Eagles Thoughts for a Blustery Day
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Eagles Thoughts for a Blustery Day
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
So far, Wednesday has mostly been about what isn't happening with the Eagles.
First we had a tweet from Ravens linebacker Dannell Ellberbe, alluding to an "interview" in Philly today. Given that Ellerbe will become a free agent next week if the Ravens don't strike a deal, and that he is an absolute beast of a 3-4 linebacker, this had the potential to blow up big. Didn't make much sense, though, since interviewing a player who hasn't been released, nearly a week before the March 12 start of free agency, would be big-time tampering that surely would call down the wrath of King Roger of Goodell. Teams tamper all the time by talking with agents; they aren't dumb enough to brazenly bring players into town early.
Sure enough, after I interrupted agent Hadley Englehard's quick pre-free agency Florida vacation with his family, Englehard explained that Ellerbe was doing an interview Wednesday with NFL Films, in Mount Laurel, N.J. No connection with the Eagles. Thanks, Hadley, sorry to bother you. (Over the years, about half the "coach/player in Philly" rumors have turned out to be related to NFL Films, I'd say.) Will the Eagles be interested in Ellerbe if the Ravens are crazy enough to let him hit the market? They'd have to be. But he wants to stay in Baltimore and the Ravens want to keep him.
Next up was a Howard Eskin report that corner Nnamdi Asomugha would be released today. Not true, said both the team and a source close to Asomugha. But it has been nearly two weeks now since Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and agent Ben Dogra sat down at the combine in Indianapolis to discuss restructuring Asomugha's contract, which calls for him to make $15 million this year. When the meeting occurred, I figured maybe this meant Asomugha was staying. It was clear the Eagles weren't thrilled about paying him the required $4 million to play somewhere else in 2013, and it's hard to turn over the entire secondary in one offseason.
But I've talked to key people on both sides since then, and nobody seems optimistic. At 31 this summer, Asomugha might make more sense for a contender. Plus, he gets that $4 mil, plus whatever another team is willing to pay him, which almost certainly will be more than he would net from a restructuring here. And for Eagles fans, he has become a symbol of the franchise's decline. He won't be released today, but Nnamdi almost certainly will be eating his 2013 lunches in some other team's parking lot.
People also are keenly interested in what's up with the Eagles and Lehigh. I've been pressing this for a few weeks now, and the more "gee, we don't know yet" answers I get, the surer I am that the Eagles are going to be camping at NovaCare.
Yeah, fans are going to be upset, because the access can't possibly be what it was at Lehigh. But this year, Jeffrey Lurie and co. are all about what Chip Kelly wants, and if the Chipper doesn't want to go running off to Bethlehem this summer, the Eagles won't do it; they will risk the backlash, just as they did with bringing back Michael Vick, which absolutely wasn't going to happen before Kelly was hired.
There's a chance Kelly really hasn't made up his mind on this, and the Birds could return to Lehigh for an 18th summer. But the longer we go, the more I think the delay is about figuring out what sort of fan events are possible at the Linc. That calculation is complicated by the renovations at the stadium this spring and summer.
I can't believe camp will be totally closed to fans, but I also don't think the Eagles are going to try to cram thousands of people into NovaCare. They promised the surrounding neighborhood they wouldn't do that when they built the complex a little more than a decade ago. Could you accommodate a few hundred people a day, hold some sort of lottery?
There is no buzz whatsoever about having camp at another college campus in the region.
Meanwhile, free agency officially starts next Tuesday, but for the first time, the NFL is acknowledging what has been happening in flagrant disregard of the rules for many years. Starting March 9, teams will be able to officially approach the agents of pending UFAs with offers. They can't actually sign the players until March 12. Presumably, a lot of those UFAs will want to see if their current teams are interested in matching, while those teams still hold exclusive signing rights.
This is a new twist and it's hard to see how it will work out. My gut feeling is that even fewer top UFAs will actually hit the market Tuesday, after a weekend of wild speculation and hype.
As Roseman noted last week, the league meetings, March 17-20 in Phoenix, for the first time will be held in the early days of free agency, with the market still hot, presumably. Another twist.
