There's an intense debate in Philadelphia, and it has nothing to do with politics or the Miley Cyrus pictures in Vanity Fair.

Fans are debating whether the Eagles avoid drafting in the first round because of economics or simple wrong-headedness.

In other words, are they too cheap to pay first-round money to a guy they don't really love?

Or do they really think the holdovers from an 8-8 team are so good they cannot be replaced?

It's an interesting debate, because there's no answer that the team will offer or that the fans would accept. If the Eagles really are cheap, or self-delusional, you can hardly expect them to admit it.

And if they did offer a rational explanation - the trade with Carolina being too good to turn down - the fans wouldn't believe it anyway.

But the lavish price the Panthers paid to get the Eagles' No. 19 pick on Saturday provided the Birds with a fig leaf of cover. Getting a first-round pick next year, plus two lower picks, was too good to turn down. Unless Randy Moss was sitting there at 19 (as he had been in 1998).

So the Eagles can offer that bit of cover, and also this one: They didn't get just two guys on Saturday; they got four.

They drafted Trevor Laws and DeSean Jackson. They got a third when they obtained pass-catching running back Lorenzo Booker, and gained a fourth when they held onto Lito Sheppard.

So the spin-meisters can offer that to the fans and see if the fish are biting.

How they're gonna spin yesterday's fourth-rounder, though, is beyond me.

To quote colleague Bob Brookover, the Birds "took a cornerback (Wisconsin's Jack Ikegwuonu) with legal problems and a knee injury that won't allow him to play this year."

Spin that one!

Finally. Does anyone else notice the way Charlie Manuel consistently wins without his top players?

Last year the Phillies were without MVP Ryan Howard for three weeks, Cole Hamels for a month, Chase Utley for more than a month and Brett Myers for three months.

This year they're without MVP Jimmy Rollins for what will be about a month but have won six of their last eight (including yesterday's 5-1 loss in Pittsburgh).

for staff writer Don McKee at

http://go.philly.com/askmckee

or by e-mail at dmckee@phillynews.com