Making (Dollars and) Cents of it All
Posted: August 30th, 2011 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 66 Comments »So I’m listening to ESPN Radio this morning. Trey Wingo is hosting in place of Colin Cowherd (thank god). I like Wingo and think that I’ll get to hear some quality football talk.
Oops.
Trey goes into a long thing about where the Eagles are getting all their money from. Is there a salary cap for them? I thought teams were broke. Where are they getting all this money to spend? These questions would not be annoying from a non-football person or casual fan, but Wingo is an NFL guy. He hosts NFL Live for ESPN and covers the league pretty extensively.
How can the Eagles afford all the big deals? Because they have rookies at P, PK, C, RG, and MLB. They have young, cheap players at a slew of other spots. Despite all the veteran additions, the Eagles remain one of the youngest teams in the NFL. There is no secret formula. There is no magic. If you want to sign a bunch of high priced veterans, you better be willing to play young players at other spots. Wingo should know this.
The problem the Skins had for all those years is that they added the vets, but didn’t spend time developing a young core to mix the vets in with. The Eagles have drafted a lot of guys in the last 2 years. Several of the picks are starters (Chaney, Watkins, Kelce, Matthews, Coleman). Guys like Brandon Graham and Nate Allen are out of starting jobs now only because of injuries.
The Eagles are spending, but are doing so wisely. They also aren’t ignoring the importance of the draft and developing young players. Can we lose this notion that Howie Roseman is running around throwing dollars at every pretty girl he sees? That’s me at a strip club (strictly for research purposes). Howie is being the ultimate smart shopper right now. The market was there to be played. The Eagles just happened to do it better than anyone else. I don’t know how someone like Trey Wingo can’t grasp this concept.
I’m a casual shopper. I walk in a store, find something I like, and then go buy it. I went shopping with my sister and nephew this past weekend. He needed some football cleats. He immediately latched onto an expensive pair. He’s just 11 and my sister wasn’t keen on that kind of an investment for pee-wee football. She talked him into getting a similar, but cheaper pair. Then we went to the register and she started pulling stuff out of her purse. First was some kind of coupon or discount certificate. Next up was a members card. The price of those cleats came flying down. She was being smart and knew how to play the system. A sucker like me would have paid the full price.
Stretching the family dollar and making wise use of the Salary Cap aren’t all that different. Buy cheap when you can. Take advantage of deals. And when big ticket items are needed/available, go get ’em.
I’m assuming my sister will invest her savings in a copy of the Maple Street Press “Eagles Annual”, featuring 3 articles by me. It is available here. You can also find it in fine establishments in the Philly metro area.
Please buy me so that Tommy's literary genius can be spread across the universe.
* * * * *
Sam pretty well covered Vick’s deal last night. I’m happy that the deal is done. We knew it was a matter of time, but you always feel a sense of relief when the contract is signed.
Are the Eagles taking a risk? Sure, but so is every team that commits to a player long term. I have basically no worries about Vick off the field. He still makes some bonehead comments, but players in general say dumb things. Heck, I’ve been known to occasionally put my foot in my mouth.
Is there a risk that Vick will regress from last year as a player? Yes. There is also the possibility that he will grow as a player. Missing OTAs didn’t help, but Vick just finished his first Training Camp and Preseason as a starting QB in 5 years. He got a lot of coaching. We’re not seeing the results right now, but I think that is more to do with a vanilla gameplan and no Maclin than Vick being a bad QB.
I fully expect Vick to be a star QB this year. His physical skills, QB skills, and overall situation give him a great chance to play at a high level once again. For those who want to talk about the C/RG situation, go watch last year’s Lions game. Nick Cole was horrible. A speed bump might have played better. Vick made a ton of plays. The OL will be inconsistent early on, but has a chance to be very good as they gel and get experience. Last year’s OL was awkward and porous all year long.
* * * * *
Couple of other radio notes. Wingo made one incredibly dumb statement. He started on about how were we going to be able to afford DeSean Jackson. He made the statement that DeSean’s punt return against the Giants turned our season around. Really? That was Game 14. The score was tied and the game headed to OT. Great play, but it did not turn our season around.
Dan Patrick, who I like quite a bit on the radio, kept talking about us being the dream team. I really would like to punch Vince for saying that. Any time we lose or don’t play well, the dream team discussion is going to jump to the top of the list. Barf.