It's tempting to look at free agents at just about every position and think "hey, that guy could help the Eagles." When you're 4-12, even mediocrity looks appealing. Two things, though: trying to build through free agency helped get the Eagles into this mess, and the nature of free agency ensures that a lot of mediocre guys are going to get overpaid.
Are the Eagles going to be players in the market? They just about have to be. They have eight draft picks in April, one in every round until the seventh. They need way more help than that. And they're changing their defensive look, which is going to involve retooling even beyond the all-new secondary. They have at least $30 million in cap space, a figure that will grow when they jettison Nnamdi.
But the focus has to be on younger guys who can add longterm value, not on Pro Bowl veterans with gaudy stats. It's really interesting that the market seems most enticing with regard to defensive backs and offensive linemen, two areas where the draft also is deep. If you help one area considerably in free agency, that lessens the drafting pressure, frees you up to really, truly take that "best available player" everybody always talks about drafting.
How is this team going to be rebuilt? What will be the keys? Sad to say but the call on it all comes from a guy who has never coached in the NFL. He has no concept of the brut, speed nor inside triks of the league. Only the Eagles would do this. After 40 years of thinking about, I am dropping the Birds, after all they pile dropping after dropping on us fans.— stardog- Does this mean you'll stop posting?
Please say yes.
— The Truth Hurts - Why does everyone think Howie is the only one evaluating the talent? He's the GM, but there are a lot of scouts and high level talent evaluaters helping. Phil Savage and Tom Gamble are highly respected throughout the NFL for helping build talented rosters.
Just stop the negative BS and enjoy watching Kelly and the Eagles move forward with a new regime...— cdedrick05 
How does that meeting with Assomusha go? "Hey, I stink, I'm a quitter and a useless football player - but I've got you by the balls so just give me the damned money".— COskier- I like Nnamdi. Wish it would have worked out great, and he'd been an all-pro here. Maybe it was all about coaching confusion. Maybe he'll work out great with new coaches, here or on another team. But what my eyes see is a mediocre NFL cornerback, regardless of what he was in Oakland.
This makes him irrelevant in free agency, unless teams think otherwise. You pay a mediocre cornerback $500,000 to $2 million a year in today's NFL. If Nnamdi will play for that, he might get a job.
Don't sign him here, because we need to develop new people. We're not going anywhere in 2013 anyway, so if we're going to win 11 games, do it like the Colts did. Plan for the future and play like crazy in the present.— armchairGM - Stardog, how do we rebuilt?
Get rid of Reid.
We are already in the right direction.
Enjoy the ride.— 1000hugs - Eskin is a fool and is being used by the sports world to spread false rumors.— Beagle Fan
- Le-Hi-Ho...Who cares where they train...can we just put together a winning team???— bigdaddyG
- ArmchairGM, if you see Nnamdi as a mediocre corner, then I must ask you to remove your rose colored glasses.— chocolatethunder
- Since he ate in his car, do the Eagles get a sandwich pick if Nnamdi walks?— dasher
- Perhaps we've been "Nnamdi'd?" (See his cameo on The Kroll Show on Comedy Central). He'll have his camera guys jump out of the bushes and admit he's punk'd us over the past few years. That would make everything clear.— NCogNeato
- This is exactly why they should not switch to a 3-4. Every team and their mother is switching to the 3-4. You will find better and cheaper talent in FA sticking w the 4-3 imo. Every team is going to run up the value of these 3-4 players. That is why Ellerbe would be insane not to test FA. There are just too many holes on this team, and switching philosophies just creates that many more. Plus, Trent Cole is not a 3-4 LB; not at this point in his career. So, Howie throws this guy an extension and more money, and the very next year brings in a HC that doesn't even believe in the scheme Cole fits...WTF? Not to mention drafts Foles, and then brings in Chipper and his "unique" offense that Foles doesn't fit supposedly. This team is already a mess. Howie is just part of the "flavor of the month club", and has no real idea what wins football games in the NFL. Lurie needs to reign this guy in before we go back to complete irrelevance. Sad thing is that Lurie is probably most responsible for this sad comedy...— greenblood4200
- Hey dasher; don't quit your day job. Womp-wah....— greenblood4200
