Looking for a LB
Posted: April 10th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 61 Comments »Bob Grotz reported that the Eagles did try to deal for OLB Dion Jordan. We’ve speculated about this quite a bit, but this is the first time anyone has reported that it actually happened.
Grotz says the Eagles made an offer for Jordan 2 months ago. The offer was a 2nd round pick and Brandon Graham, which is something we’ve mentioned as potential compensation. It would give Miami a young pass rusher to add to the mix and another pick in a deep draft. The Eagles could use an OLB with the size and athleticism of Jordan.
It doesn’t sound like this is going to happen. Miami would take a major cap hit if the deal happened before June 1st. I don’t know if they can work the trade around that date. You also wonder if they worry about the public relations fallout of dealing the #3 overall pick just a year after drafting him.
I hope Howie continues talking to the Dolphins. This deal does really make sense for both sides. Miami is a 4-3 team with a pair of good DEs in Cam Wake and Olivier Vernon. If they had any idea how good Vernon would turn out, they’d have never dealt up for Jordan last year. Miami still needs OL help, among other things. Adding another pick could really help them.
Dealing for Jordan would be a terrific move, even if it seems like a long shot at this point.
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If you need to know anything about Jordan and his rookie season in Miami, the guys at ChipWagon have a great post that covers everything you would want to know, aside from what color underwear he wears on Tuesdays.
I’m guessing it is something unusual.
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If the Eagles miss on adding a LB early on, there will be late round players to target. Here’s one.
Larry Webster upcoming visits include Philadelphia Eagles, NY Jets, NY Giants…San Diego Chargers a visit/workout combo for Webster…
— Tony Pauline (@TonyPauline) April 10, 2014
Webster is a developmental project, but he has NFL potential.
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The Eagles have been checking out other OLB prospects. They are interested in all kinds of sizes, skill sets and backgrounds. The key is that they are trying to find a good pass rusher.
I like the fact they are being creative in trying to find a LB. They’ve worked out guys from the 4-3, 3-4 and 3-3-5. They are looking at someone like Dee Ford (6-2, 252) as well as Will Clarke (6-6, 270). We don’t know if the Eagles will find the answer at ROLB, but they are doing everything they can to try and and find the right guy.
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There is still plenty of time to trade for Jordan. On draft day the price can get a lot cheaper than a #1. Glad to see they are at least, exploring all options.
then i’d just hold on to him if i’m the fins. Getting no value for the 2015 season. same offers will still be there after the season.
I agree that I wouldn’t do that deal if I’m the dolphins, but I think the compensation for trading for Jordan goes down the longer he’s with them. Fewer years left to FA, longer time out of the 3-4 (the better system for him), just general aging, etc. So if MIA doesn’t really care about the cap hit (an unlikely assumption), their best compensation probably comes before the 2014 training camp gets too far along.
Of course if Jordan gets hurt–his value goes down to nothing.
If they couldn’t trade Brandon Graham it’s pretty clear the only thing to do is cut him.
I hear NJ dot com is set to release a piece showing Graham disrupted the locker room using a Teddy Ruxpin doll that he modified with an mp3 player to say messages he recorded. The plush bear would make hateful comments in the locker room, degrading statements in meetings, and harassing messages in the shower room. Apparently, he referred to them as Teddy-grams.
TMZ exclusice in 3…2..
Who said they can’t trade Graham? Miami doesn’t need any DE pass rushers. That’s why Jordan didn’t play much. Why should Miami trade for another guy to sit on the bench.
I heard he has ties to the Yakuza
Naw, man, Graham’s a dark-skinned Latino…he’s Mexican Mafia all the way…
Graham and 22 would be a great deal for us. Plus the salary cap stuff would be fine because Miami already paid so much bonus. Since Miami needs the trade to happen after June 1, I wonder if we could make Miami’s pick for them and trade that player plus Graham after June 1.
I’m not sure this stuff happens, but I’ll be curious if we end up drafting an OL early. Older OL depth or Dion fodder?
I wonder if they would make a deal after the draft.
Follow up: Also, in talking with teams, I get the impression that early picks are preferred to late picks.
What I never see when analyzing a potential trade is the fact Jordan is under a rookie contract for 3 more years, but graham is going into his last controlled year. that’s a big problem.
will there ever be another h2h show? best eagles.podcast I ever found, and no episodes.since January. sigh.
