Shady Gets His Deal
Posted: May 17th, 2012 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 56 Comments »Great news. Shady McCoy has signed a 5-year extension and will be an Eagle through the end of the 2017 season. He got slightly more money than Arian Foster. Per agent Drew Rosenhaus, Shady is now the third highest paid RB in the NFL. The deal is 5 years, $45M and $20.765M of that is guaranteed.
This is a win-win situation. Shady gets his money. The Eagles get Shady. We can all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.
It is great that the positive vibes in the NovaCare Complex continue to flow. Shady hadn’t let any worries over his deal get to him, but you never know if that situation would have changed this summer or upcoming season. Now we don’t have to deal with it. He’s on Cloud Nine with a 3-mile smile. DeSean is also a happy camper. So is Evan Mathis. So is Cullen Jenkins. And new guys like DeMeco Ryans and Demetress Bell.
Adversity can help to forge a championship team, but you don’t want players upset with their contract situations. That just doesn’t work well for anyone.
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PE.com had really good coverage of the event. Normally PCs like this are kinda boring, but this was well done. The PC itself wasn’t anything special, but the 1-on-1 interviews with Dave Spadaro were good. We got Big Red, Howie, Drew, and Shady. Sounds like the worst prison gang ever, huh?
Both Drew and Shady made a point of talking about how important Andy Reid was to the process. He relates well to the players and it sounded like he kept this thing on track so that the negotiators could work at a fair pace without undue pressure from Shady to hurry the hell up.
Andy talked about the draft back in 2009. He said the Eagles liked both Knowshon Moreno and Shady. We’d heard that before, but never from him. The Eagles, if you believe him, decided to focus more on Shady. They liked his pass catching ability better. Andy then got a question about lessening the workload and did reference trying to use 2 or 3 RBs this season. I hope that proves to be true. They won’t use the backups enough, but they must do a better job than in 2011.
Howie told a good story about seeing Shady back at Pitt during the 2008 preseason. The Eagles had a game vs the Steelers so Howie went over to catch a Pitt practice and check out the prospects. He said that they were doing a drill where the offense was backed up on the 1-yard line and trying to simply move the ball out of the endzone. Shady took a handoff and worked his magic. Next thing you know he’s running for a 99-yard TD. Howie said that certainly got his attention.
One thing that I had never seen was a video of Shady as a kid and HS player. This was a great feature and is must see material.
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I think we finally have to let go of the past and admit that Drew Rosenhaus is no longer the enemy. The Eagles signed Mathis, DJax, and Shady to long term deals, all at reasonable costs. All 3 were Rosenhaus clients. It looks more and more like the TO thing was as much TO as it was Drew.
I still don’t like the way Drew aggressively goes after other agents clients, but he’s at least doing a good job of getting his guys deals.
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Answering some questions from previous posts…
More on Havili at FB. Can he be a good RZ blocker? Is having a gifted receiver at FB really a big deal? Owen Schmitt was an effective lead blocker. That’s it. He wasn’t some bulldozer that cleared a huge path. The bar isn’t set all that high for Havili. This isn’t like trying to replace Moose Johnston or Lorenzo Neal. Schmitt didn’t floor defenders. He was as much a positional blocker as anything. Havili can do that. Get to the right spot. Find the right guy. Wall him off so that Shady can get by.
If Shady had been successful last year in large part due to a physical FB that could really pound, you can bet the Eagles would have kept that player or gone after someone similar.
Havili could also be a weapon in the RZ. Schmitt caught 34 career passes and had 2 TDs. He ran 9 times and never got in the endzone. Havili is faster and more athletic. If you fake to Shady and hit Havili in the flat, he’s got a chance to score. He doesn’t need to be wide open like Schmitt did.
Havili won’t get a lot of touches, RZ or otherwise, but he is a weapon when he does get them. Schmitt only had a handful of plays that went for 10 or more yards in his career. Good hands. Great effort. Just lacked the speed/athleticism to do much in space. The highlight plays where he jumped over the guy were nice, but those plays still didn’t cover much ground. We have a big play offense. If we have to dump the ball to the FB on a pass play, why not get it to someone who has RAC skills and a bit of speed? If we were a ball control offense, having an athletic FB might not be a big deal. The Eagles love chunk plays. Havili is more likely to deliver one than Schmitt.
I can’t stress this enough…Havili will not be the FB unless he can do an adequate job of blocking. The receiving skills are good, but worthless if Havili can’t deliver the key block on 3rd/1. The Eagles aren’t being dumb here. This isn’t some crazy gamble. This is a calculated risk. If Havili doesn’t block well at Lehigh and/or the preseason games, there will be change. (unless Iggy plays lights out)
Did Casey Matthews have a shoulder injury prior to the draft? Yes. He got hurt while doing the bench press at the Combine. I don’t think he had surgery, but wasn’t able to finish his Combine workout. He did work out at the Pro Day.
