Keeping the Nnamdi deal secret, and other free agency notes
On Sunday I had a long story about the Eagles furious four days of free agent signings, looking inside the front office’s plan and how they pulled it off. As often happens in those kinds of pieces, I had far more material than we could squeeze into print, so here are a few added nuggets on how the deals went down, including: how the team kept it secret; what the Jason Babin signing says about Brandon Graham and how the team executives did (or didn’t) celebrate their successes.
Keeping the Nnamdi deal secret, and other free agency notes
Jonathan Tamari
On Sunday I had a long story about the Eagles furious four days of free agent signings, looking inside the front office’s plan and how they pulled it off. As often happens in those kinds of pieces, I had far more material than we could squeeze into print, so here are a few added nuggets on how the deals went down, including: how the team kept it secret; what the Jason Babin signing says about Brandon Graham and how the team executives did (or didn’t) celebrate their successes.
-- One of the biggest keys in the Asomugha deal was secrecy. As I wrote Sunday, the Eagles didn’t want their interest to simply be used to push up Asomugha’s price. They knew what they wanted to pay, and if he fell within that range, they would strike, but if the cost went too high, they were out. So they had to keep things quiet. Only five people within the Eagles organization knew the team was even keeping an eye on Nnamdi: Jeffrey Lurie, Joe Banner, Howie Roseman, Andy Reid and general counsel Aileen Daly, who drafts contracts.
Even after the Eagles knew they had Nnamdi, Banner said he couldn’t celebrate too openly, because he didn’t want word getting around, even at the NovaCare Complex. Meanwhile, the Eagles had Asomugha’s agent Ben Dogra promise secrecy. Dogra did his part: he didn’t even tell his assistant who reviews contracts about the possible deal until after it was announced, Banner said. They didn’t want a leak that would let another team swoop in with a better offer. Banner said that if word got out about the Eagles’ interest, the team would walk away. “For us to trust the situation we can’t find our name out in the newspaper and then we’re just going to assume you’re using us to put up the price,” Banner says he told Dogra.
-- I gathered that the Eagles still have a lot of faith in Brandon Graham. One of the reasons the team went for Jason Babin, we learned, is that his price allowed them to keep Trent Cole and Graham as big pieces on the defensive line without tying up too much money in one position. Also, as Babin ages (he’s already 31) the team hopes Graham will mature and be in position to take over the spot opposite Cole (at least the Eagles hope). Cole, the team figures, has several good years left.
-- Not everything went the Eagles way last week. Banner was up all night Wednesday trying to negotiate a deal that fell through, only he wouldn’t say what it was. Free agent signing? Trade? Contract extension? All he’d say is that if he even gave us a hint, we’d be able to figure it out. I’m really not sure what it was. But it goes to show two things: 1)they didn’t get everything they wanted and 2)the Eagles really don’t like to have their failures out in the open. After the most successful NFL free agent spree in recent memory – if ever – they still didn’t want to talk about the one that got away.
-- The “structure” of contracts came up a lot. Roseman and Banner talked about that when referring to the deals for both Asomugha and Jenkins. This tells me that there was a premium on working the contracts in a way to make them cap friendly in order to squeeze everyone in.
-- The Eagles front office is made up of competitive, intense personalities, but that drive is very inwardly directed. I kept trying to get them to tell me about a scene of celebration – about popping some champagne after landing Asomugha, or big claps on the back, or a cheer. The best I could do was get Banner to admit to a fist pump. These guys want to win – and they want credit for what they’ve done -- but they quickly move onto the next thing. There’s no Rex Ryan in any of them.
-- There’s also no Miami Heat in them. Instead of promising not one, not two …. Roseman and Lurie cautioned that there is lots left to do.
“To pat ourselves on the back, we haven’t really done anything yet, other than to try to assemble a good team,” Roseman said.
Said Lurie: “I do feel we have a long way to go. As the Redskins have proven over the years, you don’t win by winning free agency. You win by having the best execution on the field.”
Yea but having good players that want to win is a good start.— nonshad- Love the jab at the Redskins at the end.— emoser
- You took the words right out of my mouth! — uncle meat
- The One that got away was Darren Sproles , the little RB went to the Saints , it was SD , Saints and Eagles in on him , it just didn't go our way .. he woulda been real Nice !— ingy9
- What makes you say that? That was made public; everyone knew it was b/w chargers, saints, and birds. This article was talking about how they've kept their free agency deals secret. — beerflow
Comment removed.- That makes more sense. — beerflow
- That's a little much. #1, Hasselbeck wanted to start and wasn't going to come to a place where he was going to be a #2 QB. He's already played in a Super Bowl, so being a backup isn't appealing to him.
And, according to all the rumors out there, McNabb didn't exactly light up the Wonderlic either. The number were right and the Eagles could somehow turn Young into another treasure that they could flip for picks someday even though he's only on a one-year deal for now.— cdk104 - Hasselback is a career starter who had interest from multiple teams to be their starter (choosing Tennessee); OF COURSE he was in discussion with the Eagles to be a backup! Laughable... And Young was 12-6 in starts for the Titans the past two seasons; Kerry Collins was 2-11 as a starter with the same club. Not a bad pickup for the backup QB. Or perhaps the original commenter would prefer Mike McMahon; he had a high Wonderlic score... After all, don't bash Young just because he had the same Wonderlic score as Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Terry Bradshaw and Steve McNair! — PhilaLogic
- yeah eagles— section707
- I'm sure it was Sproles. It may be out there but Banner doesn't want to confirm it. No way it was Hasselbeck. He doesn't fit the mold of Reid development projects. Think what you want of Young but Reid has liked him since he came out, wonderlic or no.— thefadd
keep the Miami Cheat comments elsewhere. the signed Eagles players didn't have a national tv announcement stating which team they were going to sign with. To say the Eagles are anything close to the Miami Cheat is asinine— jamarder- Wouldn't be suprised if the deal was a DeSean/Kolb package to Arizona for Fitz/DRC. Gives us the red zone target that's needed, while still providing a young, fit Pro Bowl WR that can stretch the field and requires double coverage.— Philman14
- They tried to get OL Doug Free from Dallas...— 3starcorners
- I heard it was Cliff Lee but he had to pitch that night !!!!!!!!— hflu123
