Day One in the Books
Posted: March 11th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 160 Comments »Maybe I’m being premature, but it seems like the Eagles are done with Day One.
* They signed S Malcolm Jenkins to a 3-year deal.
* They re-signed P Donnie Jones.
* They cut S Patrick Chung.
I’d call that a good day.
I’ll write a lengthy post on Jenkins in the morning. For now, I wanted to get up a post so the free agent discussion could continue.
What’s next?
Eagles still must figure out 2nd safety spot, whether in FA or draft. Need more than Wolff. Next few days will be interesting.
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) March 12, 2014
The Eagles could still add another Safety. They can still make a play for CB Darelle Revis. There are also some freshly cut pass rushers in DeMarcus Ware and Julius Peppers. Ware is reportedly talking to the Broncos.
The Eagles needed to add a starting Safety. They did that today so that’s huge in my book. They still need help at OLB, but there weren’t great options so it is smart that they didn’t throw money at anyone recklessly. I am really curious to see if they talk to Ware or think he wouldn’t be a good fit.
There are still plenty of good players on the market. Hopefully prices will come down and the team can sign some good players to reasonable contracts. As happens every year, there was some crazy money thrown around today. That usually goes away quickly and the market settles a bit.
_
Its a start.
$6 mil ($5 mil bonus, $1 mil ’14 base salary) of Malcolm Jenkins contract is fully guar. $2.5 mil of $4 mil ’15 base salary guar. for injury
Really looking forward to your Jenkins article.
I think Ware can still play very well and he would be my target.
We got ourself a cover safety that can take care of TE’s and RB’s. Allows us to blitz Kendricks more, add a strong safety in the draft (Pryor, Bucannon). Id feel extremely happy with those as our starting safety combo. Have Wolff be our primary backup in case someone gets hurt! Im liken what I’m seeing!
Hey Tommy, can i get your thoughts on Anthony Barr running an “electronic” 4.44 40 time at his pro-day. that sounds absurd! What do you think about trading up for him?
Personally like Barr, just not sure about trading up. A lot of D players were signed around the league today, so maybe enough teams will want to go Offense before #22, lol.
4 guys at the UCLA Pro Day ran sub 4.4 40’s. So the track was pretty fast. Shaq Evans ran a 4.32 at the pro day (4.51 at Combine) and Zumwalt ran a 4.61 (4.76 at Combine). So that should put things in perspective a bit.
Great night so far. No dumb signings, found a starting safety with upside and got to watch other teams overpay mediocre veterans / obliterate their cap.
Hold strong Howie & Chip, keep building this thing the right way.
Yea that Tj ward signing was so horribly over market …. I wait it wasn’t at all it was actually quite reasonable and under market. And that verner deal was so so so bad … I wait he signed for how much less than shields and Davis??? Wow he is only 25??? Wow he only makes a tad more than Cary Williams? Yea great day … Play scared and maybe we will have this safety thing figured out in 2018. What upside do you see w Jenkins other than he was a first round bust at corner???? That’s not upside. Kid is average at best. Best thing we can say is he is better than Chung while saints fans are laughing at us like the pats fans did last year
Relax, brah.
If I were to be upset about anything, it would be the Verner non-sign.
Why?
He doesn’t fit our scheme. We want to press, and Verner’s best fit schematically is playing off-zone in a Cover-2.
Why sign a guy just because you can?
We’ll convert him to safety…duh.
pardon, my ignorance is showing.
not ignorance, on face value its a fair question – his deal seems cheap. and pardon me for being rude, FA is the worst time to be active on forums.
point is Chip & Howie have a very specific idea of what they want for their scheme.
this goes for *every* position, not just DE/OLB.
we were never in on Verner. And probably not Ward either.
Well said.
Love when a plan comes together. And I have no doubt it will. Just leave a little room for the unexpected. (Revis?)
But it’s so much easier to throw angry monkey poop around than to think…
Also read about Verner. http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/120166/verner-finds-good-money-great-fit-in-tampa
He’s a zone specialist. He’s not fast enough to secure a guy man to man with no safety help over the top. According to reports he spent a lot of time trying to prove he could play man. Says he’ll shine in a zone. Great fit for Lovie and Tampa Cover 2 scheme. Not a great fit for eagles. Same reason they said he’s not a great fit for jets.