I’m not sure how much the shoulder injury affected his 2011 performance. Certainly it didn’t help.
Casey got a rude introduction into life in the NFL. He was used to playing in shootouts at Oregon. The NFL was much more physical. He was somewhat of a finesse defender who tried to get by on instincts. The Eagles thought they could teach him the style of play they wanted. That didn’t get done last summer.
I fully expect Casey to be much more physical this year. I expect him to engage blockers and shed their blocks. Jeff McLane said Casey is clearly bigger. Dave Spadaro said that. I confirmed with a source of my own that the two players who look significantly bigger are Phillip Hunt and Casey.
While he’s 250 now, Casey will lose some of that at Lehigh. TC wears guys down. They lose weight. Casey will be fine if he comes out in the 240-45 range. That’s enough bulk for him. And I’m told he really is stronger. Casey has an NFL body. Now we’ll find out if he has NFL game.
So happy for Shady McCoy, he deserves every penny of the contract. Now keep it going!
Tommy, Jeff McLane wrote in his “Emptying the Notebook” that Curtis Marsh and Keenan Clayton had bulked up as well. Do you happen to know their weight?
If Peters hadn’t been injured, I would say this is the best off-season I’ve seen from the Eagles!
Don’t know their weights. Haven’t heard about them.
And even that major crisis with Peters, we at least signed a starter-quality free agent replacement to a reasonable contract within a week of the injury.
We’ll never be satisfied until we bring a trophy or four home, but it’s nice to know those who have an influence are making a major effort to set the table for this to happen.
Come on, the puns were right there for the taking: Eagles do a Shady deal. Rosenhaus leads Shady through the dotted line. The real rich McCoy.
Maybe I’m not the only one who needs to schedule his in-home LASIC.
ATG > tommy
I’m enveloped in shame.
Ah, I remember the days when Owen Schmitt was just a rookie prospect and every Eagles fan had to have him. Mostly because he had a mohawk and bloody lip. Dammit, we just had to draft Trae Williams.
Remember the brief Kyle Eckel craze?
Man, Weaver was supposed to solve all this for the next five years. We could love him like those guys, and he could play well enough to keep his job.
Celek wasn’t a good blocker in college and his blocking has improved with coaching, but he was picked because he could catch passes. At FB, I’d like to see someone who blocked well in college and can be coached to block even better in the pros. That could be Brackett as I said.
But Brackett was a WR in college. He’s probably behind where Celek was when he came into the league.
Clay Harbor has been a pretty good blocker since his rookie year. He could be very good in a couple of years.
If Harbor does get to be ‘very good in a couple of years’, does it make sense to use him as a FB/TE tweener?
Well, reports had Celek as a below average blocker in college and Brackett as a good blocker. Harbor could be the guy too. It just makes sense, if they aren’t going to use the FB a lot, to split the job between a 2nd or 3rd TE and maybe a tailback for some I plays.
Howie is bringing a kinder and gentler touch, plus a lot of dollars.
Actually, they haven’t overpaid for anyone, and I think Rosenhaus was as burned by TO as the Eagles, and is learning that cutting a good deal, without dramatics, might be a better way of retaining players as an agent.
Thought it was interesting that they cut Taylor to sign McCullough.
Taylor was not a Mudd type, but McCullough is a pretty good interior OL athlete, short at 6’1 but has long arms 33″, converted DT who never won a full-time starting job, but we’re talking Alabama, not Temple, you can be pretty talented and struggle to break into that lineup.
I think it’s fairly clear, even from their public comments about each other, that the Eagles and Rosenhaus have learned to play nice with each other.
They realize that they are inter-dependent … Drew knows there are only 32 teams, and the Eagles know that they are even fewer really successful agents to the stars, so to speak. They have to be able to scratch each other’s backs, and it’s a shame we had to have a season or two ruined for them to learn this, but at least they aren’t repeating the mistakes of the past.
You’re right, none of the deals have been outlandish, at least in terms of overall money. I wonder if that’s a sign that the guys see the window being open for a few years and want to commit to each other and win together … or just a coincidence, and a sign that Howie and Joe are spreading out the $120m/season well.