Tried to record one Monday, but Jimmy had something come up. Hoping to do one this weekend.
who’s that jimmy thou talketh aboot ??
Kempski. @Philly.com. First link in Tommy’s Blog Roll.
haha. you are a prince.
i know who jimmy is, thank goodness for my nfl sanity. i was just being idiotic and goofy.
I looked at the name/avatar before responding and didn’t recognize it (you). If it had been someone like GEAGLE or Media Mike, I would’ve recognized it for what it was. But yes, I AM a prince.
shhhh. i’m thomas’ and james’ biggest fan. but i’m here incognito. has my moustache come unglued ?
What could possibly be more important than my desire for more informed Eagles talk? Was he travelling with Doctors without Boarders? Tell them to wait.
Grotz’s article would be consistent with La Canfora’s report in late Feb that the Dolphins were shopping Jordan, as well as Wake and Wallace, which was subsequently denied by a Dolphins source. If so, the Dolphins would obviously have known about the dead cap space then and probably would have been willing to eat that if the price was high enough. Interesting that only the Eagles were mentioned in the Grotz article.
Given that the Dolphins pick at #19, you’d wonder if the Eagles at #22 would even help the Dolphins much if they’re targeting a tackle in Rd 1. It looks unlikely to me to happen on draft day with the picks so close together, but you never know. After June 1st for a 2015 pick would be awesome though.
If they wanted to Eagles could do something. Evan Mathis, Todd Herremans, Allen Barbre? It’s clear Fins need OL, they seem to have plenty of DEs – of course they don’t want Graham to fill out the bottom of their depth chart given what they did to get Jordan.
I like the way you think. Conspiracy theory alert: Maybe that was why Mathis was on the trading block? ( too see if miami would bite)
For Dolphins, would make no sense from a long-term perspective, but the NFL is called “not for long” for a reason, especially when the new GM is on a 2-year contract.
those guys would be in addition to a mid round pick. dolphins dont want to play 34 i don’t get it.
I hear you, there should be a way to make this work for both sides.
I still have serious doubts about how legitimate this is from the Miami end. I don’t doubt the dabbled in taking some offers, but I don’t know if they’re seriously considering moving Jordan after a year. I’m happy the Eagles inquired, but I’m not going above that level of offer if I’m them. In fact if Miami said no to that deal, I’d reply with; “My offer to you is nothing….” Godfather 2 style.
OLB is such a huge need for this team. Having a guy who will leave RGKnee, Romo, and Eli in a twisted pile of broken bones, snapped tendons, and shredded ligaments is a must!
Would Adrian Hubbard be a possibility later in the draft 3rd or 4th?
Miami still needs OL help
Here’s the master plan: the Eagles draft LDT and trade him to the Dolphins after 1 June. I heard Miami seems to like Canadian O linemen…
if we’re short on pics – would trading one of our pics be worth it? I wonder why he fell out of favor in Miami. I’m sure players names get thrown around a lot in nfl circles. You never know which is smoke leading to the real fire. After the DJ thing, never say never…
Make the trade after June first using 2015 draft picks?
You do that so that Miami can spread the cap hit on his salary over two seasons: 2014-2015. If we give up a 2015 pick, we have time to trade somewhere to get a pick back.
I’m thinking that if we load up on talent in this year’s deep draft, giving up a pick that SHOULD be in the 20’s next year isn’t a bad pill to swallow. The question is really what is Graham’s value?
People will argue that he’s on the last year of his rookie deal so teams may not want to trade for him. I’d imagine he’d be pretty easy and inexpensive to extend and a trade could be contingent on him signing a contract with his new team.
Please no!
LOL. Which part?
Making the trade. I am the one anti-Jordan guy :D.
Ah, I gotcha. I liked him coming out last year but he’s lost some of his luster to me. I could go either way with him but I definitely wouldn’t want to give up a 1st rounder THIS year.
T-law:
Miami could trade Jordan before the draft and still spread his remaining bonus over two seasons.
The CBA allows each team to designate up to two players per year as a June 1 cut for cap purposes prior to June 1. It’s the one concession that was given to the players as it allows a player to be cut in March and have time to explore free agency but have his cap hit spread out over two seasons, thus creating more cap space for his former team.
