Bye Bye Benn
Posted: May 16th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 80 Comments »The Eagles cut WR Arrelious Benn today. He seemed like such a good acquisition last spring, but he got hurt and never got a chance to really show what he could do.
The Eagles have enough depth at WR that Benn is a luxury and not a necessity. The team has Maclin, Cooper, Matthews and Huff as the top group of receivers. Brad Smith is a quality veteran that is still in the mix. Damaris Johnson still has a chance to contribute. Jeff Maehl can be an effective role player. BJ Cunningham is a player the team still has some hope for. I think UDFA Kadron Boone could be a player to watch.
I’ll write more about the position in a longer post. This will be a very interesting position. And you do have to factor in the presence of Darren Sproles whenever you think of the passing game. He will be in the slot more than once or twice.
There is another possiblity. Jeff McLane noted that Benn was due $1.1M in salary and McLane thinks he could possibly return for less money.
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The Eagles got a bit of a break with the news that Colts pass rusher Robert Mathis would be suspended for the opening 4 games of the regular season. The Eagles are scheduled to play the Colts in Week 2. That game is in Indy, where Mathis is deadly off the edge.
The suspension is highly controversial. Read this for more info. I can understand both sides, but the league doesn’t come off looking good when you read the story. We’ll see if anything changes.
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OL Darryn Colledge left Philly without a contract. The Eagles want to improve their depth, but they don’t feel desperate. They’re not going to overpay for help. And Colledge may want to test the waters to see if he can find a spot where he’s got a chance to start. I’m sure he is still wanting to play and not just get paid.
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I haven’t written much about Alejandro Villanueva since the Eagles signed him. He is 6-9, 277 and will play DE. I remember him at Army when he was a gigantic WR. He was an interesting college player.
Villanueva served in the army and is now looking to pursue his football career. He came to the right place if he’s looking for an open-minded team that likes big, athletic guys.
Think of him as a major longshot, but a guy to pull for and someone that should be interesting to watch.
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Have a little fun at Tony Romo’s expense.
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Rookies were introduced to media
I reallllly have to pull for Villanueva. If this doesn’t work out he’s said he’s going back into the service, definitely don’t need another Pat Tillman because we cut the ranger from the squad.
He has other options. Volunteering for a third time to go into another country and get into “combat” gives one pause, considering that most folks who have been there would do almost anything to never have to go back. Of course, there are people who are comfortable in the military, knowing the structure and their place in it.
It’s complicated for a lot of them. The adrenaline of combat tends to take the shine off of state-side life. State-side is so insulated from all the crap they’ve seen and know about (what it’s really like). There is a trauma and terror that haunts them, but a strange draw that beckons them back (some describe it as the only way they feel alive). Factor in the only people that could ever understand them are their brothers in arms, they miss that camaraderie. Anywho a lot of them feel like the front lines is the only place that they belong, and would really struggle to do anything else contently.
I really want this to work out for this guy because football is the absolute perfect step-down towards civilian life. It has the adrenaline, that intense focus and efforts to pour everything you got into. And it has the camaraderie.
sounds like a great guy, but it looks to me like he needs to add 25-30 lbs of muscle to his 6’9″ frame to seriously challenge for a spot on the 53, even if he learns to play what for him is a new position; his current build seems more suited to TE; his frame reminds me of Kruger last yr [6’6″, 269 lbs]
You’re absolutely right. He likely needs at least a year with our trainers. They basically have to rebuild him, right now he’s been optimized to operate with freakish endurance to last weeks in the field. We need to focus more on packing on the pounds, maximize strength and explosion to last more to the tune of 2 hours rather than 2 weeks.
Sounds like he needs to suffer a phantom injury and head to IR, which is probably his best shot to make the eagles
The Kruger treatment. I’m excited to see how the year has treated him by the way. Can’t wait to see what he’s got.