As far as Havili, I don’t think he’s got any inside track, for the 10 times a year they use a FB to run block these days, they could probably teach Harbor, he did a nice job coming across the formation to take out Ware, and that’s got to be as hard a block to make as any he’d try at FB. Sellers did a pretty good job as a FB in Washington, as well as H-back and TE. I don’t think it’s guaranteed they’ll carry a FB, they could always shift Kelce there or even try Vandervelde in short yardage, both are very athletic. To justify a FB, he has to show multiple skills.
Havili could help himself by being a decent run blocking FB, but he’d help himself more by showing himself to be an excellent pass blocker in one back formations where they don’t want McCoy picking up a big blitzer, say against a 3-4 team with big ILBs on obvious passing downs. Weaver excelled in that role, where you both have to block well and do something on the dumpoffs. It wouldn’t hurt if he showed something on STs.
Iggy will get a year on the PS to add strength, learn to run routes, and who to block.
Iggy is serious PS candidate if he has solid summer.
Kelce to FB? Interesting… can you elaborate to try to help me understand this concept. Who’s under C? Types of plays?
Eagles played Peters at TE in short yardage.
Kelce is athletic enough to be a short yardage FB.
Your backup C would be the center (and most likely bigger than Kelce).
It’s a short yardage, power formation.
In fact, they might consider Cox at FB, I think Seymour and a few other athletic DTs have been used as FBs in those formations.
The idea is to get a big, athletic body hitting a gap hard, you don’t need finesse, just power.
I remember when they used their back up center in goal line power formations (Nick Cole?).
I’m all for getting a big body in the backfield, but I don’t want to be changing the guy making the exchange at a part of the field where any mishap costs them points. Whatever Kelce brings as a FB, he brings twice that staying at C in the red zone.
Bring in the KING on short yardage….No one will be able to get around him to get to the RB
I agree with all of this except using Kelce, who should probably be snapping the ball on any key plays.
Sellers plays special teams.
Definitely agree about Harbor. I don’t think he was touted as a blocker coming out, nor was Celek, but both those guys have made themselves into effective blockers. TE blocking is not the same as FB blocking, but it can be done, especially with a guy who has limited parts of the game plan to focus on elsewhere.
Ideally, yes, Havili is functional as a lead blocker and in pass protection, and can get matched up on a chump once in a while and go for a big-gainer.
Why Shady mccoy will last longer than any RB today. Usually big extensions for RBs are scary but…
– he breaks ankles not tackles. I mean he can break tackles but he is able to break ankles so less contact. Obviously the comparison is Barry Sanders esque.
– his moves he is able to juke or completely turn and run to the other sideline and then run down that sideline
– even tho McCoy led NFL w/ 50 broken tackles, per FB Outsiders. Also 1st w/ 14 runs of 20+ yds. AND played more snaps than any RB.
– eagles do not leave him by himself in the backfield during high intensity or contact downs. For example goal line or 3rd and 1. He is partnered up with a FB that takes the initial hit.
– Mudd’s zone blocking scheme is helpful because it is east to west and there is less pounding that way than north and south
– McCoy is only 23 when he signed his extension through 2017. Came into the NFL after his sophomore year
– obvious he had wear and tear at end of 2011 season Finding right RB to spell McCoy still important. Avg. 3.4 YPC in final 5 games last season after avg. 5.4 YPC in first 10.
I wonder about his ankles. It was part of the reason he didnt play the last game of the season Come on Rick Buckhaulter strenghten them.
– even tho shady has these numbers in the 4th quarter One more: Running the ball late can be crucial for #Eagles offense. In 4Q of past two seasons, McCoy avg. 5.9 YPC.
eagles may be winning the game late the eagles should pull shady out. Heck whenever they lead by 20+ he should pulled out.
Don’t forget about Trent Cole. He’s a happy camper as well. I can’t wait for Ashley Fox’s next article about how the Eagles are disrespecting Maclin by paying LeSean and DeSean.
Tommy,
Thanks for the info regarding Casey’s injury. I did a minute of research and it all turned up what you said. I re-listened to Reid’s comments and he definitely says he had a “major shoulder surgery” after the bowl game.
Possible conclusions:
1. Reid just let the confidentiality cat out of the bag. Coaches love to hide injuries until after the fact.
2. Reid is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
3. Reid simply meant to say “major shoulder injury”. Maybe not major in damage, but major on regarding the time to heal smartly while getting back to strength and then getting stronger.
I’m no shoulder expert. Could have been major, but still healed without surgery. Or maybe he had surgery and I just don’t recall it.
Clay the !st just threw an ice cold six pack on his shoulder. The gill catching plastic six pack holders gave some nice flexibility. Nothing like a bag of frozen peas… but what would you rather have? Of course you want to have a beer while cooking up some fresh caught fish.