I hope we look back in February and say “that turned out to be a dream team”, but to throw that label out now is just annoying. We’re talented, but no dream team. Too many question marks at this point to have that label.
Absolutely hilarious that the DeSean punt return against the Giants “turned the season” around considering we didn’t win a game for the rest of the season.
Tommy,
A a few years ago when the Eagles needed to replace John Runyan you wrote a great post about the differences between right tackle and left tackle. If I remember your thoughts you said that the RT is normally better against the run and less good against the pass because the LT protects the blind side and normally faces the most athletic and best pass rushers. In addition with a right handed QB the TE usually lines up on the right side. Thus there can be a tendency to run to the right since there is an extra blocker there and the RT can more easily get help on passing plays.
Well it seems to me that even though Vick is a left handed QB the Eagles still like to line the TE to the right. They also have like to run to the left with the combination of Peters and Herremans. In addition defenses toward the end of last year liked to stack the Eagles left side to prevent Vick from rolling left.
But now with Herremans and Watkins on the right side it seems like the Eagles might like to run more in that direction. But generally I was wondering how the new line with Herremans at RT stacks up against what is needed at RT with a left handed quarterback and some of the things that the Eagles like to do How does Herremans change how the Eagles will run their offense?
despite spending all this money the eagles still have an o-line that is in complete disarray and arguably the worst linebacking corp in the league not to mention zero chemistry in the locker room. i look for an 0-2 start.
Why is there no chemistry in the locker room?
You have all your leaders back: Vick, Jackson, Maclin, McCoy, Cole and Samuel. What else do you need?
@ Will…
Like making blanket statements much?
OL is in disarray? No. The coaches have evaluated over the last month and decided on this lineup. No starter was signed off the street in the last few days. Yes, we have rookies, but the coaches want them on the field. They aren’t being forced into action out of desperation.
LBs? We’ll see how that goes. Guys are very unproven and could be a weak spot. They looked good last week and could end up being solid.
No chemistry in the locker room? Not the case. Nnamdi Asomugha fit in here instantly. Other players love him. Trent Cole and Jason Babin are like long lost brothers. Danny Watkins gets along with everyone. Haven’t heard a bad word about Casey Matthews as a teammate. And so on. Vick is king of the team and the players love him. There is no one guy on D, but there aren’t any huge turds either. More of a group of pals there.
So this Wingo guy is saying the Eagles are cheating?
I remain skeptical on this team. Throughout the years I’ve been told that these players would develop into starting caliber/pro bowl players:
Chris Gocong
Matt McCoy
Omar Gaither
Akeem Jordan
Quentin Demps
Macho Harris
Reggie Brown
Max Jean Gillis
Sean Considine
Dmitri Patterson
Dhani Jones
Ryan Moats
Tony Hunt
Victor Abiamiri
L.J Smith
Broderick Bunkley
Now we are relying on guys these guys to be starting material or to play at a pro bowl level:
Jason Kelce
Danny Watkins
Casey Matthews
Moise Fokou
Jamar Chaney
Nate Allen
Kurt Coleman
Alex Henery
Chas Henry
I love how these guys are saying “where are they getting this money” as if we’re doing drug deals and running a Ponzi scheme on the side. They should be asking “how are they getting this cap space” instead.
I don’t put much stock in sports radio – they say what drives ratings. Plus, Wingo is a Cowboys homer.
I have no idea where these “no chemistry” comments are coming from. Our locker room led by Vick might be our greatest strength.
Despite having arguably the most talented team ever I am seeing more negativity than in past preseasons. And I don’t see a reason for this, the season haven’t even started. We have some holes and players who need to step up, but for now relax. When/if we lose a game then you can start being freaking out
I can’t believe you didn’t foot the bill to get your nephew a nicer pair of cleats.
Some uncle you are…
@ Cliff
That’s why I don’t listen to sports radio. I remember 3 years ago at my work, my boss used to have on Cataldi’s show in the morning. That show used to drive me crazy. I wanted to call in everyday to debate him but I never got through.
@ Ryan…
I coached him up on his throwing mechanics. And I didn’t charge him one cent for the session. Pretty generous, huh?