Oh I’m SOOO excited about him. Thought there world of his potential.. Whenever talking about him last year, I would mention that when Utah’s defense had the offense backed up to the one yard line, you could just see Kruger turn it up and go make a play in the ENDZONE..funny that he mentioned that in his eagles video on PE the other day,.he mentioned how he lives for those times when the defense is backed up, and I think it’s clearly evident in his Utah film…
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Kruger is up to 290. He can be what Hart will be in the run game, only Kruger is more explosive and can provide much more pass rush than hart. very excited about Kruger and I think he will open plenty of eyes in camp this year,
Was I seeing things or did Marcus Smith add a ‘II’ to the end of his name?
Maybe it is to remind himself of all the experts that said he should have been drafted in the second round. Or, maybe his Dad has the same name.
He his Marcus Smith II
Just doesn’t look right to me.
Funny that this reach, Marcus smith, said he was under the impression the Carfinals were going to draft him with the 27th I pick, which coincides with Howie not wanting to trade too far back to miss on him…..all the hacks who called it a reach and riled up the fanbase to crap all over the kid who just realized a dream should be unemployed.
I thought only Eagles players whose last name was Thomas were allowed to make changes.
I have not read the story but what ever it is, the NFL has a zero tolerance policy and they can’t just break it now or it starts an avalanche
Agreed. It sounds like a pretty heart-warming story (fertility drugs to have another child while his cancer-fighting mother is still around), but he should have found another drug, or sought an exception BEFORE taking them.
Clomid “could” be taken as a fertility drug for males, but it’s much more common use is to block the body from producing extra estrogen which is produced to keep up with the extra testosterone the body has in it……
Yup…this exception would open pamdoras box of grey area…rather not go down that rabbit hole…
I’m not buying Mathis’s story here, and if you browse through the comments on that story (I know, always an adventure!) you’ll see that most people aren’t buying it either. Apparently he’s a repeat offender, and he’s an older player that all of a sudden had a huge uptick in production.
In general I don’t side with the players on these issues. He was in the league for the whole Star Caps debacle, he knows how serious the league is about it banned substances. It is his responsibility, even if his story IS true.
Btw, that was my first comment on your site, but I’ve been reading and appreciating your work for at least five years now Tommy. I wish the H2H shows were more regular though.
Yeah, sounds fishy to me too.
Thanks for commenting, Dave.
Jimmy and I want the shows to be more regular.
Tommy, start taking your own PED (that is, PBR) it that’s what it takes to.do more H2H. We can look the other way.
Apparently though Mathis’s mother has cancer and so they wanted to give her another grandchild. This also isn’t a new thing. From what I saw on twitter, Mathis’s sons’ were conceived via in vitro fertilization, but his wife has since suffered from medical issues that make that no longer possible.
It’s also different from the Star Caps debacle because it wasn’t him taking an over the counter weight loss pill. He was using it for a specific medical purpose and his fertility Dr. signed affidavits attesting to that. I’m willing to bet a medical professional, who isn’t in sports medicine isn’t going to risk perjury charges over this.
The point wasn’t to compare this situation to Star Caps, but to illustrate that a veteran who has been around as long as Mathis has should know how serious the league is about this type of thing and checked into the drug and/or sought an exemption (before instead of after failing a test).
This is all assuming that the story is true. Like I said, from what I read he is a repeat offender in the substance abuse program. Please correct me if I am wrong about that.
I mean he knows he messed up but at the same time I can’t fault the guy. He asked the prescribing physician who told him no. He then decided that quite frankly it wasn’t the league’s offices business, it’s a pretty personal matter and while I understand the NFL is a different beast, I don’t know that I would feel comfortable reporting something like that to an employer.
He couldn’t be a repeat offender. First time offenders get 4 games. Second time offenders get 8.
http://images.nflplayers.com/mediaResources/files/PDFs/PlayerDevelopment/2010%20Steroid%20Policy.pdf
“I don’t know that I would feel comfortable reporting something like that to an employer.”
A normal employer do not suspend you for taking a fertility drug, the NFL does.
If I was an NFL or college player, I would never take anything unless I had asked first.
