OK, Andy Talked, Now What?
Still mulling the fallout from Andyfest yesterday.
OK, Andy Talked, Now What?
Les Bowen
Still mulling the fallout from Andyfest yesterday.
I must have been a little less excited about the Steve Spagnuolo revelation than some folks were. It was exactly what most of us figured must have happened. I think the Eagles knew from the get-go that Spagnuolo, given a choice, would prefer something in a new city with a no-doubt, slam-dunk top contender. Remember, Spags and Andy share the same agent, Bob LaMonte. There were no secrets there, on either end. He knew what the Eagles had in mind, they knew what he wanted. Whether they pushed hard or didn't push hard probably didn't matter. Spags was only coming here as a fallback, which is pretty much how the Eagles ended up with Todd Bowles, after he didn't get the head coaching jobs in Miami or Oakland.
Reid apparently was not going to part with Juan Castillo or Jim Washburn. Whether those factors were dealbreakers for Spagnuolo, well, I think we'd have to fly down to New Orleans, break into the Saints' practice facility and inject Spagnuolo with truth serum to find out for sure. A year from now, we'll either be lauding Andy for sticking to his plan or explaining how these loyalties ended his reign.
So, moving on, now that the great Oz has spoken, the offseason can officially begin. In three short weeks, I'll be chasing Howie Roseman and Andy around Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine. By then, presumably, Andy will have finally given some thought to whether he wants to retain DeSean Jackson, something he claims was not part of his monthlong reflection on the 2011 season.
My esteemed blog coauthor, Paul Domowitch, doesn't think the Eagles are likely to franchise DeSean. Presumably, that means they just let him walk away in free agency for nothing. I understand why Paul thinks this is likely -- DeSean's coming off a bad year, still wants ridiculous money, he's a small, frail guy who sometimes disappears -- but if it happens, I think somebody should be fired. DeSean Jackson is a 25-year-old, two-time Pro Bowl performer. Two years ago he became the first player to make the Pro Bowl as a wideout AND a returner. What NFL team ever let a 25-year-old star walk?
Yes, Jackson played in a funk for much of the 2011 season. So maybe the Eagles needed to get a deal done before that, or cook up a trade earlier, so that they wouldn't be in this situation. Franchise DeSean and then trade him? Sure. Or franchise him and keep him, if he really is happy to accept that option, as he indicated at the end of the season. Losing him in free agency would be absolutely incompetent management, in my view.
The Eagles most critically need to address the linebacking situation. We don't know yet who might be re-signed or franchised elsewhere, so pinpointing free agent targets is tough. Stephen Tulloch, the ex-Tennessee Titan who signed with the Lions last summer, COULD end up on the market again. There's a 27-year-old, 5-11, 240-pound midlle linebacker with some pop who has played his whole career behind a Wide 9 front. I would expect the Birds to address linebacking in the draft, with more than one of their picks.
I was alarmed last week when Roseman wouldn't flatly commit to paying the $7.5 million the Eagles are going to need to pay Cullen Jenkins next month to keep him here. Yeah, he's 31 years old and he got 5 of his 5.5 sacks in the first five games. Shouldn't matter. Jenkins became a leader on a defense that lacked that quality as much as anything else when the season began. He started every game, played through injuries, always set the right tone, said the right things, did the right things. He still played effectively, when he wasn't getting sacks.
Too often, Eagles management lets stats guide decisions, and leaves visceral concerns out of the discsussion. Jenkins, coming off a Super Bowl season with the Packers, played with heart and guts for a struggling team. Whenever possible, you REWARD people like that, you don't discard them with explanations about how it's smarter to pay for future performance, instead of for the past. You do it partly because the younger guys are watching, to see if all that stuff guys like Jenkins preach about putting the team first and digging deep really means anything to the people who run things.
And, the $7.5 million is owed because that's the contract the Eagles agreed to last summer. Kinda the flip side of how DeSean Jackson was expected to play for $600,000 last season. Maybe the Eagles never intended to pay the money, maybe Jenkins was a one-year rental all along. If so, they did an even worse job in free agency than we thought. After all that song and dance about their calculations and the unique opportunities the postlockout market presented, their only longterm acquisitions were Nnamdi Asomugha, who fell in their lap, and Jason Babin?
I expect the Eagles to trade Asante Samuel, and to address the safety spot either through the draft or free agency as well. I'm not as down on Nate Allen as some people are, though I find it alarming how wildly erratic he can be. Kurt Coleman is an undersized overachiever who probably isn't an every-down NFL starter. Jaiquawn Jarrett was a huge reach in the second round last year who is going to have to play his way into the discussion; I certainly wouldn't assume a full offseason makes him a useful player.
The Eagles will need to replace Ronnie Brown and Vince Young. (This just in: ANOTHER Trent Edwards sighting! For a QB nobody wanted in 2011, he sure gets a lot of ink.) But really, not that much has to happen for this to be a playoff team in 2012, given all the usual disclaimers about decent health for the key guys. A Super Bowl team? We're a long, long way from being able to see that.