Though I will say price was reasonable. But if I’m him and money is equal am I going to zone team I can shine in or team that’s less of a fit schematically?
Everyone needs to chill. Stop being all glass is half empty. Have some faith. Not saying Howie or Chip are perfect but they’re surrounded with people rest of league acknowledges are smart, Gamble for example, and they’re willing to listen and learn. Let’s give them benefit of the doubt. They earned it for this off season.
Besides, it’s Day One.
Why would Saints or Pats fans laugh at “us’? there were 32 teams out there today and last year, for that matter. Why would they laugh at just one other team for signings or lack of them?
“The Browns sign Kurt Coleman to a 3 year, 12 million contract” – what do you think the reaction of the Eagles fans would be like?
The Pats had to laugh at us, the knew Chung was… well Chung.
The Saints are probably just happy they landed Byrd. But boy, that was one play. Like Howie with Nnamdi, no one saw that coming, because of the cap situation.
I would still make a play for Clemens from mia be two good versatile safeties
We might not be better off today than yesterday, but we’re not any worse. Quite a few teams can’t really say that for a variety of reasons.
I’d say replacing Chung with Jenkins makes us better. That’s not even really debatable imo.
Agreed; I’m not sure why everyone is so down on Jenkins. Aren’t these the same fans who complain and “bellyache” about the players that previously manned our safety positions?
Is it a “splashy” signing?? No, but why does it have to be? If our Defensive Coordinator wants his players to wear many hats (different positions) while on the field, why should we sign FA’s that don’t fit that criteria?
Dare I say it, but it IS debatable. Chung and Jenkins were both reasonably high-quite high draft picks that played 4-5 years with their original team before hitting the market and were bought by the Eagles. Neither impressed so much in their first contract that they got an extension by their original team or attracted big money in free agency.
I’m not down on Jenkins – I like the idea of taking a punt on former 1st rounders who have only played for 1 team. But I guess ultimately you’re right: replacing Chung with Jenkins does make us better, but only because with hindsight we know Chung is poor.
Saints fans seem to be glad Jenkins is gone. They sound a lot like Pats fans who wanted to get rid of Patrick Chung. We took their trash and they left with the jewel of free agency. Worried that the Saints outsmarted us in free agency like they did in the playoffs. Their cap situation is way worse than ours, yet they still managed to bring in an elite safety unlike us. Safety is a premium position at this point just because there are so few good safeties in the NFL. Eagles made a mistake not signing Byrd. It would’ve only cost $4 million per year more for Byrd instead of Jenkins. They didn’t need to spend money on any other position. No sense in being cheap at this position.
Is there a way to search for comments via Discuss? Because this comment will be a fun read in 2-3 years, or maybe you think overpaying a good safety without taking care of your franchise player (Graham) is a way to oustmart other franchise in that case I totally disagree but respect your right to say so.
I’ll laugh at myself if I’m wrong. Wouldn’t be the first time. Keep in mind that I’m very pro-Chip and pro-Howie. I just have a few criticisms and this happens to be one of them. Howie himself admitted he doesn’t know how to evaluate safety prospects, plus the supply of good safeties is unusually low relative to other positions. Why not pony up a few more millions to get some certainty at such a frustrating position?
There is no certainty in the NFL. Byrd may as well get exposed down there in the South.
Julio Jones, Cam Newton, Vincent Jackson, etc and a bunch of RBs that will run him over.
Of course nothing is 100% certain. I just happen to trust an All-Pro and Pro Bowler much more than the guy on the same team who was dumped to make room for him. There’s a reason the Saints got rid of Jenkins.
Sure– they have 2 capable safeties already on their roster, are cash strapped and have their own free agents to sign, and seem to be re-shaping their roster as Rob Ryan goes into year 2 as their DC.
Chung looked like he had lost his confidence before leaving NE (much like our very own Round 2 safety)– Jenkins (from what I’ve seen) doesn’t seem to possess that trait.
We ‘ll see what happens to the Saints. They have a lot of cuts to make and still need to pay Jimmy.
I would be a liar if I say I didn’t wish Byrd to be a bird, but I totally understand their decision not to outbid, but I also understand your criticism, only time will tell
I totally get what you are saying, but I guess we have to see. I hope Jenkins doesn’t turn out like Chung. Hopefully we can add some talent in the draft and get another FA S. Until then we will continue to not have a playmaker at the safety position.