See I guess this is where my feelings stem from. Having been a college football player and subject to drug testing, I don’t have warm fuzzy feelings towards it. The NCAA’s list of banned substances is incredibly long, and to be honest most of the stuff at GNC has something in it that will make you pop positive. In other words all of D3 football would probably fail a drug test if they did them during the offseason lifting program and not in November during the playoffs.
I just don’t think the rules here are laid out in a vague way by the NFL. The rules are very clear and to me, the best case scenario is that Mathis was negligent in taking a banned substance, but that still should have the consequence of a 4 game suspension. At worst though , Mathis knowingly took a banned substance as is using the guise of needing it for fertility purposes in order to gain PR points. While Id love to believe the first is true, by not discussing it with the NFL and getting permission beforehand to use it, Mathis still deserves to be suspended. The PED policy can’t be turned into, “You are suspended for four games for taking any banned substances… Unless you can come up with a good excuse why you were taking them.” That would just incentivize players to develop good back stories for their PED use rather than limit the use altogether.
Plenty of crooked doctors out there… I wouldn’t make that bet if I were you.
I’m also working from the perspective that I think he genuinely was doing this for medical purposes. Taking that into account, I feel confident a multi millionaire wasn’t going to doctor feelgood for something he would consider to be important.
Whether he knew it or not he was in the wrong according to the employer he works for. I know if I claim ignorance for a violation at the workplace I will be figuratively laughed at.
His argument has zero relevance to the issue. Just trying to gain sympathy.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/17/nfl-responds-to-agents-statement-regarding-robert-mathis/
Surely if this was the case, it would be his wife taking the drugs. Unless he has a very low sperm count and there are ways to deal with that issue, besides some artificial testosterone supplement. AND if his sperm count is the problem why wasn’t it noted with the previous children?
His wife had a medical condition preventing her from taking them.
http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2014/05/16/indianapolis-colts-robert-mathis-suspended-performance-enhancing-drugs/9187069/
Thanks for the reference. Mathis’ story could very well be true, except… he took “briefly” in January and his wife became pregnant immediately? Very fortunate, It usually takes several months, at least. Especially with a wife with a medical condition. Also, the previous children were born since he has been in the league. And, finally, if she took the fertility drugs before, why would he have to take them now? Does she have a problem with ovulation AND he have a low sperm count? Just all a bit odd.
All the details aren’t totally clear but apparently the first two kids were via in vitro, according to some of the indy beat writers, but it wasn’t viable this time, for some reason.
“The drug for which Mr. Mathis tested positive is not approved by the FDA for fertility in males and is a performance-enhancing drug that has been prohibited for years. ”
This part from the PFT article is pretty bad for Mathis, if its not even a fertility drug for men
Irrelevant. Know the rules or ask before taking it.
Literally took me 3 seconds to google and find out it’s a banned substance… No excuse
Go thru the proper chanels, get it approved by the league, and then this wouldn’t be an issue…we don’t need grey area emerging in the PED system…get an exception beforehand, or shut up and take the suspension…does the fact that he has to sit out when he plays the birds factor into my opinion? Probably lol, but so what? This is an eagles blog..F the colts!
By the way, I see where Michael Sam’s OWN show was called off, so while it is now accepted in the NFL to be gay, being a reality TV star is just unacceptable.
Unless you’re on Hard Knocks and the league can monetize your story themselves.
Only the dysfunctional franchises really want to be involved in that mess though. I think most well run organizations don’t want any of the extra baggage that comes with something like that, and I can see why the Rams would like Sam to be totally focused on football.
Oh I wholeheartedly agree, the extra attention would have been a negative both to Sam and the team. I just find it highly hypocritical for people in league circles to say “he’s a seventh round prospect fighting for his life, and doesn’t need the distraction” and then turn around and make 80% of Hard Knocks about those exact kinds of players.
True…but the NFL built it’s way up to this status..wanna make money off the NFL, then pay the licensing fees..it’s Not like oprahs pockets arent deep enough to pay the licensing
They have made it so that if you miss the play offs for 2 or 3 straight seasons, you can be mandated by the NFL to be on.