But with the Giants coming off the Super Bowl, nobody is going to focus on the Eagles next summer, unless they do something totally unexpected in free agency, or trade up in the draft to draft Andrew Luck. And that lack of the spotlight is probably a good thing. They need an offseason of more hard work and less dreaming.
***
Couple responses to comments below: Yeah, I say DeSean Jackson is a star. Thinking I'm on pretty firm ground there, along with the folks who sent him to the Pro Bowl two years in a row. He is not without flaws, but he is a star, yes. Five players in NFL history have more than 900 receiving yards in their first four NFL seasons. He's one of 'em.
And yes, Asomugha fell in their lap. They said they thought the bidding would go far beyond what they were willing to pay. Asomugha wanted to come to the Eagles, for some reason, and took less money than he could have gotten from the Jets or Cowboys, whose courtship was much more ardent. And I would add that once he got here, he didn't play up to his rep. Jenkins, much more of a well-rounded player than Babin, actually might have been the Eagles' BEST free agent signing, in terms of playing to his potential, and contributing consistently.
And now we move ahead towards winning a Super Bowl!!!!
Joe— Joe Banner - Eagles President- Les, You must be the only human on earth that doesn't see Desean immediately find a place on the ground to fall down to as soon as an opposing player looks like he may want to tackle him. Why on earth would you commit long term to (or franchise for that matter) a frail WR with a suspect attitude who has no tolerance for getting hit since his last concussion? And not down on Nate Allen? Name 3 plays he's made in two seasons? Time's yours.— guyguy4
- Nate Allen blew out his knee year one.
This year is the year to judge him.
FYI he did make some plays. 5 picks, 1 ff, 2 sacks, 88 solo tackles, so what are you talking about?
As far as Desean, two time pro bowler and game changer. period. I'd franchise him if he agrees to put full effort.
guyguys like you just see the negative.— dmanphilly - Nate Allen was stiff in the hips and a human turnstile to Kenny Britt BEFORE he blew out his knee...Not a long term answer. Mark Barron at #15 might not be far fetched, especially if the Birds go FA at MLB.......As far as DeSean,effort will always be a question...The team's speed merchant CAN be the #3 or #4 option...franchise, get the compensation, get a bigger body on the field to make a difference in the red zone..A Joe Adams,Rainey, or Demps can be a field stretcher found in rounds 2-4..And it can be done with multiple picks the Eagles will have. — bearsfriend
- 5 INT's 1 FF and 88 solo tackles...OVER 28 Games played! For reference, Quintin Mikell posted 5 FF, 2 INT's and 78 solo tackles THIS YEAR ALONE. Over the the last 30 games Mikell has had 150 Solo's, 6 FF, 5 Fumble recoveries, 5 INT's. He may turn out alright but he hasn't made very many plays. — UncleStosh
- All is well...Pee Wee Roseman, Joey Nickels and Juan are all still making decisions. Gold standard. Times yours.— kelprod2
- Andy,Laurie and Joe sold you more ocean front property in Airzona! Wake up Philly!— losteagle
- Funny how you give them no credit for signing Nnamdi..."fell in their lap"... they got aggressive and paid the man. Usually everyone uses the word "cheap" with the Eagles. Now they pay some people and get no credit.— cdedrick05
- Three things, Les...first, who says Jackson is a star? You? Second, sports is a stats business as in, what wil you do for the team tomorrow, not yesterday. Too often teams pay free agents for past performance. Especially in the NFL, that's no way to base a contract. Thirdly, although I like Jenkins, he's 31 and wore down as the season progressed, and he saw less snaps later in the year. Go back to hockey where you can still get your nightly meal and where you accordingly were never concerned with whether the Flyers actually won anything.— desert Charley
- The Great Oz? Yeah, no agenda here at all. And anyone wonders why Reid's disdain for the Philly media is so manifest? Tit for tat.— tpizza
- Yeah, Les is one of the worst for taking cheap shots at Reid. It's pretty embarrassing. He acts like he is on the "fan's side," but it comes across as just being bitter. — Commish
- This may be the most important draft ever for the birds and Howie is still in the drivers seat. See no reason to feel good. Let's get the 7-9, 2012 season over with , fire Andy, Howie and Juan and just start over. Eagles used to own this town, now they are in 4th place and maybe even the Union will catch them soon.— jimmymack
- Free wings at wings to go— eaglessuck@life
- It is hard to have any hope with the same cobbled-together coaching staff running the same cobbled together team and about to make the same mistakes in free agency and draft. The bad drafts are historic; the bad free agent signings are repetitive and the mistakes with their own players epic. Why would anyone believe things are going to change?— Bama
- The problem when you have a Howie Roseman or Joe Banner, is that they do not understand the intangilbles in football (or really sports in general). These guys did not play at any level. They can only make decisions on stat lines, they do not realize the importance of chemistry and leadership. Quiten Mikel and Stewart Bradley were the leaders. Them leaving was a huge impact. Keep in mind a lot of teams have talent, its the intangibles that give you separation.— Sports4Life