So why did he hire Tom Gamble?
Another voice in the room. Never said he knew anything about safeties. Judging by the two he brought in so far: Kenny Phillips and Patrick Chung, he probably doesn’t.
You could argue that the Jenkins signing was more inspired by Chip, if you look at the comments. Sure, Roseman had him on his list, ranked and “vetted”. He had to. But it sounds like Kelly loved him, because he hated to gameplan against him.
I’m with you logic: I’m pro Howie and Chip, but if you have trouble evaluating a position (like Roseman admitted), it’s a good option to sign a big name. But if it was Kelly who made the call (and he knew Byrd and Ward), it’d make me a bit more optimistic.
Fans are rarely rational about their own players. How would a chargers fan have felt reading our comments on king Dunlap? I’m sure chip and billy are aware of Jenkins flaws and have a plan for how to get the most out of him,
Based some of the BS I saw fans tweeting today fans are rarely well read, rational, or particularly well considered. For most part neither are a lot of writers, though the sound bite nature of TV makes most writers seem like geniuses compared to the talking heads.
And while I’m ranting: That’s why it’s good to find blogs like this. I think people who get the new dynamic of media understand that content is king, real content and they striving to give you some real meat and not a styled up fast food burger. Real knowledge, real,considered opinions and real discussion differentiate you and get readers to some back.
“Real knowledge, real,considered opinions and real discussion”. You are so right! Could read/listen to logical, and maybe sometimes humorous, people all day. In fact sometimes I do! Simply must get the vacuuming done tomorrow!
Eagles fans are hardly rational about new guys. They just think, “Oh, he has to be better than Chung, right?” Pats fans blasted Chung last year while we were singing kum-ba-ya and they were right. I wouldn’t dismiss other (Super Bowl winning) teams so quickly
In all fairness, $4 million per year more is a LOT of coin. But given the situation here, I think they should have at least given it serious thought. But it seems they had their sights set only on Jenkins.
Plenty of cap space, plus it was their ONLY immediate starting need. Wasn’t like they needed to spend another $10-$15 million on a new starting CB, ILB, and OLB. Should get those guys in draft for cheaper, but needed that legit safety we still lack.
Did it ever occur to you that Byrd just might WANT to go to New Orleans? He is a human being, capable of making his own choices.
Where did I say he wasn’t a human being capable of making his own choices? If you mean to imply the Eagles gave a better offer but Byrd chose New Orleans anyway, I fail to see any evidence supporting your claim.
Not claiming anything. Just some comments seem to state that a player signed somewhere else because the Eagles didn’t throw enough money at him. I’m just saying that we don’t know what was going on behind the scenes and that Byrd chose the Saints for reasons we may never know. Maybe he just doesn’t like the weather in the Northeast or maybe he has relatives in Louisiana. Maybe he just likes Sean Payton or the DC.
Sure. He had 28 million reasons to go to New Orleans. Which human being wouldn’t!?
Coulda had Jenkins and ward easily or Jenkins and verner …. Their deals were peanuts compared to what everyone thought. Don’t think it was a good day to say the least. Neither Tj ward not verner got a lot of money. Both deals were extremely team and market friendly. I don’t get how we didn’t even talk to ward. And how do we let a 25 yr old probowl safety go to drinkin Tampa for a meesily 7 mil a year. We would rather pay Jenkins and Cary Williams??? Don’t get it at all. And Byrd did get asshole money which I am not complaining about from birds end
Man it’s not madden here, it looks like you are just thinking about talent (OVR of the player) Scheme fit, personnality, money,… it’s a complex world and that’s why it’s so beautiful
Verner and ward came cheap below market. That’s money. The talk that ward doesn’t fit our scheme is beyond sb and lazy. And personality?? Ward played for chip and Davis and both are on record saying he is a great guy. Yes I like talent. Sorry didn’t know this was about keeping the lead in the salary cap sweepstakes. No parade for that. Ask fat Andy and nickels banner
We also liked Nnamdi’s talent…… Just have to be careful I guess.
And we liked Jon Runyan. Stop playing scared
Not playing scared, both sides are valid to the argument.
They didn’t fit what the eagles do on D, Jenkins offer flexibility. Don’t forget we will soon need to extend the contract of the guys that led us to the playoffs this year, we don’t have that much of a room.
