MK on the Block?
Posted: February 12th, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 186 Comments »The Eagles would love to clear cap space and add draft picks. Trading LB Mychal Kendricks would accomplish both and according to Jimmy Bama the team is looking to do that.
According to a source, the Philadelphia Eagles are willing to move on from Mychal Kendricks this offseason, and it is anticipated that teams around the league will have interest in acquiring Kendricks via a trade.
Kendricks will count for $6,600,000 against the salary cap in 2017, $1,800,000 of which the Eagles would save if they released or traded him. Kendricks would count for $4,800,000 in dead money. As PhillyVoice reported a few weeks ago, the Eagles are expected to free up significant cap space this offseason.
There are several angles to this situation. Let’s start by talking about Kendricks. He is a talented LB. Kendricks played well from 2012-2014. His average season was 88 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 FFs, 5 PDs, 1 INT and 6 TFLs. That’s the kind of playmaking you want from an ILB.
Things went sideways in 2015. The Eagles added Kiko Alonso and Jordan Hicks to the ILB group. That meant more of a rotation and fewer snaps. Kendricks did not handle this well. It seemed to bother his confidence and that affected his play on the field. Kendricks posted okay numbers, but anyone who watched him play could see his struggles.
Those struggles continued last spring and summer. Nigel Bradham, a natural 4-3 LB and a former player for Jim Schwartz in Buffalo, was signed in free agency. He became the SAM LB and eventually joined Jordan Hicks in the Nickel defense. That left Kendricks as the WLB. He played in the base defense and a couple of specialty packages, but he wasn’t in the regular Nickel (4-2-5), which the Eagles played the vast majority of the season. That’s not a Jim Schwartz quirk. Most NFL teams use 3 WRs and a single RB so defenses play the Nickel against that.
And that brings us to the second point. Other teams should have interest in him. Kendricks is still talented. He’s young (26) and is healthy. He’s just not a key player for the Eagles anymore. Kendricks is at his best when he can blitz and attack on a regular basis, as Jimmy pointed out in his article. I would think 3-4 teams would be more likely to want him.
There is no guarantee the Eagles will be able to work out a deal, but I could see a team in need of a LB giving up a pick for Kendricks. We aren’t talking about a super high pick. The Eagles once got a 4th for Bryce Brown. Could they pull that off again? Maybe a 5th?
If the Eagles are able to trade Kendricks, that will create a new hole in the lineup. Is that a smart thing to do? Yes.
As mentioned above, Kendricks is a starter in name only. He is really a role player. You can’t pay a part-time LB more than $6M. That kind of money needs to be spent on a starter or key role player Kendricks was on the field about 17 snaps a game.
The Eagles could spend a mid-to late round pick on an OLB. They also have Kamu Grugier-Hill on the roster. He was only a STer this season, but could be someone they want to play on defense in the future. There will be some free agency options at a reasonable price. If Kendricks had a reasonable salary, he wouldn’t be going anywhere. This is all about making the best use of your resources. The Eagles would like someone cheaper to play his spot. And if they can get a draft pick in the process, that’s great.
*****
Howie Roseman does a great job when it comes to trades. It will also help the Eagles that players they dealt last spring (DeMarco Murray, Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso) played well or reasonably well for their new teams.
Roseman isn’t looking to dump dead wood on some other team. He’s got a solid asset. He just needs to find someone that needs a LB and is willing to make a deal with him.
I’m sure the talks will be hot and heavy at the upcoming NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
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[…] Tommy Lawlor The Eagles would love to clear cap space and add draft picks. Trading LB Mychal Kendricks would […]
Every thing you said made sense, but the math bothers me. You say we shouldn’t pay 6 million for a LB that is a starter in name only. If we eat 4.8 million in dead money and then replace him with a guy earning just over 1 million, we are in the same spot.
That’s why I think it has to be about 2018. If they keep Kendricks or replace him with a cheap stop gap, they are in the same place in 2018. If they eat the dead money and replace him with a guy who might have a future here, then they are in a better spot in 2018.
Thank you.. wondering same thing .. pick up a 6M guy for 1.8M sounds like the Pats would at least investigate. .they love ex Eagles
Not sure Kendricks could play for Belichick
Patrick Chung can, Rowe can but Kendricks can’t? You think that’s air your breathing?
Beli wud find the way to meow get thru to him & MK wud have his ah-HA moment
They’d still have to negotiate a contract – that remaining $5 million doesn’t just disappear. That’s why it’s hard to trade high-dollar people – you have to find somebody willing to take that expensive contract.
It doesn’t disappear, but it is prorated signing bonus. We pay that regardless. He would need a new contract, because he is due 7.6M in 2018, but the new team wouldn’t have any dead money concerns.
That’s why getting a decent pick for him is important and why he’s attractive to other teams. They’re only paying 1.8 million for his salary and he can make more of an impact somewhere else. If you don’t get anything decent you just keep him, you don’t have to trade him.
You seem to be forgetting about what we’d get for him in a trade, that’s the value there. If they don’t find a trade partner, he should be kept for the reasons you stated.