RE: Wingo
He wasn’t accusing the Eagles of cheating. He was simply acting as if the Eagles had some magical accounting formula. I’m sure part of it was a schtick for radio purposes, but I expect smart guys not to pander like that. Have some fun, but don’t be stupid.
I generally like Trey Wingo. He does a pretty good job with NFL Live. Can be funny. Seems to know the league okay. I was hoping he’d be fun to listen to. I can’t stand Cowherd.
@ Stan…
There is nothing wrong with being skeptical. This team does have some questions.
I do think your lists are awkward. The Eagles have failures, but so do all 32 teams. The Eagles get more wrong than right and that’s how we’ve had so much success in the Reid era.
@Ryan
I think Tommy is just waiting to scout his nephew’s games too see if he has any potential. If he does, Tommy would definitely buy him good cleats, buy him a car when he’s in high school, and pay for his hookers when he goes to Miami. In the end get the monthly 20k checks when he strikes it big in the big leagues.
Tommy, are you going to some kind of write up on the other teams in the division?
I heard Baldinger talk up the Redskins the other night on sports final, saying something along the lines of don’t sleep on them they built a great o-line, Shanahan didn’t become dumb overnight, blah blah blah. I know you’re not a big Shanahan fan, wondering what your take was on that?
You may have done something somewhere, if you did, could you link it? I don’t always get to all of your writing unfortunately. Or even a quick opinion on what you think .
Tommy,
Does this hurt or what?
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Oakland-finds-a-gem-in-Taiwan-Jones.html
“The Eagles get more wrong than right and that’s how we’ve had so much success in the Reid era.”
I think you have it the other way around.
I am just tired of the way the Eagles hand out starting jobs to players based on their build and athleticism, hype them up and then give up on them after one season. I honestly thought that Gocong would be a good cover LB and pass rushing specialist, Reggie Brown would develop into a 1000+ receiver, and that Omar Gaither was our answer at WLB.
Now we are expected to believe that Chaney will be a good cover LB, Fokou can handle screens, Kelce is a starting quality C, and that Matthews has the instincts to attack the right hole on defense.
On the other hand, when Jerry Jones hypes up players and insert them into a starting role without proving much ( ie. Miles Austin, Doug Free, Tony Romo), they actually end up being good players.
@BC
I think the Redskins will surprise a lot of people. They are not a playoff team but I could see them being a 8-8/7-9 team.
BTW, whatever happened to Chris Horton? I thought this guy was a steal and would end up being a decent player.
@ Stan…
All 32 teams hand out jobs based on potential. All NBA, NHL, and MLB teams do that as well. That’s just part of sports.
You are cherry-picking examples that fit your argument. Shawn Andrews was made starting RG after one practice. He became a dominant player. Corey Simon started as a rookie and had 9.5 sacks. DeSean Jackson stole a starting job from Reggie Brown and instantly looked like a star.
Jerry Jones has plenty of failures. Was Marion Barber worth the huge deal they gave him? Was Roy Williams worth the trade or money it cost to get him? When is TE Martellus Bennett going to live up to his hype? Go look at the 2009 draft class. They got a backup QB and a backup LB. That’s it. The Cowboys handed the FS job to Alan Ball last year and he really struggled.
Be critical of the Eagles all you want, but be fair. Let’s have a good discussion. Let’s figure out where the team screws up. Why they screw up. That’s better than complaining about the many mistakes of a team that hasn’t had a losing record since 2005.
@ BC…
I’m still not sold on the Skins. Tim Hightower looks great right now, but I want to see how he does in the regular season. I’ve seen too many years where the Skins looked good in the summer and then fell apart in the season to fully buy in.
I don’t like their QB situation. I’m Doubting Thomas until I see Rex / Beck play well for a month.
WAS has talent. They can win some games, but I still see a last place team. I do think they are at least headed in the right direction, but I still see them as having a long way to go.
Haven’t written any kind of NFC East preview. I’ll see about that.
As soon as I heard that VY uttered the phrase “Dream Team” I thought to myself: Well, that’s a Good News/Bad News (no, not Bad Newz)
The Bad News: We’re going to hear that phrase repeated from now on… again and again and again!
The Good News? The reference to Philly Booing Santa Clause may actually drop to the #2 most-used Philly reference cliche`.
@ AltoonaEagle…
Hadn’t thought of #2, but that is the silver lining. I’ll try and remember that the next time I hear it said over and over.