Were you the guy that called into WIP the other day calling Lurie cheap?
Just maybe those guys didn’t want to come to Philly.
Maybe guys like Byrd don’t like ridiculously irate fans.
There may be a reason Ward didn’t get much cash. If he was so good everyone would be clamoring for him. Maybe there is something we don’t know about him? Chin up, there still may be a surprise coming!!!
Or Howie whiffed and overpaid for Jenkins like he did for Cary Williams last year. Only saving grace is a Revis deal or Jordan trade at this point. Or somehow getting a third for graham
Do you not like what Howie is doing? I think he is doing pretty good so far these past couple years. That would be great to get a third for Graham.
No I loved what Howie was doing up until today. We don’t have the holes we had last year. We easily could’ve made a shit position like safety very good w a signing of ward or ward and Jenkins and we didn’t and now there is nothing left but second rate pkayers and aging pkayers. We didn’t need to do batting average all the way this offseason bc we have shittons of money, no bad contracts, and cap is ballooning up next three yrs. these deals like ward or verner or even vontae Davis were already easily paid for. One stud would have done nothing to our cap … The plan would still look the same just one great pkayer better. We missed an opportunity today .. And I am disappointed bc I had full faith in Howie … The contracts ward and verner got were so below market that it’s a missed opportunity
Good day so far, I would think— hoping they bring Nate Allen as depth, and add another draft pick. One question though, who plays special teams?
I do wonder if we go after Ware; between he and Cole, and (potentially) Barwin on the field in certain Nickel packages, pass rushing just got more interesting.
Should be a fun day tomorrow- hope prices go down while talent stays the same!!
Ware is headed out to Denver for visit, it seems unlikely he will land here.
Denver is putting together their “Dream Team”… they signed Talib too
Wait really?
O dear god. They are creating a monster!
So you know the Pats will go hard after Revis
Then we’ll have to go after Talib……. O wait 🙁
6-year deal worth $57 million
Oh wow..I just mentioned going after Talib like a hour ago too.
You jinxed us, good job!
Every CB that I mentioned hasn’t been signed by us!
STOP TALKING ABOUT THEM THEN!!!!!!!!!
Don’t worry we’ll sign Corey Graham.
Is he technically a safety or corner, cause if he is a corner we are screwed.
$26M gtd
Apparently they are tying to build a defense that can win before Peyton goes. Screw the cap. They only have 2 years at most. Then it will be 10 years rebuilding both sides of the ball.
Trade graham for a 4th, in the draft trade up in the first for 1st/3rd and the 4th you got with Graham to get Barr, in the 2nd Bucchanon and then use the rest of the picks to get depht/hidden gems in cb/Oline/DE. If you can’t trade up, I would say Pryor or Benjamin in the first then Attochu in the 2nd (not sure he will last that much though)
Nobody is going to give up a fourth for a player with 10.5 career sacks with one year left on his deal. Especially not in this draft. Best case is probably a sixth or a conditional 2015 fifth.
A 5th and a trip to Chuck E.Cheeses.
Man Graham is worth more than a sixth, we are talkin about a DE who always have nice impact on pass rush in the amounts of snaps played.
Graham only has a bull rush. He isn’t blazing by guys, he doesn’t have a counter that scares people.
I agree but the market for 4 3 DE is really thin so I think we are in a good position to have leverage, and a team might take a shot into the idea that graham could become the guy we thought he could have been whe we trade up for him
Trade up for Mack and I’ll forgive Howie for letting Verner slip away.
*insert more asinine rants here*
Rants rec.
In a rational way of thinking, if jenkins busts we didn’t invest too much in him, if he works out fine without being a big time talent, it’s ok that’s what we are paying him from, if he turns out to be a pro-bowl type, we win by far. If we had Byrd, yes we have more probabilities to have a pro bowl player playing a position of need but if he’s injured or doesn’t play to his potential we are talking about a move that impacts the whole franchise for year, risk and reward, only time will tell if we made the right move
I understand the idea of signing Jenkins for this defense; the whole fill multiple roles thing. With Byrd you kinda just get a guy who sits in the backfield waiting to pick off passes. Didn’t Tommy say he picked off a bunch of rookies?