I guess my estimation of the return is based on the fact that no one is saying we should trade him to stockpile resources, they are saying we should trade him to clear cap space. If freeing up 1% of your $168,000,000 cap is a bigger selling point than the compensation, I can’t imagine it is much.
That said, my more recent comments in this tread reflect a better understanding of the source of the dead money and I am a little more open to the idea.
Yea, I’ve learned a lot about dead money earlier this offseason as well. I personally think there is absolutely no reason to outright release Kendricks. He’s most likely more talented than what you would replace him with and with the whole dead money issue, costs the same. If you can sneak a 4th or 5th, hell even a conditional 6th, I think you should do it.
“WE”? Are you Jeffrey Lurie?
Really adding to the conversation.
Right! You added nothing, douche bag.
Just looked at the titans roster. Him going there to play for dick lebeau might make too much sense not to happen.
I’d scratch that off of the list; LeBeau expects a lot from his players from an intellectual standpoint.
I think LeBeaus D could be the worst scheme fit for him. Yes, he could blitz and he’s good at that, BUT: you have to be a smart player, which Kendricks clearly isn’t. And you have to be good in coverage. Kendricks is pretty bad in that regard.
That 2012 drafting class look less and less great by the day.
Trade for a player? Such as SF WR Smith? Was rumored at trade deadline. Bunch of teams with new DC’s & probably new schemes could have a need for his skills. They might rather trade a player who no longer fits than draft pick.
I don’t want to pay Smith his on-paper 2017 and beyond salaries. We need him to be cut.
Definitely don’t want to pick up Smith’s contract – he’ll probably be cut
Hrm. We are only saving 1.8 million on the cap. It will be hard to get a quality player for less unless we get lucky in the draft.
We were blessed with good LB health last year, so MK wasn’t especially needed — but should we not be so lucky this year, not sure that Grugier-Hill is someone you’d like out there as a full-time starter. Not sure the 1.8 million is worth losing that safety blanket of having a quality 3rd LB (in a 4-3 defense). If we can get a quality pick back, it may make more sense.
Rip the band-aid off now and get a replacement trained a year early. We’re not really a title run team in 2017, but 2018 could really be a big jump year for us.
I never understand why people only look at this year’s cap savings. It’s about his long term impact on the cap. If you cut him now you are free and clear of his salary in 2018 and beyond. If you wait even a year you pay his $1.8mil (that would be saved) + $3.2mil in dead money next year. You are really paying $5mil to keep him around for another year.
That is why it’s so important to cut ties with guys like Barwin and Kelce as well. We need to improve our talent level while increasing our cap flexibility over these next couple of years. Carson’s extension is only 2-3 years away. You’d better believe that Howie is looking down the road like this. So moving on from kendricks is a no brainer to me.
Yeah, you are right. I didn’t realize the dead money is prorated bonus. It is 1.6M per year for 3 years.
Cut this year: $4.8 dead money + salary of replacement
Cut next year: $3.2 dead money + $6.6 salary = $9.8M
So yeah, 5 million from the cap to keep him this year. That changes the math that I was concerned about earlier. Thanks for pointing that out.
I was told that there would be no math
I don’t believe the Eagles’ cap situation in 2018 is nearly as bad as 2017 — and the cap may keep rising (Howie would have a better idea of that than us). So, some of these moves may be more geared to 2017. It’s possible we could move some of the hit to 2018 by making post-June-1 cuts or trades, if that is the goal. And yes, keeping Kendricks means we’d still have 3.2 million of dead money if we cut him after the season (though his salary goes up another million, so he would be a 4.4 million savings versus the 2018 cap by cutting him a year later). We save more money by cutting him now, yes, but that means you have another hole to fill — which may cost us more than we save.
Trading Maxwell and Murray was absolutely about future cap hits — we could have swallowed those contracts in 2016, but the 2017 ramifications were staggering, and so they had to go then. So such things are absolutely often about future years. That said, Maxwell was our best CB in 2015, and better than anything we had in 2016, so we did suffer on the field for that move. But that also made getting Wentz possible, in a roundabout way, as there was no possible way we could have signed Bradford to that deal (thus recouping our 1st round pick) if we still had Maxwell’s contract on the books for 2017.
It is a balance. You can always help future years by spending less this year (more rollover cap space) but sometimes that can hurt this year’s team too much.
The savings is (are?) actually almost $6.5 million if he’s traded – which clears off the cap immediately. It’s only $1.8 if he’s cut
Are you sure? That isn’t what Tommy quoting Jimmy said: “…$1,800,000 of which the Eagles would save if they released or traded him.”
No, I believe there is no more guaranteed money on his contract — the cap hit is the acceleration of the unaccounted-for signing bonus, which is the same if you trade or cut. There is 4.8 million of signing bonus left to account for, and his cap number this year is 6.6. Now, if you make it a post-June-1 cut or trade, then you move 3.2 million of the hit to 2018, and save more in 2017.
Kendricks has zero ability to play the game from the neck up. Poor guesses, whiffed tackles, guys running open vs. him in coverage all day…………but he’s a great blitzer.
http://overthecap.com/player/mychal-kendricks/770/
Ok, so Kendricks only get you back $1.8 million vs. the cap in 2017…….
the 2018 and 2019 numbers cleared out are $7.6 million and $8.6 million.
