver;

* trade out of the first round entirely.

That's a lot of possibilities and there are others as well. Being certain of what the Eagles will do on draft day has always been a dangerous game during the tenure of Andy Reid.

That's why I am suspicious of the they-gotta-go-running-back crowd. In fact, I will fade all those bets. There are too many variables and, deep down, I don't think Reid believes the rushing problem last season had as much to do with Brian Westbrook as with the deterioration of the offensive line.

Reid has already gone out and gotten a fullback, a runnerish one, to add to the backfield. I just don't believe he's also going to spend the 21st pick in the draft on another runner.

A side benefit of the addition of DeSean Jackson last season was his ability to do many of the same things from the wideout position that Westbrook could do when he lined up wide. There is less reason to use Westbrook that way now, which will keep him fresher.

For a team that doesn't run the ball much, it seems as if the Eagles have enough in that department for next season. To me, a top tight end would be a better pick, and there's a good argument to be made for upgrading the defensive end position, too. Maybe it would involve moving up, but worth the move.

So in the Post Patterns mock draft, which is as meaningful as any other (totally meaningless), right next to "Eagles" at the 21st pick, I'm penciling in: "Definitely Not a Running Back."

The little cat fight between the city of Philadelphia and the Eagles over secret deals, greased wheels and the small matter of $8 million just turned into another South Philly intimidation attempt this week.

The Nutter administration has decided to fight the Eagles as it tries to get unpaid luxury box revenue from Veterans Stadium, and in the process is denying the team's claim that former Mayor John F. Street or someone acting as his representative promised a cut-rate deal.

How did the Eagles respond? In the classic strong-arm fasion favored by most city gangs? With a threat that's about as well-veiled as a blackjack across the head.

"We are very disappointed that the city continues to attempt to try this case in public," the team said in a statement issued Tuesday. "We think this should concern every person doing business in the City of Philadelphia or is contemplating doing business in the city."

In other words, Mr. Businessman, we're going to badmouth the way you might expect to be treated in the city of Philadelphia, should you consider putting some of your resources there. Or, if your business is already in the city, perhaps you should take note of how upstanding folks like us are being treated right now. That should concern you, maybe enough to reconsider where you do your business."

It doesn't get much more blatant than that. You want to say nasty things about us -- things that include the non-payment of the $8 million, even though a judge ruled in 2005 that it was owed -- well, we can say nasty things, too. And maybe chase away some business from your door while we're at it. Want to keep playing this game, Mr. Mayor?

"...The city's attempt to pressure us publicly to pay an amount of money that we don't owe will serve ultimately to embarrass it and worry the entire business community," the statement added.

Not withstanding that the 2005 ruling indicates that the team does owe that amount of money, of course.

And there's that intimidation again, pointing out that the city trying to collect money owed to it should "worry the business community." You can almost see the executives hunkered behind their desks, their brows furrowed with concern. Could this happen to me? What about my skybox revenue?

The Eagles are acting like bullies, which is the organization's default setting. Maybe it will work and Nutter will back down, worried what else the team might say to foul the business waters for the city.

It's a nasty turn in the proceedings, but time-honored. Having a lawyer and a stick beats having just a lawyer any time.

Most of the meaning that can be taken from most of the Eagles' reply to Sheldon Brown's request for a trade or contract upgrade was about as hidden as an elephant in a phone booth.

To sum it up, the reply went something like this: No.

You can't blame Sheldon for trying and the Eagles probably don't blame him at all. The cornerback was trying to find out if he had any leverage at the moment since the team is throwing around money and bringing in high-paid outsiders. Again, the same answer: No.

Brown has four years left on his deal. He didn't think he was getting the attention of the front office as he and his agent tried to get a fair hearing on their complaints, so he went all ESPN on them. And, in response, they went all William Jennings Bryan on him, putting out a reply that was particularly lengthy and a good bit scolding.

"It's very unfortunate and counterproductive that Sheldon has chosen to go public with his feelings about his situation," the team harrumphed.

Whether Brown has outplayed the terms of his contract or not, he certainly hasn't outplayed the length of it and the Eagles seem firm on making that point stick.

And since no challenge can't be turned into an opportunity, the team also took time to go on the record about another potential contract extension. That was the hidden part of the message, although not that well hidden if you know how to look for it.

