Carson Gets a New Co-Worker
Posted: May 17th, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 124 Comments »
The Eagles continue to give Carson Wentz help. New WRs…check. Keep the OL together…check. And now he’s got a new RB.
Sources: #Eagles are signing ex-#Patriots RB LeGarrette Blount to a 1-year deal worth up to $2.8M. Top FA available & another big weapon.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 17, 2017
Our full write-up on Blount, who had offers from the #AZCardinals & #Giants. #Eagles stepped up to secure Carson Wentz another weapon https://t.co/ybJVplzGqQ
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 17, 2017
Interesting move.
The Eagles hoped to land a workhorse RB in the draft. That didn’t happen. My guess is that Howie Roseman talked to some teams about making a trade and he couldn’t find any deals he liked. So then he went back to the free agent market and got the best RB available. That was Blount.
Blount isn’t a workhorse back in the traditional sense. The Eagles won’t feed him the ball 20 times a game, every game. Blount had a career high 299 carries last year. Usually he is more in the 150 range (which is around 10 per game). He had a strong season, rushing for 1.161 yards and 18 TDs. Usually Blount is more of a situational player, and I think that is how the Eagles will use him.
The Eagles want Darren Sproles on the field. They want to see what Wendell Smallwood can do. They want to mix Donnel Pumphrey in and see if he can help the team as a rookie. Blount is here to be part of the solution, not “the answer”.
And the Eagles RBs fit well together. Blount will probably start most of the time because of his combination of size and experience. Sproles will be the primary backup and also play in the slot at times. Smallwood showed the ability to carry the ball 15 or more times and be effective. He can bring fresh legs into the game. Pumphrey is the wild card. He might be the #4 RB, but also could play in the slot. And I wonder what happens if he shows the ability to deliver big plays. The coaches want more chunk plays from the backfield. Pumphrey could steal some snaps if he can deliver 10-yard runs and 20-yard receptions.
So what does Blount bring to the table?
Blount lists at 6-1, 245. He doesn’t look that heavy, but he’s definitely a big back. He is a downhill runner who will run behind his pads and punish tacklers. He fights for every inch. Blount has tremendous power and balance, making him very hard to tackle. He runs with good pad level. Blount has pretty good feet and is elusive enough to make some tacklers miss, but his calling card is running over guys, not around them.
"Hooray!"
"Let's do it again!"
"It's so exciting to tackle @LG_Blount!"Said no defender ever. pic.twitter.com/kh6drNULZ7
— NFL (@NFL) May 17, 2017
The downside with Blount is that he’s limited. He has been in the league for 7 years and has a grand total of 46 catches. He is in the game to run, or to block. He needs good blocking to have any chance. Some runners can create space even with mediocre blocking. Blount will hit the hole, but you have to give him a hole. You won’t mistake him for Shady McCoy any time soon.
It looks like he might be more athletic than I anticipated.
https://twitter.com/iYahowii/status/840414671823855616
Blount will turn 31 in December so he’s no spring chicken. That said, he only has 1,168 career carries. To put that in perspective, McCoy has 1,898. Blount isn’t young, but there should be some tread on the tire.
The @Eagles were one of the worst teams last season in short yardage situations. @LG_Blount had NFL's highest yds/carry on 3rd/4th-and-short pic.twitter.com/SBwsAMbApF
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) May 17, 2017
Blount can be a huge help in short-yardage and Red Zone situations. The Eagles had too many drives stall, whether before scoring territory or in scoring territory. They must be able to finish better this season. Blount can make a definite impact in this role.
I do feel better about the Eagles RB situation now.
LeGarrette Blount
Darren Sproles
Wendell Smallwood
Donnel Pumphrey
Corey Clement
I have no problem with the Eagles going RB-by-committee (RBBC) now that they have the right combination of players.
Carson Wentz got another weapon and the Eagles got better today.
*****
Some of you will wonder about the “win now” vs building a team for the future debate in regard to this move. I’ll address that in a separate post.