Hey Tommy I know this is Shay’s day but I find it very interesting that Drew said this morning in an interview that he was on his way to meet with a team about yeremiah when we now know he was on his way to philly. In the interview you could actually hear that he was in an airport and the plane was going to philly. I think drew and the eagles have a deal in place for yeremiah and that they are waiting to announce it tomorrow out of respect for McCoy. Thoughts? I guess we will see soon enough.
Very possible. Some reporter said on Twitter tonight that the Shady deal was a last minute thing. Could be Drew was heading to see another team and then the Shady deal took precedent.
My sources haven’t told me anything about Bell as likely target. I’m thinking he goes elsewhere. We’ll find out on Friday, if Drew’s radio report is true.
Reid discussing Shady’s ball security which has been a concern since day 1… “he uses that wing”…”and he’s able to work with that”. He’s a true Eagle.
Ha. Didn’t think of that angle.
Shady’s style of ball security scares fans and coaches, but he makes it work (knock on wood).
Hizzah!!
Minor, minor, iddy biddy thought. I hope there will not be a musical chairs at fullback like a couple years back at KOR. The “anyone can do that,” mentality yields crap. I understand the limited number of plays a FB is utilized, I’m just concerned about a possible decrease in blocking for the sake of a wider skill set. Please understand, I hope Hava Nagila lights the world on fire, but for now, I will be looking for each and every article/tidbit that gives insight on his blocking.
A couple years back we did it at fullback too. I forget why we didn’t have one (Tapeh or Ritchie maybe didn’t come back), we flipped fringe DT Dan Klecko to FB, then when we needed a roster spot, we tried to make RB Tony Hunt an FB … and basically went without one for a season.
Which led to us getting Weaver, and then Schmitt … bonafide FBs.
Now we’re back where we started. I don’t mind the idea of someone who does more than just be a good FB (play special teams, is a weapon when we occasionally use him), but this does have the potential to blow up on us.
My opinion that the Eagles aren’t giving Havili a spot unless he earns it is based on that season where they didn’t want to keep a subpar FB just to keep one. Not necessarily wise but they’ll do it.
Then again, under Howie, it seems like we’re reassessing every season and trying not to repeat mistakes of the past.
I wouldn’t call Schmitt a “bonafide FB.” Weaver could have been our saving grace, though.
Best. Offseason. Evar.
Sweet draft. (at least 4 prospects to be excited about)
Re-sign/extend DeSean, LeSean, Trent Cole, Herremans and Evan Mathis.
Dealt Asante (great player, but bad fit in new scheme)
Added Bowles.
Didn’t fire Reid.
Don’t have to listen to Giants fans brag about winning the SB … ah wait.
Well, can’t be perfect, can it?
LANDRI????
(buries face in hands)
I forgot perhaps the best offseason move of them all … trading for DeMeco Ryans.
That’s a good offseason when you can forget that.
BTW, Tommy, Respeck for the three-post day.
Go ahead and have an extra PBR, you deserve it! (as if you need my permission)
I am relaxing now. Watching re-broadcast of Orioles game (W). Drinking a PBR. Listening to the late Ronnie James Dio kill it on Mob Rules with Black Sabbath. Off to bed in a bit.
Dio! I learned about him a backwards way, not through music, but because his son is a big Cortland State (D-III) guy, and when he passed, it was all over my Facebook feed.
Small world.
Are you an Orioles fan?
I am an O’s fan. Born in Charlotte, NC and lived there to age 8. The O’s AA or AAA team was there at the time. My birthdays were spent at Charlotte Orioles games. Got to see guys like Eddie Murray. Been hooked on the Birds since at least 1978. Used to be a good thing. New millennium has been a mess, but the team is finally headed in the right direction.
What should LeSean tweet to Osi about his new contract?
The Gnats haven’t re-signed him yet, right? I’m pretty sure as of April Osi was still complaining about the contract offers NYG were presenting.
That just makes LeSean’s signing even better. Poor, poor, cuddly Osi.
Instead of talking about football over dinner, Casey decided to eat everyone else’s at the table.
The TO situation changed Drew Rosenhaus. He really got bitchslapped. He co-engineered this loud, VERY public campaign to get his client a new contract. Pushed every nuclear button in sight. Dug in and didn’t blink. What happened? His client got benched for half a year, then could only get a 3 year contract with no guarantees. That was a BIG TIME loss for Rosenhaus. Ever since then, Drew has been a whole lot quieter and stayed mostly in the background.
When, in the history of the NFL, has a a well-compensated RB ever proved the worth of his contract in subsequent seasons?
Unfortunately, the NFL is littered with examples of “stud” RBs being paid big dollars and then subsequently seeing their production dip in ensuing years.
