Life Goes On Without Dawk
We’re just 5 days into the free agency signing period and Eagles fans once again are having their annual March panic attack.
Life Goes On Without Dawk
Paul Domowitch, Daily News NFL Columnist
We’re just 5 days into the free agency signing period and Eagles fans once again are having their annual March panic attack.
Oh my God. Dawk is gone. What are we going to do for a free safety next season? Somebody call 911.
Oh my God. Correll Buckhalter is gone too. If Andy Reid thinks he can go into ’09 with Lorenzo Booker as his backup running back, he must be taking stupid pills.
Oh my God. These crazy SOBs also are letting left tackle Tra Thomas test free agency. What if they lose him too?
For crying out loud, calm down people. I understand your anger over the Eagles letting a beloved player like Dawkins leave. And while it certainly wasn’t one of their smarter public relations moves, the bottom line is his departure is going to have a minimal effect on one of the league’s best defenses.
Will he be missed in the locker room? Absolutely. Will they miss his leadership? Yes, but Jim Johnson’s talented unit has plenty of others who will step up and fill the leadership void, including cornerback Sheldon Brown, safety Quintin Mikell and linebacker Stewart Bradley.
If you’re an Eagles fan, you should be more concerned right now with the free agent reinforcements the Giants have brought in to strengthen an already potent defensive line. If you’re an Eagles fan, you should be more concerned that, for some inexplicable reason, they never went after the best offensive lineman in free agency – center/guard Jason Brown – than that they let Dawkins take a hike.
But it’s early. Too early to be making absolute judgments about this team. Too early to be suggesting, as some lunatic-fringe talk-show hosts have, that they’re in a rebuilding mode.
Let’s see what they do in the remaining months of free agency. Let’s see what they do in next month’s draft, particularly with those 2 first-round picks.
While many of the big names already have been plucked from the free agency market, there still are people out there that can help this team. There are some decent blocking fullbacks, including the Patriots’ Heath Evans and the Cardinals’ Terrelle Smith.
While there really isn’t a free agent left tackle worth signing, there still are some good interior linemen available, in case the Eagles plan to move one of their 2 starting guards – Todd Herremans or Shawn Andrews – outside to left tackle.
And there still are some pretty good unsigned safeties that can be either a starting replacement for Dawkins or a backup to Demps if they think he is ready.
As for a running back to share the load with Westbrook, who will turn 30 before next season, they’re going to have to address that in the draft, probably with one of those 2 first-round picks. Because there’s only dreck left.
Here’s a look at the best of what’s left right now:
QUARTERBACK
Kurt Warner, Cardinals
Byron Leftwich, Steelers
Jeff Garcia, Bucs
J.P. Losman, Bills
Rex Grossman, Bears
RUNNING BACK
LaMont Jordan, Patriots
Deuce McAllister, Saints
Michael Pittman, Broncos
Cedric Benson, Bears
Dominic Rhodes, Colts
FULLBACK
Heath Evans, Patriots
Leonard Weaver, Seahawks
Terrelle Smith, Cardinals
Lorenzo Neal, Ravens
Tony Richardson, Jets
WIDE RECEIVER
Laveranues Coles, Jets
Marvin Harrison, Colts
Reggie Williams, Jags
Michael Clayton, Bucs
Miles Austin, Cowboys
TIGHT END
Jerramy Stevens, Bucs
L.J. Smith, Eagles
Justin Peelle, Falcons
Tony Curtis, Cowboys
Robert Royal, Bills
OFFENSIVE TACKLE
Tra Thomas, Eagles
Mark Tauscher, Packers
Jon Runyan, Eagles
Khalif Barnes, Jags
John St. Clair, Bears
GUARD
Mike Goff, Chargers
Cooper Carlisle, Raiders
Pete Kendall, Redskins
Chris Naeole, Jags
Elton Brown, Cardinals
CENTER
Jake Grove, Raiders
Matt Birk, Vikings
Eric Ghiaciuc, Bengals
Jeremy Newberry, Chargers
Cory Procter, Cowboys
DEFENSIVE END
Igor Olshansky, Chargers
Bertrand Berry, Cardinals
Demetric Evans, Redskins
Kalimba Edwards, Raiders
Anthony Weaver, Texans
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Tank Johnson, Cowboys
Grady Jackson, Falcons
Dwan Edwards, Ravens
Shaun Cody, Lions
John Thornton, Bengals