*****
What about Ryan Mathews?
That won't be until June at the earliest, I'm told. Somebody else will get released Thursday when Blount officially signs. https://t.co/TpcSYWsiOq
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) May 17, 2017
_
Tommy, will your win now vs. future post touch on BLG’s piece about compensatory picks?: http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2017/4/7/15221544/eagles-one-year-contract-nfl-free-agency-2018-howie-roseman-compensatory-picks-joe-douglas-lurie
It seems like there is a method to how Howie is building the team. The short term does not necessarily detract from the long term.
Yes. That is a good way to put it. Basicly finding the appropriate balance of win now and build for the future.
I would go as far to say that the Eagles are more slanted toward winning now than looking ahead to the future.
If the draft picks play well this season, then I might agree with balanced.
But as of right now, we appear to be in win the division and see what happens mode.
All of the sudden this offense is loaded with weapons.
Going to be fun watching this offense.
That was a good read for sure, but I’m a little leery of playing the comp pick game IF I have a guy or guys I can trade for a 2018 pick instead. Getting Matthews moved for a 2018 3rd (valuated that way by Baltimore Ravens writers and Bill Barnwell now) would be significantly better than any possible 2019 outcome.
Have to factor in that you lose a year of Matthews. Not saying it’s a bad deal, but it’s kind of the flipside to Jernigan.
But if the team is planning on signing a free agent like Jernigan, doesn’t that negate the comp pick anyway?
Too much speculation on comp picks for me to worry about that. I’m of the opinion the team is just taking on low risk 1-years due to cap issue, plus it just worked out best that way. Low cost vets and low risk contracts are a good combo, can’t build a team on 5 superstars and the rest rookie contracts/league minimum.
I’d honestly rather keep JMat.
-We should be able to resign him if we want to
-Seems to have a great relationship w/ Wentz. Would love to see that continue, as well as, not force Wentz to go into the season with all new WRs
-He is better than people give him credit for and think he will only improve now that he won’t be expected to be our #1 guy
Just FYI, Kempski put out a piece some time ago on the same thing.
i like it!! Now we can grind out a game better to help our defense, and help wentz set up some deep balls by sucking in the defense
fly iggles fly!!
Love the Blount signing. Been hoping they’d sign him to a one year deal like this for awhile.
How many games turn from a likely win to a loss because a team couldn’t punch it in from the one yard line or couldn’t convert a key 3rd and 1? Those plays, hidden from conventional stats, are HUGE difference makers. Having a guy that converted them at a 90% rate last year on your roster is incredibly advantageous.
Best case he actually wins is a game or two by doing just that. Worst case he’s completely washed up, doesn’t hit his performance based escalators and the net cap damage is about $1M ($1.5M base salary minus the bottom guy he effectively knocks off the 53 man roster who makes around $500k)…so essentially no risk.
What’s not to like?
yup!!
and keeps him off the giants!
I agree; F the Giants. But it is rather difficult for a big back to get any momentum rolling if all of his “blockers” are whiffing or getting deposited in his lap. That’s a major issue for the Giants, and a soon to be rectified issue (via upgrading from Barbre / Kelce) here.
Yes and yes.
He is an above average RB at his worst and runs downhill with power.
He can break tackles and he’s done good things behind lesser O lines.
I feel we were desperately missing a RB with his attributes last season which could have sealed some wins and we let them slip through our hands.
It was partially because we could not keep drives alive and poor CB play.
Blount is exactly what this team needed and he will definitely help Carson in more ways than we can imagine.
We’ve been missing a downhill, between the tackles RB for years! Hopefully we won’t see nearly as many sweeps that run 20 yards laterally and gain (or lose) a single yard!
This is like a Dan Douquett signing. Nelson Cruz 3 days before camp, meh could be good… right?
A 1 yr $1.5M deal with performance incentives that could push it to $2.8M hardly keeps us from competing long term. It’s barely a blip on the radar.