Watkins to play this week. He said he asked to. I suppose this is good news.
My first response to Vince Young’s comments was laughter because he included our backup quarterback in his dream team.
Although last year…
Will Kelce be playing on Thursday as well?
There’s unquestionably a rather optimistic view on the team’s holes being put forward here and by those buying into the hype machine elsewhere.
To be sure, the Eagles have a fantastic set of corners, the makings of a very good defensive line, and maybe the best set of offensive skill players in the league. And despite the turnover in their coaching staff, Andy Reid remains the head coach, meaning the overall offensive system hasn’t changed, and the team’s weekly in-season approach will be held constant. Those are the strengths.
But it’s not very convincing to hear about the LB corps’ upside. Every team thinks their young players have tremendous upside. From a probabilistic perspective, what’s a more likely outcome: that three low-round draft picks with little-to-no experience and less than three years in the league, each of them playing a new position or in their rookie season, are going to be a strength, or a weakness? Certainly it’s possible that this tremendous gamble will work out. I’m more concerned with what’s likely. And what’s likely to me is that the team will look around come week 8 and say, “Damn, that third pro bowl CB wasn’t quite as necessary as a first starting-caliber LB would have been.”
The same goes for the safety positions. I’ve been critical of the assumption that Nate Allen would be fully recovered at less than 9 months from a major knee injury, just as I’m always critical of those assumptions, regardless of the team, player or position in question. Kurt Coleman proved to me to be a worthwhile reserve who isn’t going to be a severe detriment when he’s on the field. The same thing said another way: he’s Sean Considine. Jarrad Page is a retread. If he was starting for the Giants, every person on this blog would count it as a weakness.
I think Herremans will solidify RT. People have talked about him as a future RT since the day he was drafted, and I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to imagine him filling in adequately from week 1. But all three of the interior positions are major question marks. If this is really a “chips to the center” season, is it really the time to put three new faces, including two rookies, in the center of the offense? I remember when Andy used to justify his lack of interest in signing the receivers that everyone was clamoring for (Peerless Price et al) by saying games were won and lost in the trenches. This seems like quite a departure from that mindset.
It’s frustrating to see fans compare any suggestion that the Eagles aren’t quite as good as everyone is saying to the most mindless and boilerplate criticisms of that kind. Trey Wingo’s rant sounds pretty idiotic, but he isn’t indicative of the entire population of people who thinks the Eagles are in for a tougher season than many fans are anticipating. There’s an intelligent and informed brand of skepticism out there too. I’d love to see a post addressing it, rather than one that simply targets the low-hanging fruit.
OL issues:
2010 – JJ goes down the first game, Cole is awful at center, McGlynn goes in and struggles in pass protection all year, Cole goes to right guard, replaced by MJG, then Peters goes down in games 6 & 7, replaced by Dunlap, meanwhile Kolb to Vick to Kolb at QB.
Disaster? They averaged 24.6 ppg those seven games.
2009 – Herremans injured, the starting OL for the first five games, Peters – Cole – Jackson – MJG – Justice, Peters is a FA, Justice, Cole and MJG are first time starters.
So disaster, right? They averaged 27 ppg those five games.
Mudd is the consensus best OL coach in the league, he has his five guys and two weeks to get them to play as a unit. Don’t think it’s quite time to panic.
The media overhypes young players, the FO really doesn’t, they knew they were experiementing with Gocong, he was great against the run but never turned into a Peterson type pass rusher from SLB, and couldn’t handle coverage in the post 2004 NFL. Crap happens.
Graham and Allen would be starting and be bright spots, but injuries happen, VA could be our LDE, but injuries happen.
This offseason, the Eagles will have given big money to exactly 2 (3 with DeSean) players, and only one a FA, Aso. Jenkins and Babin are on one year deals with a team option, everyone else is on a one year deal. The FO can watch them play, and extend those they want to keep. Look for Mathis for example to get locked up in October if he looks like a solid fit, 3 year extension would allow a young late round pick to be groomed. Brown, Smith, Page are other candidates if they prove themselves, Harris is gone, Lee is gone, Young is gone, one year depth (or not) until kids are ready.