I was so happy when we signed him to the extension.
Turns out, he’s the defensive version of Reggie Brown.
Reggie shouldn’t have cut the dreads.
I don’t think replacing Kendricks will be that difficult. You’re really looking to add a low cost base down LB. That shouldn’t be expensive. My preference would be a base down MLB to allow Hicks to move to WIL on base downs in order to more free him up as an attacking play maker. This has been Seth Joyner’s idea for a while.
Could your base down LB already be here in Walker?
That’s a good point- Walker was set to backup Hicks at MLB before his injury; the team seemed high on him, and I’m sure a year to learn the scheme didn’t hurt him.
We share a lot of similarities with Dallas on defense; zone/man concepts in the secondary, lots of 2 high safety looks with pressure generated by our front 4 and timely blitzes.
MM- I hadn’t seen your comment previous to my post above; but that seems to be the direction which would be best for our defense. Even as a WIL, Hicks can line up the defense and make calls. That would take some of the wear and tear off of him as well.
The one guy you didn’t mention is Joe Walker, who was playing really well last pre-season before his injury. There’s no telling how he’ll respond after an injury like that but I liked what I saw from him last year.
So T.O.’s hall of fame snub is still front-page news. As a person who was at training camp for quite a few days in 2004 when TO was acquired, surreal is the only word I can think of when describing the atmosphere. From the T.O., T.O., T.O. T.O. T.O. chants, to the immense crowds, he had the Eagles fan base in the palm of his hand. I would leave training camp at Lehigh and go back to work (I only worked 5 minutes away at the time) unable to concentrate because I felt like I just left a playoff game.
An argument could be made that TO was a better receiver than Dawkins was a safety. However, his narcissistic personality often seemed to overshadow his overwhelming dedication to his craft. It’s hard to fathom the best offensive player on the team completely derailed McNabb’s ascent at only 29 years old.
I’ll shed no tears if he is passed over the for the HOF again. My hope is that as an Eagles fan, he’ll have to anguish for 4 years, like we did while he was in Dallas, before he is elected to the HOF.
“An argument could be made that TO was a better receiver than Dawkins was a safety.”
No question consider TO can argue he was the 2nd best WR after Jerry Rice battling Randy Moss.
That’s high praise, but TO earned it. He was a freak. Neurotic and insane, but physically gifted beyond most humans with the drive and will to back it up.
From a football stand point, there aren’t many better. From a human standpoint, he doesn’t measure up.
What would be the main bullet points of that argument? I just can’t imagine the 2nd best receiver of all time not being automatic first-ballot, regardless of public perception. The hall is filled with dubious characters, and despite the drama TO is spotless.
• 15,934 career receiving yards rank second in NFL history
• 153 receiving touchdowns rank third in NFL history
which I always take with a grain of salt that comes with a long career in the passing era. He did all that despite suspect hands. I like TO, and I think he should be in the hall, but his years of absolute dominance were short-lived, and that there are active receiver –>s<– (plural) today that I think are better.
I think your underselling TO’s dominance. TO didn’t come to Philly until he was 31 years old, and was still dominant when he played for Dallas at 35.
I concede that I may be. He just never struck me as beyond HOF-bound perennial pro-bowler. Never seemed like the best of his own era, yet alone among the best of all time. Which I admit is subjective
Since 1980, Jerry Rice (10) and Terrell Owens (5) were the only wide receivers to be chosen All Pro at least 5 times. He was absolutely one of the best in his era.
For comparison, # of times All Pro
Randy Moss (4)
Calvin Johnson (3)
Marvin Harrison (3)
Antonio Brown (3)
Julio (2)
Chad Johnson (2)
Andre Johnson (2)
Chris Carter (2)
Fitz (1)
Torry Holt (1)
Michael Irvin (1)
Dez (1)
It’s an interesting conversation (because it’s the off season). Just asking, if you were building your all-time dream team, WR 1 will almost always be Jerry Rice, is TO your WR 2? I’m not sure he makes my team.
He had one heck of a career, he sustained a very high level of play for a long time for a receiver, but he just didn’t have a high enough peak.
His best year in receiving yards was 1451, good for the 55th best season of all time. His most TD’s in a season was 16, good for a 7-way tie at 14th most TD receptions of all time. Most receptions he ever had in a season was 100, 14 way tie for 83rd most receptions of all time. Best year in yards per game was 103.6, good for 26th of all time.
He was a great receiver for a long time, but he was not one of the top 5 to ever grace the field
Being the off-season, might be fun to put together an all-time dream team
Ark87 —
100% agree with your views.
Great work.
Thanks! It’s always interesting, how vague the accolades players get can be. How do you define the greatest of all time? I personally go through the “dream team” exercise. In TO’s case, you can certainly argue that he had the 2nd best career of all time. But the argument that he is the second best WR of all time definitely doesn’t seem right. It’s pretty much semantics. How do you quantify/qualify greatness and the greatest? I’m on the youngish side, so I didn’t get the eye test on a lot of the greats (and we all know stats are skewed as heck depending on which era you are in). I was wondering who you would consider to be the 2nd best WR of all time? I only really got to see the modern age, so I’m stuck between Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson.