I’ve been hoping we’d follow the Patriot model to outfitting our backfield for years now and we’re finally doing it…literally.
I know people will bring up the whole bandaid comment, Howie made earlier when talking about the CB position. But people missed the point of that comment. Homies point was that they were ignoring the position entirely in the draft and hoping to get by, by signing mediocre veterans (Bradley Fletcher, Cary Williams, Nolan Carroll) to be the long term solution. Those guys were all signed off the bargain bin to be starters for multiple years while they spent their draft resources on other positions. They were bandaids. That clearly didn’t work. Neither did throwing big money at FAs (Nnamdi, Maxwell). So, Howie made a commitment to building that position with proper resources instead of bandaids.
But, that doesn’t mean that we can fill all the holes on the teams roster for 2017 with long term blue chip first round type of players in one offseason. You still need to fill in certain areas as best you can. You can either sign a bandaid like Cary Williams and lock yourself in to starting him for 2-3 years, you can sign a high priced FA for the spot and lock yourself in for multiple years and a huge financial commitment, or you can treat these bandaids like bandaids and sign competent veterans to low cost one year deals so you can have a reliable player in that spot for 2017 and can discard them after the season with no financial obligations.
It’s smart. I’d rather sign a guy like Blount to fill a specific and needed role in 2017, and try to get “our guy” next offseason, than lock myself into someone like Latavious Murray or Jeremy Hill for multiple years and forego getting our guy next year.
I peer into my black mirror and see a RB with the last name of Barkley in our future.
We really shouldn’t be picking that high
Possibly you got excited and just saw a Chubb.
Not sure we are drafting a RB in the 1st next year. Better to draft one per year in late rounds and use RBBC.
Blount and Sproles at the goal line. Sproles gets the carry while Blount is the decoy. #JustDougieThings
And if Sproles scores, will you still complain? 😉
Nope. I think it’s pretty smart 🙂
or Blount becomes the FB and plows a hole for Sproles or Wendell or Pumphrey
*Carson is lead blocker after coming out for possible concussion.
You guys forget that Patrick Robinson and Dwayne Gratz are gonna be our corners.
Jalen Mills and Rasul Douglas, Ron Brooks in the slot. Only thing that changes that, is a healthy Sidney Jones.
Robinson could start the first couple of games, but Jalen and Rasul will be the starters pretty early. Gratz might end up being cut.
Nobody forgot that.
I’d like to…
I would as well, but we all knew they couldn’t address that many spots in need of talent upgrades in one off-season.
I’m trying to come up with a reasonable way to address all of our needs next offseason so that we can be competitive in 2018 (since I think we are at best a one-and-done playoff team this year, and at worst… well let’s hope for the best). Here are what I think the priorities should be:
1. Sign Alshon to a long term deal – I think he beasts out this year, which will make him expensive, but if we can nail down a productive real number 1 wide receiver to grow with Wentz, I say dole out the cash.
2. Draft an OT High – With Peters gone next year, Lane moving to LT, and my expectations for Vaitai being no more than good backup (which would be very solid for a 5th round pick), we need another Tackle. I think this should be such a high priority because, as we have seen with Dallas, having an offensive line strength is so important. And I think it’s best that we get one in the draft, because I don’t wan to waste money on FAs, and if we can have a young, cohesive line that can protect Wentz for years, that would be ideal.
3. Extend Hicks – I think Hicks has two years left on his contract right now, and I really don’t want to see him hit the FA market. He’s such a stud. We need him to be the center of our defense for a long time.
4. Resign Bradham or pick up a replacement in FA – If Bradham leaves, our linebackers are looking really bleak. I don’t want to have to rely on a rookie next year being our second best linebacker, so try as hard as possible to bring Bradham back, but at least sign a replacement if he’s too expensive.
5. Resign Jernigan – Trying to have realistic expectations, I think Jernigan will be solid, not spectacular. Maybe that would be a reason to let him go, but I think solid is all we really need on the DLine featuring Cox, Graham, and Barnett, so I think he has value to us. If Jernigan can be had for a reasonable price, I don’t want to disrupt the DLine chemistry.