All things Eagles are all things Donovan McNabb, which I expressed in a column in the paper today, and which the team was alluding to when it responded to Brown.

The Eagles put down the groundwork for not extending McNabb's contract yet, citing holy precedent they don't appear willing to break.

"There have been league MVPs, Super Bowl champion quarterbacks, and perennial Pro Bowlers who have been in a similar situation. All of their teams have required them to wait until their contract expired or there was only one year remaining before any adjustment took place," the statement said.

McNabb has two years left on his contract and it has been reported, usually in leaks directly linked to McNabb's camp, that he wants a better roster around him and a contract extension.

The Eagles are doing their part on the roster, but they are also drawing a line in the sand of contract philosophy. There's no way Sheldon Brown was in position to strong-arm them, but you have to wonder if they will remain on the muscle when it comes to McNabb. A good question, but they are certainly flexing those muscles this week.

It is hard to know exactly how to honor a hero, how to celebrate his or her accomplishments, how to remember them best.

Major League Baseball honors Jackie Robinson each season by picking an April day in which any player who so chooses can wear Robinson's No. 42, which was retired by baseball several seasons ago.

Last Sunday, hundreds of players accepted the opportunity. There were No. 42's across the country, on every team, on the backs of players of all races, nationalities and backgrounds. It is a sincere and moving gesture and an unassailable one because, even if only symbolically, it serves as a reminder that all players, not just black players, are in the debt of Robinson's contribution.

For me, however, the practice does nothing to reinforce the real greatness of Robinson's story. The essential accomplishment of Robinson's entry into the major leagues is that it was a solitary mission, against odds that were incalculable at the time. He was utterly alone, knowing that most opponents and some teammates were rooting for his failure.

The great Red Smith called Robinson "the loneliest man I have ever seen in sports."

Picture the scene if just one member of each home team on Sunday had been allowed to wear 42. Make his uniform jet black, jersey and pants, shockingly unlike that of every other player on the field. Every time he took the field, every eye would be forced to follow him because he was so different. Every person in the park would notice and he would stand out like a visitor from another place, another game, another setting.

That was Jackie Robinson's reality. Not a field of players wearing 42. He was alone, achingly different and unable to blend in with those around him.

His triumph isn't a lesson in race or society or baseball. It is a reminder that the human spirit can soar and conquer even when the numbers aligned against you seem impossibly large.

That's the visual image I would prefer on Jackie Robinson day. Not what the game became, largely because of his efforts, but what it was when the fight began.

The way the Cardinals tell it, they haven't just this week decided to listen to trade offers for receiver Anquan Boldin. They just decided to tell the world they are listening.

Why? Well, they appear to be tiring of the unhappy act they keep getting from Boldin and agent Drew Rosenhaus. Boldin is signed for two more seasons -- at a total of $5.75 million -- but puts his uniform pants on one leg at a time next to Larry Fitzgerald, who makes $10 million a season.

As the coach and general manager point out in the story from the Arizona Republic, their preference is to keep Boldin, but recognize that making him happy might not be possible.

The team has more pressing contract extensions to complete with linebacker Karlos Dansby and strong safety Adrian Wilson, and just shelled out a $15 million signing bonus to quarterback Kurt Warner. Even if the Cards wanted to make Boldin a very rich man, they might not have the cash lying around. Or so they intimate.

What would it cost for another team to lift Boldin from the Cards? He turns 29 in October and has something of an injury history, playing a full 16-game schedule just twice in his six NFL seasons. Last year, if it matters, he also criticized the team and the coach and got into a sideline squabble with the offensive coordinator during the conference championship game against the Eagles, and departed the stadium before celebrating with his teammates. Perhaps that's all a product of the contract unhappiness and would disappear in a new setting with a new deal. Perhaps.

What would it cost? Beat writer Kent Somers, who is very plugged in out there, guesstimated in his blog that a first-round and a third-round pick would probably satisfy the Cardinals. Taking that at face value, would the Eagles make that deal? They hold two first-round picks and 12 draft picks overall, and fully admit they don't intend to use all those picks themselves.