Not to mention he got a much larger deal than Jenkins. Jenkins’ deal is peanuts in terms of cap space. Byrd’s is a guaranteed restructure in 2 years or cut in 3.
I can’t forget the quick shot of Byrd sitting on the sidelines at the Pro Bowl, with both legs drawn up, grimacing in pain, presumably from his feet.
He’s also one of those high character types that coaches love to have.
With Byrd’s deal he pretty much NEEDS to be an All-Pro for the next three years. It’s a huge investment.
#Chargers signed former #Colts RB Donald Brown to a 3-year deal, per @RapSheet
Even though he’s got a visit to Washington scheduled, I keep going back to Corey Graham for the Eagles at this point. I’ve seen a number of people comment that he could play safety. I can see them looking for a guy like him – someone to compete for a job but not necessarily be locked in. That way Wolff and/or a draft pick has a chance to beat him out.
Are we really trying to build a championship team? Are we even trying to get better. How could we ever beat a team like Denver.
The difference is Denver is enjoying a fun ride with one of the greatest and they need to cash in while he’s still playing, Eagles are not only trying to build a championship team but a dynasty a la Patriots.
I definitely prefer following the path of the pats or the packs (exactly what we are doing) rather than jump on any free agents available just because signing big time players show your willingness to win, we try the who has the biggest balls in FA, it’s not the way we’ll get it done.
when Denver got peyton they weren’t a player away. But they made moves in what was once a weak division. Every team is trying to get better, look at Cards and Chiefs, they were terrible, but now it’s one of the best divisions.
you don’t make sense in so far as you say denver wasn’t one player away from being good (sounds fair but it’s not just one player) and ending your sentence with the chiefs were terrible ( they were terrible on the results but the talent was there)
My point was when they got Peyton they weren’t a SB caliber team — they could have passed in lieu of “organic growth” but they got Peyton. Kubiak favored organic growth and then…
My point with Chiefs and Cards is that people are trying to get better. Our division was super weak last year but it won’t always be that way.
Denver won their division and got to the 2nd round of the playoffs with Tebow the year before Peyton got there. They were easily a SB contender just by adding Manning.
Made the playoffs b/c of that division, but ok. Same situation eagles aren’t going after Peyton.
I think Getting Peyton Manning is a little bit more than just getting any old player. no?
There was still some risk there, since he had that neck fusion surgery, but it certainly paid off big time.
We’re not going to make a run this year but in another year or two..watch out.
Peyton will be done and maybe Brady too. The Saints won’t have any cap room.Seattle won’t have the same defense anymore.The 49ers are pretty old and will be older.The Chiefs need to rebuild an entire offense. The rest of the NFC South will probably be our worst enemy.
So we’re going to draft 10x better than every other team? Those guys are drafting well too — notice they have FAs that people actually want to poach.
Well no. The point was that we’ll peak when the top 5 teams will start declining. Draft picks and no real issues aside that is.
Our players aren’t getting younger either. But i understand your point.
The team that wins the Super Bowl usually isn’t the team that is maxed out on winning now. The teams that have success are the teams that draft well, shore up holes in free agency and get hot at the right time. It’s not about being the team to beat for a couple of years. It about consistently getting to the playoffs and once there, lots of crazy stuff happens.
2 years ago seahawks had no pass rushers and no WR stud. What’d they do?
I’m not saying we needed to sign ever top FA available, but there were guys that would have made weaknesses strengths.
We brought in a fairly talented S to fill a hole, on a fair contract. The OLB market is bare, not much we could do there. Byrd got stupid money, Ward would’ve been nice but obviously the front office didn’t like scheme fit or Ward took a discount to play for Denver. Bethea and Whitner are both older players who got bigger deals, Delmas has knee issues, Clemons remains unsigned. Quite frankly I’m happy with what the Eagles did today. They found a good fit at a position of need and got him for a fair deal.
Got the best secondary in the NFL and an effective QB largely through serendipity, then committed to the running game because their receivers are still shit?
solidified pass rush and tried (in vein) to get a dynamic offensive weapon. Without the pass rush i think the SB game looks different (maybe the SF game too).
Top FA safeties left: 1. Chris Clemons 2. Nate Allen 3. Major Wright 4. Charles Woodson 5. Steve Gregory 6. Thomas DeCoud 7. Nate Collins 999. Patrick Chung
That mean Byrd signed? I haven’t checked anywhere else yet so I don’t know.