6. Draft an RB – Most people would probably put this higher, but I’ve never put much of a priority on running back, because I think if you can’t get a stud, the offensive line is far more important then the back. If we have a Barkley falling to us in the draft, pull the trigger, but I’d be happy with a 3rd or 4th round power back. I see the trio of next year’s rookie, Smallwood, and Pumphrey as an EXTREMELY poor man’s Staley, Buckhaulter, and Westbrook. But I do think we could make the RBBC work if our offensive line is solid enough.
7. Draft more CBs – The more the merrier. Maybe grab one 4th rounder and one 5th rounder and see if they can develop behind Jones and Douglas (who are by no means sure things).
8. Resign the less important players who earned it (Sturgis, Burton, Allen, and Brooks come to mind).
As I see it, if we do all of these things, the real weaknesses on our roster would be what most would consider to be a weak RBBC, perhaps relying on a rookie OT, young corners (who I think will be good), and some poor linebacker depth. Maybe add poor safety and DT depth if we Allen and Brooks don’t earn their way onto the team again. But we can throw in some late draft picks and minor FA signings to take care of depth, hopefully. I know Babre might leave in FA next year, but I think between Seumalo, Brooks, Kelce, and Wiz (Warmack might also leave next year), we should be able to find a solid interior line. To me, that would be a very strong roster, and hopefully be competitive with the top of the NFC.
And I think this is all manageable. Obviously, we should pick BPA, but if BPA so happened to line up with my priorities, we could get an OT round 1, RB round 3, CB round 4, CB round 5 and still have two other round 4 picks to address depth issues. In addition, with the cap being better next year, I think we should be able to ink the four deals I mentioned: Alshon, Hicks, Jernigan, and Bradham or a suitable replacement, although we should be smart with our money because we will need to sign Wentz to a long term deal soon. And I didn’t even mention any real FA signings other than a potential linebacker replacement, so obviously we might address some of these needs through FA instead of the draft, but that allows us to address other areas.
TLDR; Seems manageable to fill holes in a realistic way next offseason
Which is why I’d like Matthews out of here for a 3rd rounder rather than a possible 2019 comp pick.
I’d take a conditional 4th based on playing time- with a possibility of it becoming a 3rd. Either that, or a 4 next year and a 5 in 2019.
Sixers style
Yeah, I don’t see resigning Matthews as a high priority next offseason if we can get Alshon back. We have enough other money we need to give out and WR wouldn’t be our biggest need. So, as much as I like him as a person, dealing him now makes a lot of sense to me.
Need more than (1) WR though. We don’t know what we have in the rooks yet or if Torrey Smith can revert to his Pre-niners days. A lot of question marks at WR for people to be trying to push JMat out the door this hard.
Fair enough. I guess I’m looking at the rookies through the old offseason-hype glasses and hoping one of them turns into a WR 2/3 for next season, and Smith in my eyes returns to something like his Ravens days as a WR 2/3. If those things happen, then we wouldn’t really need Matthews, since we could keep Smith and keep developing the young guys.
But realistically, you’re probably right. We could very easily have Jeffrey and nothing else next year at WR if Smith lookes more like San Fran Smith and neither of the rookies pan out (4th and 5th rounders rarely do). But I’d argue that I’d still put all of the priorities I listed above resigning Matthews. He would cost more money than he’s worth, in my opinion, and to me all of the things I listed above are more important than having a solid WR2 for a lot of money.
I completely see where you are coming from, though, and can see a scenario where WR2 is a big hole next year if we trade JMatt now or let him walk next year. I just think that if I’d still prioritize resigning Jeffrey, Jernigan, and Bradham, and extending Hicks above resigning JMatt, then it’s probably not all that likely that we have enough money left that I’d want to use on him. Which means dealing him for something this year while he still has value might be the best option.
I can def see your side of things too but I still don’t see trading JMatt for a 3rd rounder right now as the best option.
