Posted: Friday, March 5, 2010, 4:53 PM | 31 comments |
 

Eagles release Witherspoon
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The Eagles have released linebacker Will Witherspoon, general manager Howie Roseman announced.

Roseman said the move was made now "so he can catch on somewhere else."

Witherspoon was acquired in a trade with St. Louis for rookie wide receiver Brandon Gibson and a fifth-round draft pick around the deadline and played both middle and weakside linebacker for the Birds.

He was acquired to play middle but moved to the weakside when the Birds brought back Jeremiah Trotter.

The move is not a huge surprise, given that Witherspoon is due $5 million and could end up being a backup.
Posted by Les Bowen @ 4:53 PM  Permalink | 31 comments
31
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:07 PM, 03/05/2010
    I think they like Akeem Jordan better. Jordan was on his way to having a breakout season when he got hurt. Witherspoon started out well but he looked just average after his first game when he was outstanding. They didn't give up much for Witherspoon so it's alright.
    — soulman386
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:09 PM, 03/05/2010
    Why not release our best LB. We don't need LBs... Probably saves them money somehow. lol
    — ChrisM
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:11 PM, 03/05/2010
    Actually we gave up Gibson who was a probowl Alternate. So we did give up alot for him and now we threw it away.
    — ChrisM
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:15 PM, 03/05/2010
    Yo Chris, did you watch Witherspoon this year? He stunk. Good riddance.
    — Vituperator
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:16 PM, 03/05/2010
    Soulman...Seriously? Brandon Gibson will be a legit #2/3 WR in the NFL... Glad we gave him up for a 10 game rental of Witherspoon! (Hope everyone can read that sarcasm)
    — BammBamm
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:19 PM, 03/05/2010
    This front office is a joke. How do you drop your most versatile LB - especially when they don't even know if Bradley will be back to form next season? DUMB MOVE.
    — iggles07
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:21 PM, 03/05/2010
    He was the best LB we had this year. Now who do we have? Think about this...Eagles saved 12.5 million on Westbrook and Witherspoon which alone could have paid for Peppers, but they are cheap. There isn't even a cap this year.
    — ChrisM
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:38 PM, 03/05/2010
    I can't believe we release this guy before that goon shawn andrews. Get that clown outta town.
    — Fightins85
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:51 PM, 03/05/2010
    Bad move considering we are hurting for LB's, no one knows if Stu will be back AND we gave up young talent for him. Witherspoon was impressive last year and I was looking forward to seeing him play more.
    — blueye7
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:52 PM, 03/05/2010
    you guys all act like the eagles didn't know something was wrong at LB. ya really need to relax. they aren't going to start this season with even less depth then last year. you know the eagles are gonna to get at least 10 LBs in camp. drafts, trades, FAs...it'll be ok. they are excpecting something to happen or they wouldn't have cut him loose this soon. despite their lack of calming your fears, each year for the last ten, they are a winning ballclub. people just cry and whine. i think they do some stupid things (like keep mcnabb), but think how much this changed since their (not ours) superbowl loss. and yet we have a much better offense, and while the defense isn't as dominant as then, we can expect to see them work on overhauling/reloading the defense now.
    — Evilvet
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:55 PM, 03/05/2010
    every year reid grossly under plans few key area's. I seriously didn't see this coming and was excited to see him standing next to jordan and bradley next year. They need to get rid of trott and gocong.
    — xlGmanlx
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:56 PM, 03/05/2010
    GM Howie - what a joke
    — bag-of-donuts
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:59 PM, 03/05/2010
    Great move, releasing depth at weakest position on D, the LB Position. Who will stop the run now? Thought 4-12 would be aa good season. Now 2-14 looks more realistic. Front office people are idiots.
    — philadelphiachild51
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:00 PM, 03/05/2010
    ChrisM, there's no way Gibson was a Pro Bowl alternate. He only played half a season, and it was for St. Louis. ... Now I still liked Gibson after seeing him in the preseason. I didn't like trading him in the first place, and now seeing what we really ended up getting for him, it's kind of ridiculous.
    — philly psu 24
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:03 PM, 03/05/2010
    Phillypsu24 - You may be right. That is what a friend of mine told me, but either way he was a good young player and we gave him up along with a 5th round draft pick. So either we Eagles Lose.
    — ChrisM


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About Eagletarian Blog
Les BowenLes Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News since 2002. Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey. E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.

Paul DomowitchPaul Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982. He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas, working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley, a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy, 25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team. E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow him on Twitter.

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