The Eagles changed their entire philosophy on offense and defense in one season, they’re going to clear out a bunch more guys next year, but they also have a bunch of draft picks (and look for them to pick up more):
Young – gone
Smith/Avant/Cooper – one probably goes
Dunlap, Justice, Jackson – gone
Parker, Laws/Landri/Hargrove – mostly gone
Asante, Hanson, Lindley – probably gone
Some will go in September, some will go in March. But they’ll reshape the roster to better fit their schemes in 2012.
Young guys aren’t just about saving money, they’re also about athleticism, Washburn, Mudd, Castillo’s LBs, quickness and athleticism are valued, the coaches have confidence they can teach younger players the right fundamentals.
And don’t diss Mighty Mouse.
Tommy and I may have to drown you in a vat of chocolate pudding!
Tommy said Coleman was a starter, I thought he was a great #3 safety, Tommy has me on this one, Kurt came to camp with his muscle suit. He’s one of those players you think they’re gonna replace every year and ten years later he’s still the starter.
And don’t compare him to Considine, the great white stiff. Coleman can hit moving targets.
@nicolajNN: I think the reason we’re seeing a lot of negativity is BECAUSE this team is more talented than any Eagles team we’ve seen for years. People are excited about what this team could do, but also scared of being let down again.
The way some people deal with it is by looking for the holes in the team, places where it could all fall apart, and expecting the worst. That way, if the worst happens, they haven’t got their hopes up too high and it doesn’t hurt quite so bad.
Overall, though, I think it’s hard to look at this team and honestly think that we don’t have a shot at winning it all this year.
Afan, your optimism could be conveyed in five words:
“I prefer to be optimistic.”
And that’s fine. We have no impact on what does or doesn’t happen. In many ways, optimism is the rational position for any fan. No one follows sports to be depressing.
But let’s be very clear: you would never afford this sort of lenient assessment of any other football team.
@ AK…
I’m optimistic by nature (not a Philly native). That greatly affects my thinking and writing. Nothing I can do about that.
I’ve studied most of the current NFL players in college. I know what these guys can do well. That causes me to have a more positive outlook on all 32 teams. I used to catch a lot of flak in game previews for saying stuff like “the Eagles need to be careful this week because X-team has so and so at LB and he can be a force off the edge”.
I’m not sitting here predicting the Eagles to go 16-0. Best team in the NFC is Green Bay. No question. After that it is the Saints and us. Both teams have issues. Both teams have talent.
It would not shock me to see the Giants or Cowboys win the division. Both teams have the potential to be really good if their question areas are given positive answers.
I think we have fewer questions. Or maybe calling them less important questions would be appropriate.
Someone already asked the question if we have the worst LBs corps. I think that’s a fair question. I’ll make that a topic for tomorrow.
I agree wholeheartedly that whenever I hear the phrase “Dream Team,” I generally want to do nothing else but punch Vince Young in the face.
Then I realize what would happen to me if I did end up punching VY in his face.
Back in 06′ things were looking great.
Runyan and Tra were still playing at a high level.
Jamaal Jackson was a top 5 center.
Shawn Andrews was the best RG in the NFL.
McNabb was only 30
Reggie Brown was an emerging star receiver.
Westbrook was a stud
Dawkins was playing at a high level.
Sheldon and Lito were one of the best young CB duos in the league.
We had good CB depth- William James and Rod Hood.
Bunkley was supposed to be a stud and Patterson had a lot of potential.
Michael Lewis was a pro-bowler
Ryan Moats showed great potential
L.J Smith was supposed to be the next Antonio Gates
Darwin Walker, Juqua Parker, Darren Howard, Jerome McDougle, LaJuan Ramsey, Sam Rayburn and Jevon Kearse were supposed to form a great DL.
Dhani Jones was supposed to be our answer at WILL
Trotter was back
Matt McCoy was a hidden gem and would eventually
become an all pro
Omar Gaither was the future
Hank Baskett was supposed to be an all pro receiver
So may things went bad.
Bunkley was just an average player
Westbrook had issues with concussions
McNabb tore his ACL and fell in love with the “big play”
Reggie Brown was slightly below average
Hank Baskett was just a good ST player
Shawn Andrews went crazy
Runyan, Tra, and Dawkins only played well for two more years
Moats, L.J Smith, Matt McCoy, McDougle, and Dhani were garbage
Jamaal Jackson declined
Lito Sheppard declined
We found out why William James was cut from the Giants
Omar Gaither was just an average player
Each defensive lineman were disappointing and declined at some point in the next two years and were cut
The only players that were good as they thought they would be were Mike Patterson and Juqua Parker.