Not everyone has blowout, record-breaking single seasons. T.O. is one of those receivers who dominated every year. Otherwise, we’d be talking about Charley Hennigan being stiffed because hey, he caught 101 balls in a 14 game season in 1964!
If you’re in the hunt for 2nd best of all time, I’d like to see an all-time great season out of you. That’s just me. I tried not to cherry pick. TO was great, but TO at his best is still no match for a generous handful of WR’s at their best in my eyes.
You have to take into consideration the number of targets when comparing TO’s stats. TO never had more than 159 targets in any season. Marvin Harrison, Julio, and Calvin Johnson have all had over 200 in a season. Heck, Calvin Johnson had 204 targets and only 4 TDs in 2012.
With that being said, I would pass on TO in a heartbeat and team up Calvin Johnson with Jerry Rice.
One receiver that had as much potential as TO was Josh Gordon. In 2013, he had one of the best receiving seasons in history with over 1,600 yards and an astonishing 18.92 yards per reception. What makes his season more astonishing was that it was with the Browns and the QBs throwing the ball were Jason Campbell, Brandon Weeden, and Brian Hoyer.
I think the targets has 2 sides of a coin, kind of like TO’s 15 year career. Like TO’s career stats are padded by a long career, but Holy crap 15 years as a great receiver is also amazing. Calvin Johnson got targeted a ton so his season stats are high, but holy crap, getting targeted that many times in double and sometimes triple coverage is freaking incredible.
I think it was in 2005 and we played the Broncos in Denver. TO was singled up with Bailey on the outside. McNabb threw a laser, TO took a step, side stepped Bailey’s tackle, and was gone for a close to 80 yard TD reception. Just like that.
One of the most intimidating plays I’ve ever seen him make, against arguably the best CB during that time period. And he made it effortlessly
Unless the criteria for being the best is helping the team achieve success, which I kind of think it should be.
By that measure, TO experienced brief periods of being near the top with matching periods of being unable to make the 53 man roster.
The statistics are important in quantifying, but the reason people vote of HOF entrants is because they are not the true measure of a player. I have trouble imagining many GMs would pick TO before Dawk when building a timeless team.
Yup, they changed the friggin Eagles fight song to TO, I mean just nuts. At the superbowl, everyone was singing in the hallways at the top of their lungs. Most insane atmosphere Ive ever witnessed and eagles fans owned that stadium like 80/20 in jville.
Only kind of solid argument against was that there were teams that felt they were better off without him. I guess you cant discount that but his numbers tell plenty of a story and its really hard to separate that from other players when you get into character. I also hated him after what he did, thinking that team had another run in them if he was on the team so ya, I dont hate the snubs either.
I was wondering how many HoFers have been suspended for conduct detrimental, or how many have totally derailed a team’s season.
The banner across the top of the NFL Hall of Fame website reads “HONOR THE HEROES OF THE GAME, PRESERVE ITS HISTORY, PROMOTE ITS VALUES & CELEBRATE EXCELLENCE EVERYWHERE”.
That’s not a motto describing TO, or Randy Moss next year.
Good point. I don’t think either guy is going to have too much trouble making it in though.
I’m not a fan of getting rid of Kendricks to save less than $2M. If he is the weak link in the LB corps, I think that is a huge step up from the weak links prior to his arrival.
2002
Levon Kirkland
Shawn Barber
Carlos Emmons
2003
Mark Simoneau
Carlos Emmons
Nate Wayne
2004
Mark Simoneau
Jeremiah Trotter
Dhani Jones
2005
Jeremiah Trotter
Keith Adams
Dhani Jones
2006
Jeremiah Trotter
Dhani Jones
Matt McCoy
2007
Omar Gaither
Chris Gocong
Takeo Spikes
2008
Stewart Bradley
Omar Gaither
Chris Gocong
2009
Chris Gocong
Akeem Jordan
Will Witherspoon
2010
Stewart Bradley
Moise Fokou
Ernie Sims
2011
Jamar Chaney
Brian Rolle
Casey Mathews
Problem with Kendricks is in this system; our WLB is a read/react type player, needs to be smart enough to diagnose and engage a play before it happens. That’s why we saw Hicks there the last game of the year, we need to optimally replace our MLB so that Hicks can be free to make plays. We have a solid SLB in Bradham.
So in this defense and scenario, Kendricks doesn’t really have a role. He’s not smart enough to engage and react as our WLB, but he doesn’t have the fortitude to be our SLB. That leaves our MLB open, but he probably doesn’t have the width and strength to play in there every down.
Either we switch up our LB responsibilities, or we put him on the bench as depth- but in what role? He would probably be better off in an ILB 3-4 role, but we’d have to find a willing partner to do so.
Don’t think of cap just as the year to year numbers – but the multi year cash flow. With cap roll over every year thinking about same year numbers really is meaningless unless you are hard against the cap.
Kendricks is getting paid $5m in 2017, $6m in 2018 and $7m in 2019. He has $4.8m in pro rated bonuses still to be accounted for on the cap sheet, but that is sunk cost and will be paid at some point regardless.