If they did make the trade, they would have to do the contract upgrade, putting Boldin in that 4-year/$40 million range he's seeking. That could have a domino effect on the contract status of Donovan McNabb, who also has two years left on his deal and might think he'd be in line for a bump from the organization before an outsider gets one.

So, do you make the deal for a first and a third to get Boldin? Your thoughts.

The Eagles in the last few years, to put it in military terms, have drafted a lot of soldiers and not that many officers.

They have two first-round picks for the draft that begins April 25 and the possibility of using one of them, in combination with something else, to move up to a marquee position in the drafting order.

For the past two drafts, the Eagles have traded away their No. 1 picks, and they haven't taken anything aside from a lineman with a first-round pick since taking Lito Sheppard with the 26th pick of the 2002 draft.

Perhaps the recent drafts have not been mind-blowing, but they have been very useful. From the last three selections, the Eagles have gotten DeSean Jackson, Brodrick Bunkley, Stewart Bradley, Chris Gocong, Quintin Demps, Max Jean-Gilles, Jason Avant, Brent Celek, Victor Abiamiri, Trevor Laws, Omar Gaither and some untested wild cards in Jack Ikegwuonu, King Dunlap and Kevin Kolb.

Not a lot of stars there, but contributing players, and potentially a bunch of starters on next season's team.

If the Eagles' roster, as some would theorize, becomes a reflection of Andy Reid's personality -- solid, hard-working, not particularly exciting -- that starts in the draft room and in the ranking of players.

Listening closely to general manager Tom Heckert this week, as he talked about drafting philosophy, it was interesting to hear his view on why certain drafted players have underperformed. The Eagles don't come away from a bust thinking, "What did we do wrong?" or "What were we thinking?" They wonder why the guy, in general, wasn't as solid or hard-working as they would have liked.

"I don't think we've said, 'What were we thinking?' I don't remember that," Heckert said. "It would be more of a look back and say, 'We knew this about the guy, but kind of overlooked it.' If it happened again, would we do the same thing, obviously the answer is no. The guys we've missed on...it hasn't been a talent thing, but some extenuating circumstances where we couldn't get the talent out of them."

And: "You get guys that love to play. The toughest thing for anybody in the draft room is with guys who have great numbers and are good players, but might not (work as hard). That's where you have to be careful. That's when you look back and say that maybe you should have taken a guy who might not have been as great a football player, but the other stuff is going to make him a better football player overall. Looking at whatever position, there are guys with numbers so much better, but there's something that if you have another guy who is a great classroom guy and a great worker and is tough, it's better off to stay with that and pass on the other guys."

Here's another analogy. If the Eagles are deciding between a sports car that might have an undependable engine and a pickup truck that won't win any races but will keep running, they'll take the truck.

It's a fine way to build a good classroom team and get a bunch of guys who work hard in the weight room and right up until the last whistle of practice, but is it the way to win a championship? We won't know that answer for a long time, so your speculation on that will have to suffice.

The same goes for your speculation on players who fit the description of what Heckert is talking about. It's fair to guess that Winston Justice (No. 39 overall) and Jerome McDougle (No. 15 overall) have been recent picks for whom the talent factor was not a problem. If it was, and the team spent those high picks on them, then the Eagles can't judge talent. The organization doesn't feel that is the case.

Judging the inside of the player is the difficult part, and the Eagles, feeling themselves burned in the past, are pledged to be more careful now. Is that a good thing? Perhaps. It is a reflection of the boss, though. That much is for sure. 

Spent just about a full hour in a conference room at the NovaCare Complex on Tuesday with Eagles general manager Tom Heckert and about 15 other reporters for a little pre-draft, state-of-the-team question and answer session.

Heckert uses a lot more words than Andy Reid in those situations, but he doesn’t give up too many secrets, either.

Here are a few guesses about the upcoming draft that could be read between the lines, depending on one’s interpretation: 

* It is unlikely they will use all 12 of their draft picks themselves. “We can use some of them to move up in rounds, but also to trade for next year’s picks,” Heckert said. “We’ve already talked to some teams about that. There are a lot of teams without a whole lot of picks, who are trying to gain picks. We wouldn’t do anything like that until we’re on the clock.” 