Let’s assume for a second that we go thru this season and then don’t have enough $$$ to resign him. That wouldn’t be the end of the world for me.
Not only would him leaving as a FA help us get a comp pick back but he provides too much value to us for this season. He brings comfort/familiarity to the offense for Wentz (developing Wentz is probably our top priority this season), so this is a huge deal to me.
Like we discussed, we don’t know which T Smith we are getting this year.
Also, he takes a TON of pressure off the rookies. With JMat in the fold, we KNOW we have (2) really good WRs, which will allow the rooks to focus on special teams and be our #4/#5 WRs this season with zero pressure to produce.
At the end of the day, I feel like the value JMat brings us this season (+comp pick) is greater than a 3rd rounder.
I’m actually not too clear on how compensatory picks are awarded. I know it’s something to do with the price of the free agents you lost minus the price of the free agents you signed. But, if we lose Matthews next year, but spend big money on Alshon, Jernigan, and Bradham, who would all be free agents but were on our team the previous year, assuming we make no other big FA signings, are we likely to get a decent comp pick?
Honestly it is really tough to answer because NFL doesn’t release the exact way that comp picks work. But there are people who have tracked this every year and can give a very educated guess on the process.
https://overthecap.com/the-basics-and-methodology-of-projecting-the-nfls-compensatory-draft-picks/
This is a pretty good link if you have any time to check it out.
Who in the world -let alone the NFL -would give up anything in exchange for Matthews?
Baltimore’s beat writers states the Ravens would have to give up a 3rd to get Matthews from the Eagles.
Bill Barnwell pegged Matthews’s value in a trade at 3rd round in his article yesterday about the NFC East off season moves.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
Wouldn’t Howie have jumped at Baltimore’s 3rd if they offered?
A middling receiver on an expiring contract. Those guys are generally player for player, if anything.
I just don’t buy the idea that he has any significant trade value.
Person paid to create content: I think they should trade a first for Matthews.
Readers: Matthews is worth a first.
Why is it hometown fans either grossly overvalue or grossly undervalue their players?
Do you think a 3rd is over or under valuing Matthews?
Sorry, I thought the original comment was that no one should be interested in Matthews, or “give up anything”. Must have misread it. 😉
3 or 4 is probably reasonable. It’s quite possible the Eagles already said no to a 4.
I’m gonna disagree.
He’s on an expiring contract and hasn’t shown himself to be more than a complementary player. There are cheaper versions of that player available in the 3rd and 4th round.
Now if at Teddy Bridgewater scenario came up, that changes things -but it’s not like a more proven player from another team couldn’t be had at that price.
Once again, fans see the potential of 3rd and 4th round picks, while teams recognize how many of those picks don’t make it. Matthews is already better than your average 3-4 pick. Certainly better than Moncrief, while Lee has only had the one season, but is certainly intriguing.
At any rate, the claim that no team should give up anything for Matthews was silly. If the Eagles had traded a 4th for Lee before free agency, I would have loved the pickup.
I don’t know about Lee’s situation, but Matthews is on the last year of his deal.
I think he’s a fine complementary player but a GM who gives up a 3rd for him to play 16 games is doing a bad job.
Possibly, but you have to remember that having a player on your team gives a lot of advantages when it comes to signing him long term. Hard as it is to believe after last year, there are teams in the league who would benefit more from Matthews than the Eagles likely will this year.
I also think he may have positive impact on the team this year. He was hurt a lot of last year, is a very hard worker and smart. With more talent around him, he may be an important part of that offense if it clicks.
Id take it in an instant. . . So Id have to say that is over valuing him
Matthews certainly has value and it has almost become popular on here to under diminish what he can do after last year.
He’s not terrible like most of the Eagles WR, but why would a GM give up assets for a one year replacement level player who’s about to get expensive?
And here is where you can start previewing free agents.
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/2018/
I’d like to make to the OTA’s before worrying about next year….