Trading Kendricks saves $5mil over the next 3 years for the cap, compared to if you cut him in 2018. That is the number that really matters. Kendricks is not a $5m LB (4th highest 4-3 LB!) in this scheme so if you can get an asset for i think it is a worthwhile move.
LB is a really deep position in this draft and there will be some great options in the 3rd/4th round who can be 4-3 OLB’s, starting off as a weakside player initially playing a small number of snaps and hopefully taking over from Bradham in 2018 as nickle and base LB.
“so if you can get an asset for i think it is a worthwhile move”
What do you define as an asset in this instance?
Stealing from arrowheadpride.com, I would consider an asset at least a 4th round pick, because after that, the odds of finding a starter are minimal across all positions.
Historic Success Chart
The numbers show us the following outline for finding consistent starters:
1st Round – OL (83%) LB (70%) TE (67%) DB (64%) QB (63%) WR (58%) RB (58%) DL (58%)
2nd Round – OL (70%) LB (55%) TE (50%) WR (49%) DB (46%) QB (27%) DL (26%) RB (25%)
3rd Round – OL (40%) TE (39%) LB (34%) DL (27%) WR (25%) DB (24%) QB (17%) RB (16%)
4th Round – DL (37%) TE (33%) OL (29%) LB (16%) WR(12%) DB (11%) RB (11%) QB (8%)
5th Round – TE (32%) DB (17%) WR (16%) OL (16%) DL (13%) RB (9%) LB (4%) QB (0%)
6th Round – TE (26%) OL (16%) DL (13%) WR (9%) DB (8%) RB (6%) LB (5%) QB (0%)
7th Round – DB (11%) OL (9%) QB (6%) WR (5%) DL (3%) LB (2%) RB (0%) TE (0%)
http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2015/2/20/8072877/what-the-statistics-tell-us-about-the-draft-by-round
So to play the odds- we should draft OL in the first 3 rounds, followed by DL, TE x 2, and then address our CB’s with at least 10 seventh round picks?
Really, we could use two. So, maybe 18 of them in the 7th?
Only add WR’s QB’s and CB’s as camp bodies. Have a battle royal of 1v1 all camp – best 3 CB’s and best 2 WR’s make it onto the roster.
Imagine if we traded Bradford (first round pick) for 18 seventh round picks? That’d be the equivalent to a 4 yard Sammy B pass when we needed 10 on 3rd down.
Could be used as a trade chip as well though.
I actually hate the LB depth in this class.
But I do like moving Kendricks, because his role is basically 250-300 snaps plus insurance. You can probably sign Paul Worrilow or Keenan Robinson for Stephen Tulloch money on one years.
So you slightly increase this years cap charge (<1mil) but still save about 4mil overall, you've got a more appropriate player for the role, and you've got a fifth round pick to play with.
Who do you think could (or would) give up a 5th for him? Would it be this year, or conditional next?
Agreed. If Hicks goes down again and we have to replace him with Kendricks the Eagles defense will be in a really bad spot.
I think the savings benefits would be more tuned toward the remaining years after 17, right?
Yes.
Kendricks will be a great player for the Patriots.
As long as he doesn’t have to tackle Andy Dalton.
Or tight ends, or running backs.
15 early round cornerbacks that could interest the Eagles
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2017/2/13/14579950/2017-nfl-draft-early-round-cornerbacks-philadelphia-eagles
Victor Cruz was just released. Do not want him on the eagles.
Don’t you mean Steve Smith the 2nd (from NYG)
The 3rd, I think. You are (understandably) forgetting Reuben Randle.
Hmmmm Ruben foster wont participate in the combine and will take 4 months to recover from rotator cuff surgery…Does he experience a drop similar to myles jack last year?
Not even close.
Meaning you think he’ll drop even further, or not as far? Because I think it could go either way.
@Anyone who suggests the Eagles should sign Victor Cruz or any other ex-Giants player ever again will get punched in the face. Thank you.
Well ok then..I’ll cross off the possibility of a ODB and Landry duo in 2018.
Landry is a Dolphin. Whole different story, despite being best buddy with ODB.
I’ll take him. Seriously. Miles Austin type deal and role. Just taking a shot on a guy. Make it low risk..
Twice
It wouldn’t be very smart to trade him. The dead money doesn’t worth it.
Dead money is sunk investment. Smart move is to cut ties if the asset (player) isn’t productive.
Agreed, but isn’t like he is the “Agholor of the LBs”.
Just cut him would be Chip all over again. Try to fit him , make him useful.
Or next year, we will be at the same situation we are in today at DL. Don’t turn this position in to a need.
If it’s between cut or keep, you keep. If they can get value back in a trade that’s the move to make.
Trade situation is the same amount of dead money. Worth it if someone give us a 3rd, but that’s not goig to happen.
Post June 1st cut is the least worse option if you don’t want him. Only 1.6 M in dead money.
The amount of dead cap is irrelevant. It’s sunk money, it’s gone.
Man, Our cap situation isn’t good. Why you think they are asking Peters to take a paycut?
Of course is relevant.
Peters is an aging player on the back end of his contract. Show me one of those guys who isn’t asked to restructure.