I don’t think Miami has made such a designation yet this off-season.
Have you been able to confirm that this applies to a trade scenario? I tried finding answers on it on articles/website but was too lazy to look in the CBA.
Just spitballin’, but I would think that the Eagles would be the team willing to give the most for Jordan going forward, given his familiarity with Kelly and his methods. Not sure how many other teams are as desperate for 3-4 OLB, and are willing to expend significant assets for a highly talented, but raw, guy who spent last year in a 4-3 NFL system and wasn’t super productive (I know Chip Wagon said he played well, but the fact is still that he didn’t produce in the NFL yet). Big trades don’t often happen in the NFL for exactly those sorts of reasons. Those rookie contract years are *very* valuable when evaluating young players.
I probably don’t make the rumored deal if I’m MIA, but you have to at least consider it, given that I’m not sure there’s going to be many suitors willing to give even that much, if you really think that Jordan doesn’t fit into your long-term plans.
He could probably be a good RZ WR threat for them. They must see the value in that.
What if we trade out of the first round and end up with a high 2nd and 4th round pick (or something along those lines) and then Miami trades for our newly acquired high 2nd round pick?
Bah, I should just stick with my original hypothesis… it’s just not gonna happen.
Along similar lines, we could cut out the middle man and trade our first for Dion and their fourth. I wonder if they would be willing to throw in an e for his name.
For the draftniks out there: Just for fun (because we all know that trade ship doesn’t even float, let alone sail), where would you rank Jordan among this year’s OLB bunch?
Mack, Dion, Barr, Mingo, only because Mack has the highest floor of the group.
Man it was such a crap year to have the #4 pick
If Clowney, Mack and Watkins are gone 1, 2, 3, being #4 this year doesn’t seem that much better. You’d basically get Greg Robinson, who is this year’s Lane Johnson.
I think Robinson is probably better than Lane, but point stands.
Barr, Evans, Matthews would all be interesting.
With the 4th pick in the 2014 NFL draft..the Philadelphia Eagles select Johnny Manziel.
Lane Johnson looks like he will at least be a book end tackle here for a very long time. Considering all of the crap people get at the top of the draft on an annual basis (like Jordan), I am ecstatic with our year at #4.
If Johnson just turns out to be a ‘run-of-the-mill’ starter at LT/RT, then it was a disappointment if not a bust.
He was ‘okay’ last year but has a long ways to go in pass protection especially blitz pickup and movement at the line.
Well first of all I guess “run-of-the-mill” is fairly vague. If he ends up being the 12th best tackle in football for 10+ years in philly, I don’t think that could be considered a disappointment or a bust in a draft that, by all accounts, was light at the top. Of course you may not feel that way.
Next I will take the time to remind you that Johnson was thought of as a bit of a project, with the ability to have a very high ceiling. So, if Johnson has shown us his floor, I think we should be even more excited with what he will develop into.
I only get even more excited when I compare his season to Eric Fisher and Luke Joeckle. Those two guys are considered to be sure things. “Blue chippers” if you will. Johnson graded out MUCH higher than both of them according to PFF. Then if you want to over simplify the areas of concern for tackles; pass blocking is all about technique, and run blocking is all about “want to”. Then taking note of Johnson’s steady progress as the season went on; I think it is very easy to assume that our guy is trending upward and looks very promising.
I was dumbfounded when Miami passed on Johnson. I thought for sure they jumped past us to take him. I think we got the best player in that class.
Behind Mack. He would have been at least top 20 pick this year. On a different topic, there was this article on NFL.com ripping Ebron and this year’s TE class. I don’t see Ertz being better than Ebron to be honest.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000338148/article/nfl-executive-blasts-eric-ebron-entire-te-draft-class
Do we have the benefit of hindsight? Weighing how awful he looked in 2013, I wouldn’t take him until round 4 or 5.
McShay’s latest mock has Barr going 36. That would be a nice option at 22
I wonder if Bryce Brown & our 2nd rounder would get it done. We don’t have many positions of strength, but RB is one, and Dolphins aren’t exactly in great position there.
Oh thank God Miami is run by baboons. I will begin sweating again in early June.