Sounds of Silence

When I was 13, I went to the local mall with my grandmother. I somehow had saved up $5 and it was burning a hole in my pocket.

I walked into the toy store and went straight to the baseball card section. Topps sold rack packs for $2.64 and I couldn’t wait to add to my growing collection.

You could see the top three cards and the bottom three. You had an idea of who you were getting. Who wouldn’t spend $2.64 for that kind of heaven?

I was doing some intense soul-searching, trying to figure out which of the dozens of packs I should invest in. I already had bought several of those packs that year and I didn’t want duplicates. My grandmother walked in and saw the angst as I tried to make a decision. I explained the significance of my decision and what I was worried about. She uttered a simple phrase that has haunted me ever since.

“When in doubt, leave it out.”

Who the heck unloads that kind of logical wisdom on an innocent child? What a horrible, horrible thing to do. I left without any cards, with $5 and with a phrase stuck in my head forever.

I bring up this story because it feels like Howie Roseman’s thinking at the trade deadline. When in doubt, leave it out.

The Eagles liked plenty of players. You can bet Howie called the other 31 teams and talked to them about who was available and who might be looking for help. I’m sure he had some players he wanted to add, but only at the right price. He didn’t want to roll the dice if there was any doubt.

We heard all kinds of rumors, but the trade deadline that came in with such fanfare went out with a whimper. Much ado about nothing.

I’m perfectly fine with Howie staying quiet. There were players and positions I had interest in, but the price and fit had to make sense. Clearly those situations never panned out to Howie’s liking.

The Eagles have one of the oldest rosters in the league. They need draft capital for the spring. If this team was 8-0, he might have been more aggressive. With the team at 4-4 and the season far from a sure thing, Howie was a picky shopper.

Would CB Darius Slay be an upgrade over Jalen Mills? Yes. But Mills and a first round pick vs Slay is a different equation. You have to think of the big picture. There is risk to be sure. If that pick becomes Marcus Smith, the Eagles lost. If the pick becomes Fletcher Cox or Brandon Graham, the Eagles won big.

Eagles draft picks haven’t been going to the Pro Bowl at a high rate in the last few years, but that doesn’t mean you give up. I wrote a piece last year about how the foundation of the Super Bowl team was  built between 2010-2013. You had Brandon Graham, Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry, Mychal Kendricks, Nick Foles, Lane Johnson and Zach Ertz all come from that era. All of them started in the Super Bowl.

Draft players. Develop players. Keep players. That’s how you build a good team.

The only way the Eagles could give up 2020 draft picks is if the deal was too good to pass up.

While Trade Day was frustrating because we all wanted something fun, this probably was the way to go. Let this team sink or swim on the talent here. Robby Anderson would have been an interesting addition, but is this a guy you can’t live without? The Jets don’t have enough weapons and they are willing to let him go. That has to tell you something. Chris Harris…is this a guy you want to give up a good pick to get for half a season?

The Eagles are a better team. Genard Avery can come in and help this team generate more of a pass rush. Just how much he’ll help is something we’ll have to wait to find out. I didn’t like the price the Eagles paid for him, but Avery is young and cheap. The Eagles need those kind of players so that takes some of the sting out of giving up a 2021 fourth rounder.

*****

I’ve talked a lot about going young in the last week or so. There can be real value in that.

Bruce Hector, Anthony Rush and Albert Huggins all played hard on Sunday. Akeem Spence hadn’t shown that same level of urgency when he played. These guys are hungry and want to impress the coaches. I thought all three of them had good moments.

The young LBs played well. Nate Gerry may have played his best game in the NFL. T.J. Edwards showed real potential. I was very impressed by him.

Young players are going to make some mistakes and have some bad moments, but there is definitely something to be said for giving them a chance to pump some life into an older team that needs some juice. When this team is at its best, it plays with a lot of energy and emotion.

Let’s hope we see more of that going forward.

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