Dead money is a sunk cost. Allowing that to factor heavily into decisions can lead to a long chain of bad decisions.
That’s true, but they need him.
But that’s OK, let’s our cap stay the same, we won’t sign any WR or CB,
Maybe Agholor can do both.
He’s going into his 6th year and 3rd system on D; bye.
To me, this has to be taken into account; it is his 3rd system, and his first year in this system. Kendricks projects as the type that needs some time to develop in a system, he doesn’t appear to be a quick learner.
This is a tough choice- with their back up against the wall with the salary cap, they will probably move on. But that adds to another hole on the team that has to be plugged with more depth. Depth that we simply don’t have and at this point would be a street level free agent or unsigned free agent from the upcoming draft.
Hey, Tumtum . . . Your HOFers Question re: T-Owens
To date, only 3 HOFer — out of 295 — ever served a suspension. And none, so far as I remember, was ever accused of being a locker-room problem.
The first was Packers HB Paul Hornung. Suspended for the entire 1963 season, along with Lions DT Alex Karras, for sports betting.
[ Hornung was also a HOF carouser, along with Packers teammate WR Max McGee . . . who caught 2 TDs in SB-1 after staying out the whole night with Hornung, but then having to play after starting WR Boyd Dowler was injured in Q-1. Ah, the good, old days. ]
The second was Chiefs OLB Derrick Thomas, suspended for 1 game for back-to-back unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the 4th Q against Denver’s Shannon Sharpe on a 1998 MNF game (when the game was already lost).
The third was Lawrence Taylor — twice suspended (IIRC) by the NFL for testing positive for cocaine.
_____________
Two other HOFers had well-publicized off-the-field issues during their careers. But no suspensions.
One was Chris Carter — who cleaned up his substance-abuse problem pretty quickly, apparently, after the Eagles cut him before the 1990 season.
The other was WR James Lofton — twice accused of, and once tried for (and aquitted of), sexual assault while with the Packers.
That’s it. That’s the list, I think.
Amazing
George Papadopoulus was Pete Rose of the gridiron?
Maybe more the Quisling of Greece?
Don’t quite understand how these guys hold such grudges. But it’s a popularity contest at the end of the day, unfortunately TO has never been able to get out of the mistakes he made during the 2004-2007 era even though he was putting up crazy numbers, i mean look at the what if convos we have about TO today.
Wonder if anyone with think about the irony when big ben gets inducted into the HOF.
To me it’s ridiculous. TO and Moss were the two best WR’s of the first decade of this century. The fact that TO did it in 4 different places with 4 different QB’s just adds to the argument.
Compare him to guys of that era (Harrison, Bruce, etc.) whose numbers were largely put up in systems where a ton of guys had stats. JJ Stokes and Tai Streets were the players in SF he played with. God knows the Eagles didn’t have WR’s. In Dallas it was he and Whitten, with Patrick Crayton and Sam Hurd (before he became Tony Montoya).
Hell, he went 72/9/983 in 14 games at age 37 in Cincy in his last year in the league.
Would really need to see a chart of average suspensions per season for this to be relevant though. I’m betting that players got away with a whole lot more in the 70s and 80s than they do today. T.O. only got suspended for words. Seems crazy to not let him in the HOF over that.
The Steelers powered a “dynasty” with steroids in the 70s.
LT admitted to being on coke more often than he wasn’t as he was enhancing his performance in ways that still don’t make him better than Reggie White.
You’re 100% correct.
It’s funny because I wonder how many of those suspensions are on the field vs off the field. Head-hunting, bounties, football PSI vs off-field violence. I know one is more prevalent, I have a sneaking suspicion it isn’t represented proportionally in the suspensions Goodell dishes out.
Christ Carter said after Sharper was included in the HOF nominees few years back they included the locker room as part of the field. But it hasnt been written from what Shannon Sharpe was saying.
If they get rid of Kendrick, they better be right this time. If we see Kendrick making plays all over the field for a winner next season, I think major questions need to be levied on Schwartz, Pederson and Roseman about what is going on with their talent evaluation and development and how it is going to be fixed ASAFP.
If Schwartz cannot develop and utilize talent to help our defense perform at a high level consistently, he needs to be fired. That is literally his main job.
You hear people say we just need talent. BPA get more talent. Rowe was talented. Kendricks talented. Yes or no? Schwartz could be screwing us up the bum with his impatience and inability to develop players.
Kendricks is athletic, but not talented.
Athletic but he does have talent there man. I do think a team like Tampa would have used him properly like David. Eagles saw enough of him to give him an extension now looks to be getting the trade coz Schwartz couldnt use utilize his skill set. Which i guess doesnt fit.
But he’s whiffed tackles and screwed up coverages long before Schwartz. I’m still throwing up over Gates’s stat line in the 2013 Chargers game.
2013 is that when he was playing SLB?? A team playing a 4-3 needing a WILL or a 3-4 team needing an ILB would take him i think. Ah well come to accept hes pretty much gone. Hoping he can net Eagles a 3rd or 4th rounder. Need a replacement.
I see his issues as neck up and a problem in whatever system he’d be in. The diagnostic skills are lacking and the whiffed tackles are troubling.