Saints
Just saw that…thanks. Denver selling their souls to the Devil…
DRC getting released
He’s a FA.
You’re right — not getting a new contract with the broncos.
Did not even know Major Wright was FA – I liked him in college, and he was playing quite well early in his career, what happened to him? I would still like to bring back Allen, who we know can be average in our system, and draft another safety. We then know that between Wolff, Allen, and a draft pick, we should have at least an average to above average starter to pair with Jenkins.
I really, really want Ware though. He is one year removed from being a force at ROLB in a 3-4, he would be a great addition. Also keen on Revis. Apart from them, don’t have any real target.
A couple Bears fans I know are hoping they can sign Nate Allen. So that might answer your question about Major Wright.
It sure does.
Who are these people that think scoring more points than the other team wins you games? Idiots must not know how football works. Psh.
Its weird but I swear it works, every game that I outscore the opponent I somehow win!
Jenkins a good pick up. He’s young and has upside. Fits with eagles philosophy. They didn’t break the bank and they believe they’re going to be able to make him better-> see chips emphasis on coaches ability to communicate and teach. How many articles this year said he hasn’t reached his potential? It’s a huge value. If they can make Nate Allen serviceable what can they do with this guy? Also, this is a high character guy and a guy described as loving football and getting better. I’m very happy. It’s only the greedy over fed with media part of my brain that laments. Byrd wasn’t a special circumstance they felt like breaking bank and rules for. I get feeling Revis won’t be either but maybe I’m wrong. I think they’re planning on having a team that completely gels in two-three years. Revis doesn’t fit that. Nor does his thirst for individual recognition.
Guys, what the hell?
Howard always seemed to have promise when he was here. Not really a good fit for the type of O-line play we currently use though.
All I remember is he didn’t seem to be able to stick even as a backup. And he clearly didn’t belong on the field when he got to play for the Jets was the last I heard of him there. He could have improved when I wasn’t looking, but wow.
He was a nice backup guy with upside his first year. He was from Northern Iowa (good FCS school) and needed some seasoning. He showed up really out of shape the year Mudd took over and got himself cut because of it. Jets were desperate at OT so he was forced to start earlier than he probably should have.
I think though that it was Mudd who needed his OTs to be more athletic; Howard is just not that guy. Howard is all strength/power.
Per Tommy from August 2011
“* Austin Howard is the #1 RT as of tonight. That might change on Friday
when Ryan Harris is eligible to practice. I was actually encouraged by
watching Howard. He has the ability to play in Mudd’s system. Howard
is too heavy right now and that’s something he’s working on. The
lockout didn’t do him any favors. Howard did a good job of sliding out
to pick up pass rushers. That tells you he grasps the system and has
the ability to do it. Now he’s got to improve. He was better in the
drills than in the live periods. Howard was up and down when it was
11-on-11. I do think he’s got a shot to be the starting RT if he gets
in better shape and keeps improving on the field.”
Damn, OK. I remember he had the talent, I guess I just didn’t give that enough weight when I saw that tweet.
Still think now eagles playing with scared money since 2011 dream team scared to spend money offense is ready sure up defense and your a contender give Billy Davis something to work with if trying to win how u let so many good defensive players go Billy said please just a couple to work with
Huh?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… free agency especially on day one of the league year is one of the least efficient ways of acquiring talent. More often than not the expensive investments are not worth it. In some cases disastrous.
It’s something like throwing money into a slot machine. Not a great investment. Occasionally you win, on a rare occasion you win big. Keep doing it a lot and you will lose. More things go wrong than go right.
From Walter Football.
Not saying I agree but the analogy is hilarious. I’m surprised though that the general feeling seems to be that we really upgraded with Jenkins and that nobody has pointed out the PFF Ratings for 2013.
Chung -7.0
Jenkins -6.0
Allen -2.7
The general opinion is Jenkins is a huge upgrade over Nate Allen but is that really true? Or is it a product of our biased belief that anybody is better than Allen and the fact that no Eagles fan has watched as much Jenkins film as they have Allen film?
We had a problem with Allen’s tackling but Malcolm Jenkins has missed 45 tackles in the last 3 seasons, most of any safety in the NFL. Jenkins has missed more than 1 tackle per game over his entire career!