Luckily, I didn’t post the free agent list for you rather it was done in reply to a guy talking about long term roster moves.
Wont let me reply to original post and says “this post is awaiting moderation” wtf?
I saw that too. Someone accidentally flagged it as inappropriate I bet.
With all the stupid shit that gets posted on here from time to time, its amazing that the first time I see a comment under moderation is a perfectly legitimate one.
Im a sucker, so I immediately had to look at the comment and see what it was about and was pleasantly surprised. Shame if someone wasn’t curious enough and missed it.
Honestly, that was probably the most read long comment in the thread. Everyone is curious as to what could be so scandalous.
I am waiting on pins and needles. It’s a great distraction.
We don’t lose the Dallas game if Blount is on this team last year. Not only does that give us one more win, but it also stops the fraudulent momentum built up around Dallas. Detroit would also have been a win. I can’t remember if there was another game or two that was lost due to a late game failure of the running game. I’d also chalk up the Giants loss to excessive passing vs. running that had Wentz on his heels throwing needless picks.
In either case, we’re 1/3rd of the way to a better solution. Blount is absolutely an upgrade over Ryan Mathews’s fumbling, falling down, laying down on the job rear end.
Now we just need to upgrade the play calling on 2nd and 3rd and less than 4 and the panty waist center / lg combo. Warmack/Greene/Gordon and Seumalo over Barbre / Kelce should allow us to get a lot of piles moved in a more positive direction.
We win that Dallas game if Pederson doesn’t call that damn bubble screen that took us out of FG range.
I like the move but dont get over excited. He is on the decline and was seeking one last big pay day. Blount’s yards per carry average has declined in each of his four seasons, from 5.0 in 2013, 4.7 in 2014, 4.3 in 2015 and 3.9 in 2016. At this point in his career, he is purely a short yardage/goal line back. How fast will his aging body recover from the pounding? Will be like Ryan Matthews? in that he will suffer from nagging injuries every week? Howie overpaid but its a one year deal so Im cool with that
I’ll take those 18 TDs any time!
And how did they overpay? His contract is about $1.25 mil without incentives. So if he performs and earns those incentives, everybody wins. If not, it’s not a big cost. I’d say they got a bargain!
It is a good deal- comparing his contract to other players contract (Peterson, Charles) we got him for about 40% of their cost.
Also, while we have to see his guaranteed $$- he isn’t guaranteed a spot on the roster. His salary won’t become guaranteed until (I believe) week 1 of the season.
His max without incentives are $1.2 mil – and from what I’ve read other places, only $400k is guaranteed. No risk – high reward.
That’s a very good deal if it turns out to be true. I’m excited to have him here- he can be a strong presence in our locker room; and hopefully he can give some pointers to Carson from working with Brady over the past few seasons.
No he will not be like Ryan Matthews – who was severely injury prone the day he came out of Mama. Ryan Matthews really hasn’t shown any signs of age. You’re comparing apples to calculus – you’re not even in the realm of oranges.
And while age is a factor, look above to Tommy’s article – he’s had considerably fewer carries than you’d expect for his age.
purely a short yardage/goal line back is selling him a little short.
remember, Pats picked him up off the streets a few years ago. Is he a product of the system? We shall see….
How much was the failure to convert short yardage situations on the RBs and how much was on the OL? Or was it a combination? Was Kelce a key culprit or just part of a bigger problem??
or how much was playing calling? I think they just called for another WR screen that went no where…again.
Was Doug calling WR screens because Kelce couldn’t get enough push up the middle? Or was Doug being cute or was it a combination?
Many of those screens were packaged plays. Defense loads the box you throw the bubble. If Jordan Matthews wouldn’t run into the back of his blocker it wouldn’t be such a big deal.
Not a coincidence that they added so many guys who run bubbles. I think it was almost as much of a focus as deep threats.
just using JM was an issue. He’s not fast or strong enough to break those tackles for any real gains.
Bird Brain Lane, and his missing 10 games, is all you need to point at.