Of course, the Eagles were almost forced to shell out this money; their only alternative was to cut or trade the kid, which wasn’t going to happen.
Smart teams actively avoid drafting potential stud RBs, because these stud RBs will never contribute to a team’s Win Percentage as much as other, more important positions (case in point: Giants in 2011 – worst rushing team in NFL – won Super Bowl; Eagles in 2011 – one of the best rushing teams – out of the playoffs), and if they are studly enough, will demand a large portion of the salary cap expenditure as a result of future contract extensions.
Having a stud RB on the roster is as much of a curse as it is a blessing: they will never win you a Super Bowl, or even contribute to a Super Bowl team much more than a replacement-level RB would, but due to the prominent and visible nature of their in-game production, your team will be forced to overspend to resign them.
A team would almost be better off cycling through UDFAs at the position than ever drafting one, and then focusing premium draft picks, and premium contract extensions on more game-affecting positions on offense such as QB, WR, and TE (and on defensive high-value positions such as DT, DE, CB, FS).
“Smart teams actively avoid drafting potential stud RBs”
I’m sure teams try this strategy all the time
Yeah..that guy named Emmit had nothing to do with Dallas’ championships..right?….
Say, that 90s Cowboys squad wasn’t completely loaded from top to bottom at every position, was it now?
It’s not like 90% of RBs couldn’t step into that situation – with a top-10 QB, the best offensive line in football, a Hall of Fame caliber blocking FB, and plenty of 7 man fronts in the box due to the presence of Michael Irvin and Alvin Harper – and produce similar stats as Smith, right?
Morton, you have got to be, the single most retarded poster on this board. The shit that comes out of your head and into your keyboard amazes me. Its like everyday, when I think you can’t become any more stupid, you one up yourself. Please never procreate.
What’s amazing is that he uses the Giants as an example for how teams should address RB…when they used their most recent 1st rounder on a running back.
Yes but they deliberately drafted a 1st round RB who will not become a “stud”. Duh! hahahaahaha
And guess what, the Giants made a big mistake in this year’s draft by wasting their 1st round pick on a RB.
Very uncharacteristic of Jerry Reese, and clearly not in line with their previous philosophy which led them to two Super Bowl victories.
I hate to come to Morton’s defense because frankly I disagree with him on 99% of his comments (particularly a comment saying that signing the Eagle’s best player to an extension is a bad move), but I think someone needs to say something when Morton’s comments are being called stupid and retarded. Frankly, you could not be more wrong. Morton might be the epitome of Negadelphian and his comments are always extreme and against any and every move the Eagles make, but they are always thought out and require you to actually look at things before coming with a strong argument against his. You really should do yourself a favor and at least respect his opinion regardless of how much you disagree with it.
As to Morton’s comment, frankly, he has a point.
http://www.fieldgulls.com/2012/1/21/2723827/nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-running-backs-gore-rice-giants-patriots
This article identifies the primary running backs on both the superbowl winning and superbowl loosing teams since 2001. The trend is exactly what Morton claims. Very few teams have gotten to the Superbowl with an elite running back and even fewer have won it with an elite running back. Further more, that trend seems to becoming more exaggerated.
Having said that, there is no reason a great running back can not help your team. In fact, a guy like McCoy, who is a player that this offense is largely built upon, is an incredibly valuable player to have on your team. Simply stating previous superbowl winning teams have not had elite running games may show a trend, but that certainly does not provide definitive proof. Signing McCoy means you are keeping one of the best players on your team happy, and considering his age, the deal is fantastic for both sides. Time will tell if McCoy can help the Eagles win a superbowl, but I am fairly certain he certainly does not hurt our chances.
I’m glad someone took the time to actually think about things in a differnet light instead of posting a knee-jerk sheep-like reaction to what I posted.
Anyway, the main point I am trying to make is that having a stud RB on the roster is sometimes almost a burden because you, as a team, are forced to devote a high % of salary cap resources (and draft resources, if you drafted him high) to a position that is relatively unimportant in today’s game. People don’t see the RB as unimportant because of the nature of the production – yards and TDs are flashy and prominent and even more so due to the overwhelming popularity of fantasy football. But in reality, winning football games has very little to do with what your RB produces. Winning football games is almost 90% about how well you pass the football and how well you stop the opposing passer.
The only retarded person here is the dumbass who posts a knee-jerk response – like a bleating sheep – while showing no ability whatsoever to formulate an inteliigent counterpoint to my argument, and who instead relies entirely on ad hominem attack in his post.
People like you with an empty cavity in their skulls instead of actual brains are the ones who shouldn’t procreate.