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Coming Soon: New Stuff to Talk About

Sweeping down the cobwebs and dusting off the furniture here at Eagletarian Central this week. Feels like that time again, doesn't it?

The Eagles last played a game on New Year's Day. That was more than six months ago, in case you've mislaid your calendar. The NFL has a long offseason by pro sports standards, and if you don't make the playoffs, it's reeeallllly long.

This has been a busy and productive Eagles offseason, but almost all the important stuff happened before June. The Joe Banner resignation and the Lurie divorce are the only exceptions, and those are abstract, hard-to-factor developments. But this coming Sunday, rookies and selected vets report to Lehigh. Three days later, July 25, the entire team assembles. Then we will be back in the realm of the tangible. No more lists of the five most remarkable Eagles haircuts.

Your Eagletarian is a bit disoriented by the fact that Andy Reid is switching the walkthroughs to the morning, making the afternoon sessions at Lehigh the real "meat" of the day. I'm not sure how this will affect fans or players. What I really care about is how it affects me, of course. Maybe I won't be quite as urgently gulping down coffee as I slather on sunscreen, trundling in from the parking lot at an ungodly morning hour (by sportwriter standards)? But will my meticulous crafting of prose be pushed even later into the evening? This might shock some of you, but greater Bethlehem is not chock full of fine dining options at 11 p.m. Hello, Wendys takeout window. I'll have the usual.

Also unsettling is that with the new CBA in full effect, all the draft picks are signed. This, combined with the way general manager Howie Roseman took care of business by getting deals done in the offseason with DeSean Jackson. LeSean McCoy, Trent Cole, Todd Herremans, Evan Mathis, and probably a few other guys I forgot, means I am not filling my days with texts and emails to agents. I miss being ignored by those guys. Maybe I should drop Drew a note anyhow, see where he vacationed this summer, how the weather's been down in Miami, if he ever Skypes with our old pal T.O., and so on.

I'm sure some astute commenter will note that thus far, there has been no news imparted in this post. True. Just doing some light stretching, working out the kinks. Oh, wait, I do have something -- tomorrow evening, the Eagles Cheerleaders are unveiling their "eco-friendly" swimsuit calendar.

But the real football stuff is coming. Very soon now.