I think this is part of the issue… but not all of it. I’d love to see a breakdown of all short yardage situations and why they failed. Kelce gets a lot of criticism for getting pushed back in these situations. I’d love to see who is truly to blame in these circumstances.
It’s been a problem with the Eagles for years and years.
I’m too lazy to look it up. What’s the cap situation?
Basically $0! Until they cut Mathews, the Eagles are going to be looking under the sofa cushions and in their desk drawers for cap cash!
For what exactly? What signing are you desperately hoping we’ll make before the season starts in order for us to need cap room?
This is the roster were going to compete with. Sure something can change, but most of those changes will give us cap room, not the opposite.
We’re not even that badly strapped for cap room in 2018, considering how much cap will be freed up by Peters, Kelce etc. and the end of dead money paid, including some owed to two QBs. That not even considering the almost yearly increase in the NFL cap.
At some point, we’ll have to start worrying about the very big contract that will be given to Jordan Hicks and the even more humongous one given to Wentz, but at that point, even a recent bad contract like Curry will be nearing its end and is cut-able with little dead money.
We need to start having great drafts and filling the team up with home grown talent, while the big FA contracts we hand out actually stay on the team an produce, but in no way are we in some sort of cap hell as i see it.
Oh, gee, I don’t know…what happens when somebody gets hurt and the Eagles need to sign a player to fill that roster spot but can’t becasue they don;t have cap space? Are you really stupid enough to think a team wants to go into the season with no cap space?
And if you think Mathews will be on the roster after he passes his physical, you really haven’t been paying attention.
What will happen when someone gets hurt? One of the players on our current 90 man roster who gets signed to the practice squad, will be moved back onto the 53 as a replacement of the guy going on IR/PUP, where he’ll be making the veteran minimum, probably not even counting because of the rule about only the top 51 contracts being measured against the cap room.
What is it you imagine will happen if Wentz, Peters or Cox goes down with an ACL injury in camp? That we’ll sign a free agent to a 10 mil/year, 1 year deal? Because what will happen is that Foles, Lane Johnson or Jernigan will move a step up on the latter, then the same thing will happen to the #3 QB, DT and OT. The to the #4 etc.
We’ll free up a couple of million at least with cuts when we move down to the actual roster for the season. Hell, we’ll do that by cutting Mathews when he can pass a physical. I dont think you have to worry about whether or not we can afford brining back Aaron Grymes or CJ Smith to the roster because of an injury.
With no cash they aren’t signing anybody – are you really that dense or are you just being a d-bag on purpose?
You’re moving pretty close to the blocked list.
Are you being a d-bag on purpose?
Mid season pricey deals are SO common, and the decent to high level talent pool mid-season is usually decent right?
So it doesn’t happen often, just don’t worry about it, right. Do you carry a spare tire in your care? How often to blow-outs happen? It’s nice to have a reserve just in case.
Bad analogy. To suggest that the Eagles are so thin at any position that they are “driving without a spare tire” is false. They have backups at every position and depth – albeit not top quality depth everywhere (you know like team x, with great depth everywhere…. oh wait, that doesn’t exist).
Also, they are expected to cut cap money before the beginning of the season – at the very least with Ryan Mathews. Maybe Kelce too. Maybe Kendricks too.
Your grasp of the entire concept of the cap is moronic. I’m done trying to help the mentally challenged. Rest comfortable in your ignorance
He is right, and he just explained how cap room would be opened up. You’re thinking like Jerry Jones circa 2012-2013.
According to overthecap – Eagles have slightly over 1.2 mil in cap. And I think that’s before the season. I don’t think many teams go into the season with 0 cap room.
The big “for what” signing is Barnett… Until they cut someone, they don’t even have enough space to sign our first round pick. Cutting Mathews will at least solve that problem, but usually, you want at least a little cap space available to deal with any injuries or movement on the roster.