Vick will actually be making 20 million this year. How does this change everything?
Sam,
PFT says the 6th year of the deal is void if Vick plays in 35 percent of the snaps in any of the first 5 years.
What is the point of that? Does the signing bonus cap hit this year get divided by 6 instead of 5? Any point to it?
Dan,
That’s all well and good, but can we take a moment and consider that this Eagles team, despite catastrophic organizational failures (DEAR GOD, WHO IS OUR SAM OF THE FUTURE), has been, y’know, pretty damned good.
How about, instead of listing every single ‘failure’ by the Eagles over the years, we make a list of every failure of say, (I don’t know, let’s say the current media darling du jour) the Packers? Or maybe the Giants.
There is so much turnover in this league and everyone is up in arms and thinks WE are the only (respectable) team with problems? Get over yourselves. In 2008, the Packers had one of the worst defenses in the league.
They went through first round DLineman busts – Justin Harrel, Johnny Jolly – and the entire team and its fanbase was sure until about week 4 of last season that top 5 pick AJ Hawk was one of the worst starting linebackers in the game of football.
At this point, it seems abundantly clear that the Eagles are being held to higher standards than just about any team in the league. They point out our rookie MLB and “shaky secondary”*. Do they point out that New Orleans has terrible linebacking corps (headlined by the perennially overrated Jonathan Vilma)? Or that their RT is a platoon of Zack Streif and Charles “Who?” Brown?
Do they talk about the terrible play of their conerbacks and the demotion of Super Bowl Pick6 vunderkind Tracy Porter to the 3rd CB spot, behind Patrick Robinson and Jabari “the Bills gave up on me” Greer?
*Warren Sapp, NFL Network
On the bright side, Marlon Favorite has been working out and slimming down, and is ready to be resigned.
Footage of him training:
http://www.gifbin.com/bin/1236963278_spring-board-jump.gif
how did this post turn to a cry fest for all of the fans?
why can’t people just enjoy watching whatever team that takes the field?
Tommy, I feel your pain. Lately whenever I hear a national media member (especially on that 4-letter network) start talking about the Eagles, I have to change the channel or radio station. When I hear people talk about the “Dream Team” or about how our offensive line is “in shambles,” I literally get a headache. Questions on the o-line? Yes. Total disarray? No.
@deg0ey
You nailed it. As a fanbase we’re so focused on Kelce and Mathews and our three legit concerns (OL, LB and S) that we sometimes forget how stacked we are at the offensive skill positions, D-Line and cornerback.
There’s some folks abnormally optimistic and some who are dead-set on fearing the worst, including a couple of you Stans posting above. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle; with regard to probability, while it’s highly unlikely Kelce, Watkins, Mathews, Chaney, Coleman and Page all succeed, it’s also highly unlikely they all fail.
Seems to me that most Eagles fans recognize the potential flaws and pitfalls along with the fact that we’re loaded in certain places. We’ve covered our butts pretty well in case of injury — at QB and RB, and we’ve already lost our projected FS, DE and two RTs and might not be worse off for it. Many teams would be reeling by this point.
In other words, aren’t too many Eagles fans who would refer to us a “dream team.” (I despise that phrase in reference to us, btw) … I haven’t seen many Eagles fan infer that this team is flawless.
It is good enough to win games, perhaps into the high double digits. At worst it should be a wild-card playoff team. We don’t know. We’ve changed schemes. We’ve added a lot of people. It’s not going to be a polished product out of the gate, but it doesn’t have to be. It has to be able to get into the playoffs, and play well when we get there.
In that sense, the worries about Kelce and Mathews, et. al., while justified, are also premature.
The first half of the schedule *looks* manageable after Falcons/Giants (one never can tell with these things) and from there we’ll just see where it goes.
Whoever this team is Week 1 won’t be who it is Weeks 1o thru 17 and beyond. That’s who we should be worrying about. Of course it’s not in our nature to wait patiently, but there’s also no need to panic either.
re: Wingo, he actually bugs me too. Cowherd I’ve basically never watched. Wingo though he seems a little too smarmy for a guy who should know better, exactly what you described Tommy.