Think I saw something that indicated the Rams were not happy about a rookie being distracted by such crap. Same with Cleveland restricting media access to their players right now.
I’m tired of him already. Doubt he makes the rams, with that DL..be lucky to latch on with another team.. First he wanted to be known as just a football player, then he had ESPN cameras in his home, kissing his boyfriend when he got drafted(fine by me, but don’t show it to the world and then talk about how you just want to be known for football)..then this 7th round LONGSHOT sets up a documentary with friggin opera? Lucky you canceled it, because that documentary wouldn’t look so great when the rams inevitably cut him..
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He knows it’s just NOT about football with him, so either you don’t instigate the gay player side of it, or you stop acting like it’s just about football, because 7th round picks who will probably get cut, don’t have documentaries…and it’s SOOO not fair to the Rams. If they deem him not good enough and want to cut him, they will have a legion of people on their ass questioning why he was cut…glad he canceled that joke of an opera side show..put your head down, and go fight to make a roster..make a roster, and then you can start with the extra ish
I don’t have strong feelings, since I don’t watch TV outside of football season, but for the sake of debate, consider how nice it would be today to have footage from a crew that followed Jackie Robinson around during his ground breaking days.
Sam isn’t as good, and might not make it to his first regular season with a team. Perhaps he realizes this and is trying to use his opportunity to raise awareness?
If he was Clowney, comfortable that he will have a job still in 3 months, by all means use your platform to raise awareness, make movies, music videos, do whatever the hell you want….Sam just doesn’t have the talent to worry about anything besides fighting for his NFL life right now…he will look bad compared to the rest of the Rams DL, and he has very little experience on ST…if I’m Micheal Sam and my dREAM is hanging in the balance, I’m moving into the special teams coaches guest room, and I’m not thinking about anything and anyone but improving enough on special teams to hang on to my dream…
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Jackie was amazing, sure it would have been awesome to document that, but he could afford to worry about other people…Sam is no good to the gay community, if this all disappears in 3 months and he is just a Cliff note in a history book…and with this type of spotlight, it’s not fair to the rams..if they cut him, because he isn’t one of the best 53 players, and the gay community starts screaming bloody murder, than they aren’t furthering their cause,..they will get the TEBOW scarlet letter where teams just won’t want to deal with the insane amount of outside crap, for a replaceable talent, making it harder for the next gay player trying to fullfill his dream, instead of helping the cause of equality which is supposed to be the point.. You aren’t equal if a team can’t cut you because they are worried about the backlash from Christian fans, or gay community, the national organization of aliens or whatever group trying to become more accepted in the NFL… You have to be worth the headache….and I don’t see the talent, with the DL talent the rams have to be worth the headache, so how could making more noise with a documentary be a good idea for him? Wanna have an NFL career or make the most of your 15 minutes of fame?…..
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That’s fair, I see where you are coming from. I just wonder if he is thinking that he might only get 15 minutes as a pro football player but he is going to be gay the rest of his life and he doesn’t want to live the rest of his life wondering what he could have accomplished if he pulled back the curtain on the challenges he faces.
I think you are minimizing what Robinson faced. Despite being far more talented, his odds were slimmer than Sam’s. I am not aware of Sam getting any death threats or the Rams facing hatred and ostrification from a large segment of society.
True..I’m 32yrs old, and never enjoyed baseball so I’m probably not qualified to offer any opinion worth a damn on the subject so you are probably right…..