And while you are right that most our future signings will be for close to vet minimums that still can easily add up. If we have multiple players go on IR (something that is by no means uncommon for a football team), that means you have to not only pay those guys still, but also pay the additional guys you sign, and with close to zero cap space currently, we would not be able to afford doing even that.
As for the 51 player rule you are mentioning below, that doesn’t apply once the season starts. All 53 players count against the cap, plus anyone on IR, plus all the practice squad players.
Rookies have their own cap pool. Allocation has already been made for all of their slotted salaries.
i like the Blount signing, but it doesn’t change the offensive line’s ability to open lanes in short yardage situations. As Tommy stated, Blount needs a running lane and won’t be creating his own. If the line doesn’t open a hole, Blount won’t be anymore successful than any other running back on the roster.
Lane needs to keep himself clean, and if he does, we’ll be fine there. The biggest problem for me is Kelce. He is obviously one of the most athletic interior linemen in the league, but in my opinion, he’s a liability in short yardage.
Was thinking the same.
Looks like we gave up a first round pick for Blount, by Cowboy fan math anyway…
https://twitter.com/Eagles/status/865204045610352641
Eagles fan math:
If A = B, and B = C,
Then C = Cowboys Suck.
Everything = Cowboys Suck
There. Fixed that for ya.
Therefore A=Giants and B=WASTEAM.
QED
If he’s not claimed, he goes on IR, so actually, we’re just trading a first round pick for a healthier first rounder next year!
LeGarrette Blount – New England Patriots – Every Rushing Touchdown (2016/17 Regular Season)
https://youtu.be/g2OXPwxJvHs
Why all the one year deals?
What is the disadvantage?
The holes these short termers are filling would have been there regardless of the contract of the person filling it. We tried to fill holes with priority free agents. We tried to fill holes with the draft. Anything that’s left at this point, you’re either putting in people with warts or UDFAs. The advantage is you’re filling a hole on the cheap without any dead money. The disadvantage is that you still need to address the hole later on.
Well said, and really, you are going to need to address the hole later on regardless. You are paying someone to put their finger in the dam until you can get real repair supplies.
“you’re either putting in people with warts or UDFAs”
Exactly! Would you rather have UDFA Clements or Blount? I’ll take the older proven commodity than the UDFA.
And Blount gets $400k guaranteed. If Clements proves better you cut Blount and count yourself lucky.
I’m betting the OL is pretty psyched.
Not Kelce. This may very well make his faults more glaring. The rest of the OL is probably thrilled. Blount may be the guy that gets Kelce benched.
You may be right.
Here’s hoping that German is Wed & safe in the Island of Crete by now
Just listened to Blount PC. I plead guilty to judging a book by its cover. He extremely articulate and comes off intelligent. Billichick doesn’t really tolerate stupid so I should have guessed. All I really knew of him was his bull in a China shop running style, punching a dude after a game, and chirping on the field (before NE).
Might just be one of my favs this year. Just be that monster Philly has longed for since Duce, and there is no way he isn’t a fan fav.
Since Weaver.
Weaver was a threat in the passing game, and served as a lead for the RB as a blocker-
I can’t really remember a time where we’ve had a back like him on our roster.
ACViking– any help on this?
I am no ACViking but there has NEVER been a back like Weaver
I was thinking the Walker rental in the 90’s, but he’s a poor comparison to Blount.
AC- thank you. That was a bit before my years, I appreciate your feedback.
It’s still too soon for me to talk about that.
You have to reach back to the 1980 SB Eagles and FB Leroy Harris.
I liked Weaver a ton. Never really thought he ran like Duce or Blount. Just banging through walls. I think I read something about him doing really well in life now though. Which is awesome.
Perfect. I wasn’t so much enamored with the idea of a big back although it certainly helps though inside 1/2 in the red zone and short yardage situations.
Eagles simply needed another RB would could be worked into the mix as well as giving them more positional depth. It was a crazy idea that Sproles & Smallwood were going to shoulder the load and somehow hold up & be effective over the course of a season.
古人日三省其身，我从博客里吸收养分！