INSIDE LINEBACKER
Ray Lewis, Ravens
Mike Peterson, Jags
Kevin Burnett, Cowboys
Nate Webster, Broncos
Napoleon Harris, Vikings
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER
Marcus Washington, Redskins
Cato June, Bucs
Derrick Brooks, Bucs
Angelo Crowell, Bills
Clark Haggans, Cardinals
CORNERBACK
Bryant McFadden, Steelers
Leigh Bodden, Lions
Chris McAlister, Ravens
Jabari Greer, Bills
Eric Green, Cardinals
FREE SAFETY
Mike Brown, Bears
James Butler, Giants
Sean Jones, Browns
Will Demps, Texans
Josh Bullocks, Saints
STRONG SAFETY
Jermaine Phillips, Bucs
Jim Leonhard, Ravens
C.C. Brown, Texans
Darren Sharper, Vikings
Keith Davis, Cowboys
Do your homework Domo...Benson was cut by the Bears and signed with the Bengals, Bengals should be next to his name not Bears— eagles84
Comment removed.- I am not optimistic about Demps stepping into the starting FS role yet. I don't even like the thought of Demps starting at SS and moving Mikell over to FS. I absolutely don't like dropping Tra without a solid option at replacing him. I'm not panicking Domo, but you can't like this turn of events.— rwright611
- Les, is not panic attack, is called a little stress. And that is good for your brain. If you don't have a little stress you won't get out of bed to put food on the table, etc. It's like John Voight said yesterday in the show 24, "stress is the brain fertilizer'' or something like that. Most of us are worry that the Eagles are standing pat when other teams in their own conference are making moves, specially signing players that can fill some voids in our team, notably in the offensive side of the ball. In the meantime, some veteran leaders are leaving and our best two offensive players are having issues —Westbrook with his health (again) and McNabb with management, and our only FA acquisition is coming to camp with a repaired knee to join his brother as another question mark in the offensive line. Also, you can’t blame us for not trusting AR and Co. in the draft.— EL Zorro
- Comment removed.
- The Eagles are a heartless, gutless team that has a "what can you do for me now" complex. Dawk is gone and they could care less. They've shown this time and time. Fans should not be surprised. The Eagles management will tape and glue and wrap what they can to put a product on the field that will appease the regular fan. For us diehards, that kind of thinking is unacceptable now! How long will we have to wait for a championship from this team? The Phillies did it by sticking with guys that will get the job done. The Soul did by sticking with guys that will get the job done and even bringing in more guys to help get the job done. The Sixers almost did it. At this rate, there will be no Lombardi trophy coming to Philly. Not with Andy Bleed (you), Donowimp McWhiner and Joe Bonehead at the helm.
- Oh, sorry, I meant Domo no Les. After coming so close to playing in the Super Bowl, with all the money under the cap and Donovan and the fan base pleading with management for more weapons, we were expecting the Eagles to add some players, not get rid of them.— EL Zorro
- Don't know if I'd want him or not, but Jason Taylor just became available as well.— stblindtiger
- zorro, the piece was written by domo, not les. eagles are 40mm under the cap. even if denver overpaid for dawk, why could the birds avoid their penny-pinching ways and re-sign him? i could understand if they didn't have cap space, but they have plenty, and they're just pocketing the money rather than going balls-out to win the SB. "gold standard" my butt— heinz guderian
- eagles are 40mm under the cap. even if denver overpaid for dawk, why could the birds avoid their penny-pinching ways and re-sign him? i could understand if they didn't have cap space, but they have plenty, and they're just pocketing the money rather than going all-out to win the SB. philly, here's your "gold standard"— heinz guderian
The Eagles are trying to rebuild. You can forget about a super bowl anytime soon. Go Phillies- Comment removed.
- Is this list supposed to make us feel better or worse? Leonard and Clayton are now gone, too— flyer77
- Comment removed.
jim leonhard is 5'8" and 186...hes small and built like a rb...we need someone bigger...— teenwolf
