Bob Ford: Eagles' roster feels unfinished

For all the anticipation that came with yesterday's announcement of the Eagles' 53-man roster, there was also the large asterisk that hung over the cutdown list like a harvest moon.

It's a long way to Jan. 3 and the end of the regular season, and, from a player's standpoint, that's really the roster upon which they want to place their names high on the depth chart.

For the Eagles, apparently, it's also a long way to next Sunday and the season opener at Carolina. The roster announced yesterday was like an off-the-rack suit, loose in some spots, tight in others, and destined to undergo alterations sooner rather than later.

"We'll have to see what happens in . . . whatever, the next few weeks," general manager Tom Heckert said.

If the Eagles could package fourth quarterback A.J. Feeley and one of their seven wide receivers in a trade to augment their thin lineup at tight end, that would be perfect. Sending away two players in order to get one in return would also free the roster spot needed to remove Michael Vick from the exempt list and allow him to practice with the team as he serves out his two-game suspension.

Doubtlessly, the Eagles tried to do that, with the New England Patriots targeted as the most compatible of trade partners. But the Pats made three transactions involving tight ends yesterday, and none involved the Eagles. They sent David Thomas to the Saints for a draft pick and acquired Michael Matthews from the Giants for another. They also released veteran Alex Smith.

So, the Patriots have three tight ends, the Eagles still have two. The Patriots still have two quarterbacks, the Eagles still have four. That isn't exactly a tailor's dream as far as the alterations go, and Bill Belichick can be notably difficult sometimes. Did we mention that he likes to cheat?

It could be that Belichick doesn't think he needs to take on Feeley's $1.3 million base salary and believes he can force the in-a-jam Eagles into some concessions there. That's if he even likes Feeley. Belichick went through backups like toothpicks last week, releasing two of them and replacing none. He's got Tom Brady, who appears to be healthy, and he's got someone named Brian Hoyer, and if you'd like to get into a staredown contest with Belichick about that, bring it on.

You want a tight end so bad? Fine. You or anybody else can have Alex Smith, but I'm not paying $1.3 million for a 32-year-old who still wears his hat backward. And you can forget about me taking Reggie Brown.

Technically, the Eagles can defend keeping Feeley around for two weeks as the emergency quarterback on game days, and perhaps that is really their plan. Vick can't practice, which seems like a large drawback since his adjustment to the Eagles and his return to the NFL is still just getting started, but that might not be a big deal, either.

Vick can attend practices, throw on the sideline, go to all the meetings, and do his conditioning work. He just can't get on the field for the full squad's practice. That doesn't mean the Eagles can't send seven interns into the practice bubble with Vick and do skeleton drills of the formations Vick will be running. It doesn't mean he can't throw to receivers before or after the formal practice sessions. It doesn't mean all that much, really.

Since the Eagles won't be using Vick in the first two weeks of the season, how much time would they want to spend practicing his plays before those games, anyway?

So this roster, like all rosters, is just part of the process. It wasn't a pleasant process for the 14 players waived or the three who were released. Some of those names will clear waivers and land on the Eagles' practice squad. Some will be picked up by other teams. And some, as Buddy Ryan used to say, will be free to pursue their life's work.

The same process took place in 31 other meeting rooms yesterday and the Eagles went into last night sifting through the names on the waiver list. They will look at the tight ends, particularly, but you never know what you might find. Just one player who might be a little bit better than someone you kept is worth a look.

The roster announced yesterday is just a template, a place to begin. Within it, the roles will be sorted out. Those four safeties, what happens there? Quintin Mikell is a starter, Quintin Demps thinks he should be, Sean Jones came highly regarded, and Macho Harris doesn't say much. He just keeps playing better than almost anyone.

"Just because you start on Day 1 doesn't mean you start the rest of the way," Heckert said.

And just because the news was good at 6 p.m. on cutdown day doesn't mean it can't turn bad quickly. There are a lot of players out there looking for jobs now, and it is a very long way until the end of the season. Getting on the roster is hard. Staying on it is what matters.