Kendricks was missing plays all over the field for Davis, so why saddle that on Schwartz?
I think that is hyperbole. Sure, I saw him miss plays, but also saw him make plenty of good plays too. He was drafted, played for several years and then extended – sounds like most in the organization liked how he did including Roseman.
Then last year, his role drops off and he is now on the block.
Seems to me to be another Schwartz “he does not fit my scheme” dynamic and my concern is it will be another mistake. Plus I’m getting tired of rigid coaches. Belicheck and others figure out what the player does really well and build a role for them that helps the defense perform at a high level. That is part of developing and utilizing talent effectively.
I hear you on the rigidity, but I really don’t like Kendricks.
I’m getting that loud and clear 🙂
When you trade with someone, you expect that person to have some remaining value for the team you’re trading with, otherwise you probably have to just cut them. It would be weird to expect Kiko, Byron Maxwell, or Eric Rowe to never be heard from again, otherwise teams wouldn’t give up picks to acquire them.
No, what’s strange is cutting people who still have plenty of talent left and not recouping anything whatsoever.
Agree 100% and that is where the evaluation and decision making comes in:
One has to evaluate how that player’s “remaining value” as you say differs from whatever round draft pick you’re being offered for him would bring and how that move will impact your team i.e. any draft pick will take 1-2 years to get up to speed if they pan out at all.
I do not believe another team will give us better than a 5th rd pick for Kendrick due to his contract and LB being under-valued on general. Do we trust this regime to turn that 5th rd pick into a player as good or better than Kendrick? I don’t.
Let’s also be very honest, this move is being done because we’ve put ourselves in a cap corner and need to free up space from a wide range of sources to provide flexibility. I just hope that need does not cause us to make rash decisions.
Agree. I have serious doubts about Schwartz – much more after 1 season than I did before he started. I would have had zero problem if they dumped him after only one season with the Eagles.
Some 5 years / $70 million stuff being put out there for Alshon; what do y’all think?
I could be ok with that if you’ll guarantee me 80 games played and no more PED issues. But I’m leery over his general softness and PED past.
yeah but if he gets suspended no more guarantees right? Sucks bc you lose the player but makes it much easier to bear if you need to cut them.
that’s half of it, but there are too many non-suspension games missed by him. And then the opportunity cost of not having signed somebody else instead. He scares me.
He averaged 12.6 starts per year, even with the suspension.
But do we need another lane johnson?
Maybe not. I’m not strongly in either corner on this one. He is immensely talented, but with risk. He could transform the team the way TO did in ’04, or the way TO did in ’05.
That’s still missing 3.5 a year.
Yeah, I guess. He missed time hurt as a rookie and in 2015. That was it.
I pass
I rather Kenny Still ad half of that
Kendricks is one of the most frustrating Eagles players in recent memory. Oozing with athletic talent and aggression, but between nagging injuries, scheme changes and lack of confidence or instinct could just never put it together.
I really thought he was going to be a pro bowl type talent. Shame he was so underused as a rusher. I still remember him taking down Russell Wilson 1 on 1 in the open field a couple years ago. Wilson isn’t Barry Sanders, but it was still impressive.
A
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Why do I see Kendricks getting traded for a middling pick (4th round), suddenly gets motivated, and plays like Alonso did last year?
Maybe not Pro Bowl caliber but certainly a good/very good starter.
I don’t know if you can “motivate” him out of what he’s not good at. Can you put him in a system that plays 4 lbs and blitzes a lot and see him with better numbers? Sure.
Motivated to get in a bit better shape this offseason and play through injuries/pain a bit more.
Of all of the coaches in Philly right now, Schwartz strikes me as the most overrated rate. Just wasn’t impressed by him last year as the season wore on, how he adjusted, and his persona/leadership style. I don’t see him having a very long shelf life here. 2 more years max.
“pain tolerance”
I think people really need to get past the idea that sometimes when a player isn’t working out here, they can have a successful career elsewhere. Sometimes people fit schemes better, or coaches better, and it’s not anyone’s fault. We’ve benefitted from it ourselves (Malcolm Jenkins, Hugh Douglas spring immediately to mind). Why is it so hard to fathom that others would as well?
Every time a player leaves the Eagles and succeeds elsewhere, it doesn’t have to be an indictment of the Eagles organization.
As a corollary, has everyone you ever dated but didn’t marry invariably turned out to be a complete and utter shitbeast? Probably not. Sometimes things don’t work out the best for a given pairing, and we don’t have to scramble around looking for people to blame or call assholes..
To be fair, there are plenty of people who search for a reason to label each of their exs assholes as well.
I wonder if they critique their own evaluative skills the way they do Howie’s?
Yes! To add, sometimes it isn’t even fit. These players are 20 year olds that have been the best on every team since they could play. Sometimes it takes a team dumping them to humble them and make them listen and work.
Exactly, that’s the other side of it. Sometimes people grow and mature, and can handle things better in one place than another. Cris Carter is one example. Me in every relationship post-30 is another.
But that would take out the very satisfying element of being able to blame the Eagles organization for being incompetent bumbling buffoons, which is the soothing balm of every Eagles fans’ soul.