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I think Sam has pulled back the curtain enough..if I were him, I’d leave the crusade alone for the next 3 months and just focus on Sam fighting to live out his dream. If he gets cut, there will be tons of spotlight available for him to try and help further the cause for future gay players, but if I’m him and given the shot of a lifetime at my dream life, I’d probably take a timeout from crusading and just focus on camp…whether he make the team or not, the spotlight will still be there and he can do what he wants with those last 15minutes of fame he gets…but he probably can do more for the cause if he actually makes the roster…I mean, I don’t even get what a documentary can film…what would you get out of following Jordan Mathews around right now if you can’t film him at Novacare? Kid probably gets there at 7am, leaves at 8pm, goes home, watches more film, and gets his sleep…and if Sam is committed than his life right now probably won’t be much more exciting than Jordan Mathews who is a 2nd round pick and already projected to start… If Sam is doing everything in his power to make the Rams, than there is nothing to even film right now..
All very true. Hopefully someone close to him is giving him the same advice. I was just trying to put myself in the shoes of someone who faces constant reminders of the fact that he doesn’t fit the culture he desperately wants to remain a part of. It would be hard to be as rational as your advice.
He is fortunate that even when he is cut, it will come with another 15 minutes of fame, where as most players get cut and aren’t heard from again. I like the kid, and I’m rooting for him..just thought he was getting some bad advice, and if you saw his agent go on ESPN and lie about the NFL being OK with this prior to the draft, it just didn’t sit right with me..think too much is being put on him as this crusader, and he should take two months and be selfish for his own dream, especially since making this rams roster with horrible odds staked against him is probably the most he could ever do for the cause, bigger than any documentary or interview..
In the early 1980s I was in a rock band traveling around playing nightclubs in different towns (I was the keyboard player) and we had a black bass player and drummer. In most places, the metro areas, the shore towns, this was never an issue, after all this was way after the 60s and a lot of changes had already been made, and especially in music there was nothing remarkable about this at the time.
However, there were a couple of small towns that we stopped in and played where we had to get out of town quickly because of threats to the black guys in the band. And I mean middle-of-the-night quickly.
I can’t help but think that there are similarly backward places that would be dangerous for an openly gay football player.
Was Eugene S Robinson the black guy in your metal band? Love that maniac. Smart cat
Our drummer’s last name was, in fact, Robinson, but that’s just a coincidence.
His chances aren’t that bad, actually. The first three DE spots are set, but his competition for the 4th DE spot is not really that talented. But Sam isn’t, either, and you are right, he has to fight for his football life.
I’m rooting for the kid. Really am. But if he happens to be the 5th or 6th best DE on the Rams roster after TC, he will get cut and rightfully so.
I don’t find the suspension of Mathis controversial what-so-ever. Relatively speaking, the NFL has a very relaxed PED policy. The drug Mathis is ADMITTING to taking is on the list of drugs that are not approved and he got caught. He also ADMITTED to not getting anything preapproved with doctors or the NFL. The NFL caught him and did exactly what they should have done by suspending him for four games. The fact that he asked Goodell to lift his suspension is silly in my opinion. Doing that would completely undermine the entire PED policy and destroy the NFL’s credibility when it comes to PEDs. And finally, beyond simply the textbook violation of the PED policy by Mathis, what is to prevent players from using similar excuses as Mathis (or Mathis doing this himself) to justify using a banned substance? For all we know, Mathis is simply trying to gain PR points by claiming he was taking it for fertility reasons when the truth is he was in fact taking those drugs for PED reasons.
Agree and Mathis could easily have gotten a permission if he got a written document from the fertility doctor.
I bet even had he requested permission before taking the drugs that permission would have been denied. Otherwise, there will suddenly develop a cottage industry of amoral doctors writing prescriptions for players.
Regardless, getting caught and then telling a heart-warming story about why he took the banned drug which is, from what I have read, not approved for male fertility but is well known as used to correct hormone balance at the end of a steroid cycle, gets him little sympathy.
As I see it, either (1) he is being honest and knew the risk, (2) he is being honest and was ignorant of the rule he was breaking, or (3) he is being dishonest.
The third option makes him a pretty slimy jerk. The first two make you feel for the guy, but either he needs to be more aware of what is going into his body or he has already accepted this possibility. None of the three should change the outcome.
“Think of [Alejandro Villanueva] as a major longshot…”
According to his rank, we can only think of him as a captain longshot.
wonder if he ever did any sniper training….