* To get into the top 10 of the draft would take one of the Eagles first-round picks (they hold 21 and 28) and something else, but not both. Heckert didn’t say the Eagles would definitely move up – don’t want to seem too desperate – only that they could do so. “We have ammunition,” he said. “We can go high up if we want to.” 

* Here’s an out-and-out guess. They don’t intend to get into the top 5 and land either Jason Smith or Eugene Monroe, the two top offensive tackles out there, but they hope Andre Smith slides somewhere to around the 10th pick and they can swoop down and get him. Heckert said Smith’s alleged maturity issues have been investigated and the Eagles like him. “He’s a good kid. It’s not character or anything like that,” Heckert said. If they miss on him, would they take Michael Oher, who is sort of a wild card? Heckert wasn’t saying. 

* Here’s something more than a guess: OT is the only position the Eagles would move up significantly to get. 

* There isn’t going to be a running back taken high by the Eagles. “It’s still not at a point where we say we’ve got to come out of the first two rounds with a running back,” Heckert said. 

* At some point, the Eagles are going to take a tight end in the draft. Heckert said all the right things about Brent Celek, but also said, “We sent Tom Melvin, our tight ends coach, all over the place this year (looking at potential picks).” Why? It’s a priority would be the only reason. 

* There are three quarterbacks who are projected as first-rounders – Matt Stafford, Mark Sanchez and Josh Freeman – but exactly where they fall will affect the rest of the round. “There’s only a certain amount of teams that need a quarterback,” Heckert said. 

* The Eagles aren’t one of them, at least not according to Heckert. 

* On the Donovan McNabb situation, Heckert was asked directly if McNabb did, in fact, tell the organization that his willingness to sign an extension with the Eagles hinged on how much improvement the team made in the roster during the offseason.

Here is the exact text of Heckert’s response:

“Ahh, not that I’m aware of. And that’s…no…I don’t know. That’s…no…I mean that’s…you may have to ask Donovan that, but no…that’s…” Well, at least that was cleared up.

* If the season started today, either Todd Herremans or Shawn Andrews would be the left offensive tackle. Fortunately, it does not.

We won't know the real schedule until the league announces it tonight at 7 p.m. on the NFL Network -- hoo boy! -- but what would the Eagles request if they could put together the schedule themselves?

Here's what I think they would prefer, or at least one version of it, and I'll tell you why. For short-attention span visitors, THIS IS NOT THE REAL SCHEDULE. Just a mock-up.

Week 1 -- Kansas City @ Eagles

Week 2 -- Eagles @ Washington

Week 3 -- New Orleans @ Eagles

Week 4 -- Eagles @ Oakland

Week 5 -- Eagles @ San Diego

Week 6 -- BYE

Week 7 -- Dallas @ Eagles

Week 8 -- San Francisco @ Eagles

Week 9 -- Eagles @ N.Y. Giants

Week 10 -- Denver @ Eagles

Week 11 -- Eagles @ Chicago

Week 12 -- Washington @ Eagles

Week 13 -- Eagles @ Dallas

Week 14 -- Tampa Bay @ Eagles

Week 15 -- Eagles @ Atlanta

Week 16 -- Eagles @ Carolina

Week 17 -- N.Y. Giants @ Eagles

The Eagles are going to have a fair number of changes on the roster and among the starters for next season. As Tom Heckert said today during a pre-draft media Q&A, it is feasible the offensive line could have a different starter at every position from last season.

I think it's likely the team would like an easier start to the schedule while the kinks are worked out. In the past with a more veteran, more aging team, it always seemed like getting some tough games in early, before the grind of the season wore them down, was a good idea. Not so much this time, which is why getting poor road teams like Kansas City, New Orleans and San Francisco here relatively early might be nice.

Conversely, avoiding Atlanta and Carolina on the road (a combined 15-1 last year) might be better left until the end, although the back end of this schedule is admittedly very difficult.

Bunching the two west coast games would be a bonus they probably won't get. It would allow them to stay out there and train, rather than put two separate cross-country trips on their personal odometers. Following that with a bye before Dallas would probably suit them, too. Chicago in November is dicey, but the Bears can't run the ball, or at least couldn't last season, so that might work out.

Anyway, what's your perfect schedule for the Eagles as we count down the hours until seeing the real one?