Jamaal Is Staying; Cuts Are In
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Jamaal Is Staying; Cuts Are In
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
The Eagles are keeping center Jamaal Jackson as a backup. Two other veterans who might have been in danger of getting cut, DE Juqua Parker and RT Winston Justice, agreed to restructure their contracts to stay, a source close to the situation said. Apparently, if Parker and Justice remain backups, they will take a pay cut, but if they end up starting again, and are productive, they can make their full original salaries.
Here is the complete list of Saturday's cuts: S Jamar Adams, RB Eldra Buckley, WR Chad Hall, CB Joselio Hanson, DT Anthony Hargrove, WR Johnnie Lee Higgins, T Austin Howard, S Marlin Jackson, DT Derek Landri, TE Donald Lee, LB Greg Lloyd, C/G Mike McGlynn, WR Sinorice Moss, DE Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, T Fenuki Tupou and T Reggie Wells.
As expected, DE Brandon Graham starts the season on the physically unable to perform list, where he must stay for six weeks. Justice has been activated from PUP. Ryan Harris, the early favorite to start at right tackle, was released with an injury settlement after back surgery.
Surprises, there were a few. Very few observers would have placed undrafted rookie DT Cedric Thornton ahead of veteran Landri during the preseason. Thornton was good; Landri, who started every game for Carolina last season, was excellent. But they were competing for the fifth DT spot, a guy who probably isn't going to be active on Sunday if the other four are healthy. Thornton might gain from a developmental year, and he is under contract for three years. Landri, a vested veteran, was on a one-year deal that would become fully guaranteed if he were on the Week 1 roster. Stashing him as an inactive for a year wouldn't help Landri or the Eagles very much in the long run.
Also, after Week 1, vets can be signed to nonguaranteed deals. Could Thornton then go to the practice squad and Landri return to the roster, if no one signs him? Absolutely.
"You try to kind of balance having the best team right now, which is obviously our goal, and at the same time being strong going forward," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman told a conference call with reporters.
Although your Eagletarian's roster projections were wrong in many particulars, he was right about one thing -- the Birds kept six corners and five safeties. Hanson ended up being released, not traded; the Eagles could have gotten a little something for him earlier in the preseason, but as it became apparent he would have to be cut, offers dried up.
Roseman alluded to rookie RB Dion Lewis as the kickoff returner, and said there were experienced punt returners on the roster, even after Moss and Hall were released. (Hall has practice squad eligibility.)
The current roster -- which very likely will change as the Eagles examine the 1,100-plus cuts across the league -- contains 11 rookies, not including DE Phillip Hunt, a CFL vet who counts as a "first-year player." They have just five wide receivers, which means if they don't add anyone, Steve Smith should be active Week 1 in St. Louis.
Roseman lauded Hunt's strong camp and preseason, and pointed to Hunt when asked about the release of 2010 third-round pick Te'o-Nesheim (who retains practice squad eligibility, by the way.)
"This is a guy that every game he played was making a difference rushing the passer," Roseman said of Hunt. "It's no slight on Te'o, but more of, really, the camp that Phillip Hunt had."
Despite the new kickoff rule, the Birds kept at least two veteran special teams stalwarts, LB Akeem Jordan and S Colt Anderson.
Parker, 33, is the oldest Eagle. Lewis, who doesn't turn 21 until Sept. 27, is the youngest.
The Eagles can form their 8-member practice squad tomorrow.
- The Patriots have zero players remaining on their roster from the 2007 draft. But they have won a Super Bowl so, according to your logic, their 2007 draft was great. Google "post hoc ergo propter hoc."
— ahab - Ummm, no, clearly you suffer from an inability to comprehend what you read. By my logic it's an indication that Billicheck isn't a stubborn idiot and he knows when he made a mistake and cuts those mistakes for better players. A sign he doesn't let his ego get in the way of winning like Reid clearly does. — Eagle GREEN Mt State
- First sign that someone knows they've lost an argument.......don't address any of the points raised and attack them personally. Get your head out of Andy's........ — Eagle GREEN Mt State
- Garner, no one is perfect in the draft. The Patriots cut their 2007 1st round pick.— palmyra21
- yea, and the patriots have three superbowls. REid has none. Pats drafted Assante Reids best CB and someone else drafted his other best CB. im gonna go with the team that has three superbowls as the better drafters. Reid has not been a good drafter since about 2004. its been garbage city ever since the guys modrak drafted left and all-Reid picked teams are pathetic and its why the playoff wins have slwoly gotten smaller and smaller to ZERO in the last three years. ITS BECAUSE HES NOT A GOOD DRAFTER, HES NOT A GOOD GAME DAY COACH, he gets OUTCOACHED by Bellichek, Payton, Gruden, Coughlin, Harbaugh, Turner, Gibbs, Parcells, and even TOM CABLE of the raiders. HE WILL NEVER, EVER, win a SB. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN.— CharlieGarner25
- Jamaal Jackson is better than Kelce. After Vick gets killed, maybe Jackson will get some playing time.— p-diddy
- Garner: Reid got outcoached by Cable, Gibbs, Parcells and Coughlin? Coughlin? Are you kidding?— p-diddy