Not always but Schwartz strikes me as the guy who rubs a lot of players the wrong way & dismisses them very quickly if they don’t fail in line in his narrow preconceived notion.
That may be so but there are also a lot of guys who seem to love playing for him. Same could be said for guys like Bill Parcells. Does that make them bad coaches?
To be honest if I had a player who failed in line I would probably ditch him too.
I don’t feel like motivation is an issue, do you?
I lump in focus as a part of motivation with is ultimately effort and/or desire.
Kendricks generally seems unfocused in his play. Or he’s just stupid.
Shark in the water, baby
is anyone else concerned that we’re getting guys to fit schwartz’s system or players that he likes when the fact remains he might not be here in a couple years.
What is the alternative?
Beat em all to the punch: fire Schwartz now and get the next guy in here!
Good thinking. We want long-term stability, though, so we should probably fire that guy immediately as well. That way the next guy will get two coaching tenures worth of a head start.
This is fantastic
Is two tenures enough though?
no, i agree. if the eagles can get something for mk i’m all for it. i just worry that being too tied to a d. coordinators guys might leave the team high and dry if/when that coordinator leaves.
That could never happe… (looks at offense)… oh, yeah. Shit.
No one will trade for him since he’s guaranteed $4.6 million on March 12th. Why would they.
Anyone who trades for him is planing to pay him $5m in 2017, the fact that nearly all of it is guaranteed not going to be a significant concern. Considering free agency prices this year and the production he has had before i imagine some team thinks if you put him in the right scheme and situation he can be a quality LB again.
I know I’ve been talking a lot of Sixers on here lately but Nerlens Noel is blossoming into a hell of a player.
That Embid guy is going to turn out okay as well.
Yeah, no all star game nods yet though so I’m a little disappointed. When is he going to get his game together?
Injury Prone.
*ducks*
I’m getting pissed watching this game. Kemba Walker is such a piece of garbage who needed the refs to cheat Saint Joe’s out of a win in the tourney when UConn “won” it a few years ago.
kemba is yo baby daddy
Took a different approach this time with Davis falling to me at 15
Round 1 Pick 15: Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan (A+)
Round 2 Pick 11: Gareon Conley, CB, Ohio State (B+)
Round 3 Pick 10: Antonio Garcia, OT, Troy (A-)
Round 4 Pick 12: Marlon Mack, RB, South Florida (A)
Round 4 Pick 33: Jordan Morgan, OG, Kutztown (B)
Round 5 Pick 11: Daeshon Hall, DE, Texas A&M (A)
Round 6 Pick 10: Jalen Reeves-Maybin, OLB, Tennessee (B-)
Round 7 Pick 12: Jeremy Cutrer, CB, Middle Tennessee (B+)
What is it with Marlon Mack this week? I’ve heard about and read reports on most of the RB prospects coming out this year, but never Mack. Never even heard of him. And for some reason, 90% of the mocks I’ve seen (mostly fan mocks) have us taking him in the 4th or 5th. What gives?
D3 has been pumping him up, so I respect the scouting on it. Also, Mack seems to have less warts than the other RBs who aren’t named Fournette, Cook, and/or McCaffrey.
http://www.steelersdepot.com/2017/02/2017-nfl-draft-player-profiles-south-florida-rb-marlon-mack/
Thanks! There wasn’t much else out there on him that I could find. How do you think he compares to someone like Kamara?
I’d need to read more first. I’m out of my depth when it comes to doing primary scouting of these guys, so I just read a ton and see what the guys with the better background on here say as well.
Generally on Kamara I’ve read a lot of people saying his production sucks / he sucks vs. he’s better than his production / don’t scout with stat lines.
Posted his highlight video up top!
odd trick to fix sagging media mike is absolutely genius
https://youtu.be/7cc_NTdOb8s
thanks!
So, this is essentially a 6 minute highlight reel without a single, hard run inside and up the middle. All he does is run through massive holes on the outside of the zone blocking. I think a lot of young RB’s can do this. I think we have some of them on the roster already.
After watching the highlight video, I would disagree with every single sentence you wrote.
That is really interesting! And odd. I will grant that he has a few runs between the tackles in the video, but they are through massive holes and he still appears to be tempted to bouncing it to the outside. He reminds me of Murray from the Raiders, but without the physicality. Which is to say nothing special at all. I wonder how others feel about this.. Anyone?
I saw very few holes up the middle at all. He appears to make a juke on almost every run (like Shady) that causes the first defender to miss, which leads to long runs. He also seems to have many runs destined for the inside but he bounces outside (like Shady) and runs to daylight. Honestly, his moves are so fluid that many of his runs look effortless.
He doesn’t have quite the same running style as Shady, but he carries the ball the same way.
my question is what are the birds likely to get in the 4th round that would be better than MK or close to him? Maybe it gives them more ammo if they want to trade up in the draft. IMO he’s a quality starter is worth more than a 4th rd pick, but I know they are unlikely to get anything more. I wouldn’t do it for a 5th rd pick.
It’s worth it for them just to save 5 mill in cap space, given his playing time last year. Plus a lotto on a potential starter. Maybe 15% chance?