As opposed to someone like Eisen, who can be snarky and funny but also knows the league, moves the show along and doesn’t …
I think you said it best, “pander.”
So much of the content out there, in any media form, is going after the lowest common denominator, and parroting the conventional wisdom or the knee-jerk reactions. There are a lot of popular outlets I skip over because their “analysis” often lacks substance.
It’s one of the reasons I come here. No pandering. Straight shooting, supported opinions and reasoned analysis.
Okay, now I’m brown-nosing.
re: Dream Team, the weird thing is no matter how much the Eagles try to distance themselves from it, it’s been latched onto with the grip of piranha’s jaw and those dying to see the Eagles fail (or just shooting for ratings/clicks) aren’t going to let go.
It’s almost like if you repeat something enough times perception darn near becomes reality. I’m glad internally, the Eagles have not bitten.
@ guyotc…
Is that vid legit? Friggin hilarious.
@ Tommy
I dont think it’s legit. Towards the end of the vid, it says “Controlled Environment. Do Not Attempt.”
Eagles fans are programmed to fear the worst.
Now imagine you’re a Giant fan:
Team lets a solid young DT, Cofield, hit FA, replace him with an athletic but total unknown in Austin, who promptly injures himself and is on IR, now they have Kennedy, the incredible blob, starting for them.
They draft Prince, have a promising fast young kid in Witherspoon, opps, Thomas, Prince and Witherspoon ALL go down. Now they have one of the thinnest secondaries in the league (Mr Grant, your AARP membership has been approved).
And let’s not get started on their LBs, who might be worse that the Eagles (Kiwanka as a SLB, Sintim as a WLB – uh, didn’t someone tell the GM you don’t run a 3-4 defense?). Or Beatty at LT (Pray Eli pray).
Now, don’t you feel better already?
And yet, a lot of people insist the Giants are still contenders for the division. Also, despite throwing no more than 13 interceptions in a single season (only 6 last year), many seem to think Eli Manning (25 INT last year) is better equipped to lead his crippled team than Michael Vick
That last part about Eli Manning and Vick is a little confusing: I meant to say despite Eli Manning’s history of not taking care of the football, a lot of talking heads think Eli is a better QB than Vick. Nobody would dare ask if Eli was worth a $100 million contract.
And finally… how is Trent Cole still on this team? We all agree DeSean is playing at a price that would make the Bernanke blush, but how is Trent Cole still playing on a deal signed in 2006?
I guess this deserves to be on the list of Andy Reid’s achievements during his Eagles career.
@ATG
Excellent comments. Excellent.
The Redskins will win 10+ games. They vastly improved all facets of their defense: Barry Cofield, OJ Otogwe, Josh Wilson, Ryan Kerrigan, Stephen Bowen… and they already had Laron Landry and Ryan Kerrigan.
That defense will be a top 5 unit so the QB won’t matter because they will be able to just run the ball as often as they want and throw play-action off of it and keep other teams to under 15 points much of the time.
Watch out, Eagles fans, because the Skins might just be the #1 competition for the division title.
TWO Ryan Kerrigans! You’re right. They can’t be stopped!
I like a lot of what the Redskins have done. Just not their QBs. Guess we’ll see.
Its the Cowboys I’m worried about.
And to tag on to what ATG wrote earlier:
I have made no secret about being “underwhelmed” with the front office decisions over the past two years or so, most specifically, with regard to Howie Roseman. Its not that I have some vendetta against the man. Far from it. I want all of his moves to succeed.
Its simply that we’ve grown accustomed to “The Plan” from ’99 to ’09, and all the idiosyncrasies that went along with it. Though I disagreed with several of them, I could usually follow the logic. Over the past two years, there are a # of roster moves that show a definite shift in philosophy. Others go farther, and completely fly in the face of everything we’ve come to know from Andy and crew, most notably, our current (and now, future) quarterback.
And that’s fine too. You’re getting antsy Andy? You want to go for it? Okay. Great. Lots of moves that have occurred this offseason support that endeavor. Others…don’t.
I won’t deny that the past two years have been extremely interesting. Its just that there have been more moves that have left me scratching my head over that period than there were over the previous 10 years combined. And, until I can see the angles for myself, or somebody explains it to me, I’ll continue to have questions.