Mathis = guilty.
Players on 29 teams in the NFL and not on any of my fantasy teams = guilty.
I assume the Eagles are one of the teams that = not guilty. Who are the other two teams?
#mathproblems
Good catch. I meant 31 non-Philadelphia teams.
I want Justin Blacmon on the eagles..might post this every single day til he is cut 🙂
I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a worthLES Bowan article, but he has a good one up on philly.com about the Watkins brothers,, with Jordan Mathews talking about jaylen…”the thing about Jaylen is he is very versatile. The thing I remember is I felt like I could never get away from him. I would line up outside, and there he was staring me in the face, I would go line up inside and he would come over playing one coverage over top of me”-Mathews… Then joked how he feels like he can’t get away from him. Feeling intensified when he encountered him at the senior bowl and then he came to the NFL, and Jaylen is “right here too”..”he is going to be great man, just one of the most versatile DBs in the entire draft class”-Jordan via Les
Love how Jordan Mathews came right into Novacare and threw the gauntlet down announcing almost obsessively that he will outwork everyone.. Think that’s not going to rub off on Huff? Think he is just gonna sit back and watch Jordan outwork him? Think that won’t rub off on Jaylen knowing that much of how he is judged will be based on how he practices against Jordan?…..Marcus Smith has practically already been shit on by our media and fanbase..think he will just be lazy and watch the later round picks outwork him? You get the right type of character in your locker room and it can have an infectious positive effect on your team…..think Jordan’s insane work ethic is going to be great for this entire rookie class….
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Then when the vets start taking notice, think they will be embarrassed by rookies out working them..
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Jordan will prove to be a brilliant pick.. Fans say he is big, but i feel like they aren’t completely excited because he isn’t the 6’5 type…Jordan Mathews is the same size as Alshon Jeffries/Brandon Marshall… What a pick, he will prove to be, valuable on and off the field
Hopefully, I worry about Huff possibly being a bit too comfy, like “I got more experience in the offense than anybody here, I got this in the bag”
I’m sure Chip will straighten him out (along with DB’s the likes of Boykin).
I know exactly the quotes that made you get that impression of huff and I’m sure Chip will out the Kabosh on further quotes like that. Don’t think he meant the way it came off….Huff and Jordan are very close since arriving to philly. They are but buddies on twitter looking inseparable since arriving…it’s also not a secret that they are in direct competition with each other for snaps in the slot…huff can be as comfy as he wants today, but when your direct completion is saying I want to out work you, I want to eat better than you, stretch better then you, and huff looks over and sees the way Jordan works, I’m sure he won’t be so comfy…especially since no one knows better than Huff that in this offense, Sproles and Ertz will already be seeing some of those slot snaps, so can he afford to have Jordan Mathews outclass him?
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Yeah Jordan is just a freak of a draft pick..never seen anything like him, coming in already with that insane T.O type of drive for excellence. Say what you want about T.O but he was a workaholic on his craft. It’s so damn impressive,,
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I like that Marcus smith and Jordan were praying to go to the same team. Iike knowing our first round pick is so close to Mathews..
Off topic, but have we signed Donnie Football to a new contract yet?? Love this man, even if he is just a punter.
Indeed they did, back in March. http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2014/3/11/5452546/philadelphia-eagles-re-sign-donnie-jones-contract-punter
Any chance on moving Villanueva to TE and use him as a red zone threat? I haven’t seen any of his video so this is just purely random thoughts
AFC scout is predicting WR Kadron Boone will make our roster and contribute..saying he reminds him of Avant and just got stuck in a bad situation in LSU playing behind ODB and Landry…
At 1st thought after cutting benn, id like them to sign/claim greg little. Has worked with shurmer before, has the size and athletic ability. can line up around the formation, even in the backfield as a RB. He played Rb at NC and wasnt bad.
But of course how smart is he? He drops passes and he had a DUI, so his character will prolly keep the eagles away.
BJ Cunningham break out year. BOOK IT! lol