Jenkins also gave up the second most receiving yards of all saefties last year. A lot can be attributed to how bad the Saints were on defense but some of that has got to fall on his coverage ability.
I like Jenkins’ potential but Allen had potential as well. I never thought I’d say it but I hope they bring back Nate Allen to at least compete because if they go into the draft with just Jenkins, Wolff, Coleman and maybe a new journeyman FA then S will be a need position they will have to fill early in the draft.
Well I think PFF is a joke. They have Ryans as the 2nd worst ILB/MLB in football last year.
I think PFF can be one useful tool for evaluating a guy, but nothing more than that. Definitely not the end-all be-all.
yea, but people treat PFF like they are real scouts. People forget grades are always subjective.
I have often seen Tommy’s DGR where he likes a guys play in a game and then PFF just trashes him. I tend to trust Tommy the most as he is watching with a scouts eye
The methodology of PFF, where each play is graded seperately, and the results added up and averaged out as if every play is equal to every other play, might not be the best way to evaluate and compare players. I can’t get around that some plays really matter a lot more than others. If a safety gives up 2 10 yard gains and then gets a pick six, PFF would penalize him for two bad plays and give him credit for one good play; but the net result is that the defensive team scored and the offensive team did not.
Nothing against John but I think seeing him ask “Do blocks offset MTs?” supports your argument.
John Breitenbach @PFF_John
Bryan Braman is another STer who can’t tackle. 8 made in 13, 7 missed. What was wrong with Colt Anderson?
BleedingGreenNation @BleedingGreen
@PFF_John I’m seeing that he made 16 ST tackles and blocked 2 punts in ’13
John Breitenbach @PFF_John
@BleedingGreen Do blocks offset MTs? Are they NFL tackle stats?
I guess their selling point is just that outside of watching the tape, PFF is probably as good as we can get when judging a player that we rarely play against and who is mostly out of the frame on the broadcasts which sounds like the analytics version of our “at least he’s better than Chung”…
Thats true. Alot of times I wonder how they end up rating some players so high or low. Like I said I’m not putting too much faith in the PFF ratings but just throwing them out there for the discussion.
But missed tackles are pretty black and white. And thats not a very encouraging stat even if Safeties generally do lead the league in that category.
They are off sometimes, but in this case, we are essentially getting the Nate Allen of the Saints.
I do agree a little. Allen, even though I think he’s on the wrong side of the average bar, did show a good play or two last year to give hope. Speaking of hope — different coach/scenery/scheme — maybe Jenkins can thrive. A wish and a prayer. It’s a stretch but very few of us wanted to see Foles. Majority said Foles isn’t a fit and he thrived(for 1 season at least).
If the Saints have to cut Broderick Bunkley in order to fit Byrd under the cap, any interest in bringing him in as a backup NT if he’s cheap?
I was shocked at how fast the safeties came off the board today. Teams are putting a high priority on safeties these days. They came off the board faster than Off and Def linemen.
They were the strongest position in an otherwise weak FA class
I think if the left tackles went even more quickly.
I wonder if anyone thought that the idea of all these safeties getting picked up so fast means that there’s a better chance of Ha Ha or Pryor sliding to us. Though I would much rather prefer Barr dropping.
I think the way free agency started with teams loading up on defense means one thing, The draft is stacked with talent on the offensive side, especially WRs so it could mean some great defensive prospect will slide but it’s also revealing that it will be hard for us to get one of the good prospect such as benjamins or cooks
I don’t read it as anything about the draft, I just think it just means FREE AGENCY is weak on offensive talent. I mean, who are the must have skill players? Josh McCown, Rashad Jennings, Eric Decker, Hakeem Nicks? Please, that’s weak as water. The only good offensive players were the tackles, and the big names all got snapped up today: Veldheer, Monroe, Albert.
I’d really like to get Ware, if only to piss off Jerruh, but it seems like Ware is headed to the AFC West.
https://twitter.com/adamschefter/status/443703633696530432
Denver
Yep. And with “Peyton chokes in big games” jokes aside, that’s a good team to go to if you want to win a championship.
So far — after day 1 — we’re no better off…let’s see what today brings…yesterday was a dud as far as excitement goes.
Eagles signed a backup safety/ST’er from the Seahawks
Maragos deal, per source: Slightly more than $4M over 3 years, $1M guaranteed. Can max out at $5.3M