- uh yes Coughlin. the giants have swept the eagles before, and have won a SB all on Reids watch. its a close matchup, but coughlin runs the ball and has won a SB for it, and at times, has beaten Reid thoroughly. (the OTHER 4th qtr. comeback game where b-west fumbled late in the game birds were up 24-14, then 24-21, then a crazy fumble on D gets them a touchdown and then plaixco beats sheldon brown in the endzone in overtime to win like 34-31 2nd game of the season. kearse out for the year during an overtime blitz. trent cole kicked a guy in the nuts to prolong one of thier drives and he was crying in the locker room afterward. terrible loss. equals out the lucky win they got last time. Coughlin is a better coach and has a SB. if his punter obeys his instructions and punts the ball out of bounds they win that last game as well. running the ball wins SB's. Reids passing garbage has none for a reason.— CharlieGarner25
- also, in case you forgot, Tom Cable and a crappy raiders team that had a decent defense beat ands eagles in a pathetic 13-7 game where andy passed the ball to laughable predictablity and a usual "laid-back" prevent cover raiders D blitz over and over which "surprised" Reid and that was thier only loss to a losing team that year oging 11-1 vs non playof teams and 0-5 vs playoff teams two seasons ago. Gibbs would split almost every season series with REid, again, on solid defense winning a 10-3 game where reggie brown caught the ball at the 3 and but didnt corss the goal line. all-pass predictable garbage that the skins D easily shut down and gibbs ran the ball and controlled the clock to beat Reid. same with Parcells at times who was winning SB's when Reid was probably still in college, by RUNNING THE FOOTBALL and playing solid defense. he got outcoached by ALL OF THOSE COACHES on different occasions MULTIPLE TIMES for most of them. he is so OVER-HYPED it is rediculous. he will NEVER, EVER, win a SB. NEVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR— CharlieGarner25
- Aaron Rogers had 39 pass attempts in the SB. Their leading rusher
had 11 carries. Packers must have lost then ! ! !— bleedgreen - Garner, no one is perfect in the draft. The Patriots cut their 2007 1st round pick. — palmyra21
The Pats don't have anybody left from that draft.— bleedgreen - OK, your not getting it. How many times did the packers run it three weeks before when they beat the eagles, thus letting them GET to the SB while REid couldnt ? How many ? who ran the ball more ? who ran a BALANCED offense ? asnwer those questions, ponder them, I dont know. and maybe you will figure it out. BALANCED offenses win SB's. one game can be won in a shootout if BOTH teams are dumb enough to throw over and over which pittsburg did in the SB, and they lost. ut the steelers ran the ball BIG TIME all season which allowed them to GET TO THE SUPERBOWL. if you PASS TOO MUCH you WILL NOT MAKE IT THERE. and therefore obbviosuly WILL NOT WIN A SB. no team that throws as much as Reid has ever won a SB. also because they rarely even make it there (colts and cardinals both made it and both lost recently. no other teams even made it throwing that much. when colts ran a BALANCED offense a few years earlier at 56/44 passing they won thier only SB. when they went a lopsided 63/37 they lost. ) therefore the stat holds true over 100 years of football, even in the last 10 of pass friendly offenses, you can FAVOR the pass but dont GO SO LOPSIDED at 60/40 70/30 or 80/20..SAME GOES FOR LOPSIDED RUNNING. PREDICTABLE GARBAGE DOES NOT WIN SUPERBOWLS NEVER HAS, NEVER WILL. lol, why cant Reid ever get it. sad. its football, and the game of football DOES NOT LIE.— CharlieGarner25
- Well Howie my boy, either you're all in or you're not. Which is it? Is this year a Super Bowl run or are you trying to be "stronger going forward"? See how confused you all are. You're either all in for this year or you're not. Make up your minds.— greenflyer
- c-garner25: i respect your passion, but your penchant for selective statistical analysis and overwrought outrage make it hard to indulge your haterade. We get it: you'd like a different coach. Your principle points are that A-Reid does not excel at play calling and time management and because his pass-happy offense is too pass happy for your tastes. It's hard not to recognize the success of the Steelers, whose approach seems consistent with your prescriptions. But you should be open to recognizing that Reid et al. actually do have a better-than-league-average draft record (especially in the latter rounds, though clearly not in the 3rd round) and that his approach has, indeed, led the Birds to be one of the top teams in football -- with a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl nearly every year -- for the past decade. There are many chance events in sports (e.g., Santonio Holmes makes the SB-winning catch 1 of 4 times & David Tyree makes his SB-enabling catch 1 in 1,000 times). I get your frustration, although I disagree with your conclusions. But, dude, tone it down a bit. Belichick lost a SB to a mediocre team; his recent drafting has been atrocious; his team hasn't won a playoff game since it lost the SB. But he's still probably the best coach in football. Reid's not far back. As frustrating as he is and his teams' end-of-season failures have been, he really does give the Birds the best chance to win a Championship.— jj_philly
- well I disagree. the giants were not an "atrocious" team that beat the pats. no atrocious team makes it to the SB. ever. the giants ran the ball with brandon jacobs and ahmad bradhshaw to GET the right to play in the game. teams that throw as much as andy (60% +) RARELY even MAKE IT to a SB, therefore they have STILL NEVER WON ONE. Andys eagles lost in 04, cards lost in 08, colts in 10. those are the only 3 60% passing teams to MAKE a SB and THEY ALL LOST FOR A REASON. teams that have a more balanced 56/44 won. packers were 56/44 , saints were at 56/44, when the steelers won and pats they were at 55/45 or 53/47 , 50/50 etc., its fundamental to the game of football. you CANNOT BE PREDICTABLE. reid is THE MOST PREDICTABLE playcaller in the league. I dont care about 10 wins, if you cant win a SB it means nothing. he will never win a SB. how much do you wanna bet this seaso he does not win ? any amount. anyhthing. I guarantee you he does not win a SB.— CharlieGarner25