Mort-
If u are going to make an argument take some time to use the right names! ATOGWE, ADAM CARRIKER. Their OL is shaky. Landry is injured. They have an unknown and Rex fighting for QB. Hightower hasn’t proved he can hold onto the football. You are higher on the Redskins than everyone in DC.
RE: Redskins
The Redskins have always had a good defense. In fact, it was better BEFORE Shanahan took over and turned a solid 4-3 in to a mediocre 3-4 last season. It went from 10th in 2009 to 31st in 2010. Yikes.
The problem with the Skins is clearly their offense. They were ranked 18th last season in yards and 25th in scoring. Is Rex Grossman and/or John Beck an upgrade over Donovan McNabb, even at this stage in his career? Really?
This talk about “the Redskins are improved” doesn’t really mean much. They had nowhere to go but up. Do you even trust Mike Shanahan? Take away the Elway years and a 13-3 record in 2005, he’s coached his teams to 9-7, 7-9, 8-8, 6-10 records. Wouldn’t Andy Reid’s head be on a spike right now if that were his last 4 seasons?
It’s not that complicated IMO, mcud. Roseman is simply more aggressive than Heckert was and is more willing to take risks. Before it seemed like the Eagles were overly conscious of trying to make the perfect deal and the PR implications if things didn’t work out whereas now they’ll make a deal and if it doesn’t work out, oh well, next.
Tommy/Sam, I had a question about wording. When people say “guranteed money”, does that include something like a roster bonus in year 6? Is every bit of guranteed money really a 100% sure thing? If so, other than a signing bonus how else is guranteed money, guranteed?
The coincidence did not hit me until this post. I’m confident I know which one you were referring too.
A couple of years ago, when it became apparent that there might be a lockout, the Eagles set about structuring deals to free cap money for 2011. This is no secret. Nobody else thought it through like they did, either because they didn’t think the lockout would come about or because they failed to recognize the once-in-a-decade free agency market that this would create. Jason Peters, for example, had a cap number of over $14M last year and less than half of that this year. Next year, it goes back up, though not as high. Wingo should know this.
if I remember correctly, nearly 100% of fans acknowledged that RCB was our primary need after that debacle in Philly called a wildcard game.
Everyone knew that we needed to get value for Kolb.
any informed fan knew that Nick Cole and MJG needed to be replaced at RG.
Most folks thought that Rory Seagrest was a big part of the problem with our defense (and many didn’t like seeing Trent Cole and Brandon Graham drop into coverage so often on 3rd and long).
We also had slight question marks at: back up RB, depth at CB and LB, and and answer at Kicker (resign Akers or do something else).
Out of those “issues” which ones weren’t addressed? Maybe it wasn’t addressed in the way you had dreamed, but clearly efforts were made.
I actually like what the Redskins did this off season. They didn’t go out and grossly over pay for veteran free agents. Instead they slightly overpaid young players like Josh Wilson, Barry Cofeild, and Stephen Bowen.
They didn’t trade their high draft picks for veteran players. Instead they traded down in a weak draft and got solid prospects like Ryan Kerrigan, Jarvis Jenkins, and Leonard Hankerson. They also traded a journey man DL for young RB that has shown some potential. s
@austinfan
Good post. Also a lot of teams like the Eagles have signed guys to one year deals. That means that 2012 will be another year where the large number of available free agents pushes the price down. And, as you pointed out, the Eagles will have the cap room to be aggressive.
Howie started gaining influence after 2008 and took over after 2009. What happened in 2008? We went to the NFCCG and should have one. Most GMs would have taken the attitude of gee, we were so close, a few fixes and we’re over the top.
Instead, Howie and AR saw a defense that was exposed by Arizona, and an aging QB who would only go downhill, a shaky OL, and a lack of talent at skill positions with Westbrook on his last legs.
The next three years they tore that team apart, starters left from 2008:
WR: DeSean
TE: Celek
OL: Herremans
DL: Patterson, Cole
CB: Asante
The only other guys on the roster, maybe, are Avant, JJ, Parker, Hanson.
That’s an even bigger turnover that from 2004 to 2008. I think AR/Howie looked at the impact of the rule change after 2003 and realized the Eagles had not taken full advantage of the “need for speed.”
I considered that some of this stuff could have been plagiarized, it’s scattered across the web and various peoples websites, unless you’re the content’s creator?