Information Overload

I got a lot of questions about LBs after yesterday’s post on Luke Kuechly.  I’m going to set them aside for now and focus on something else.  I’ll get to the LBs tonight or tomorrow.

This is the time of year when we get a lot of reports, rumors, and just plain crazy predictions.  It is critical to read the specific words used by people to understand what they are really saying.

Geoff Mosher had an article up yesterday that mentioned the Eagles having interest in LB Dan Connor.  Warning – that site is going to start restricting articles.  Only read this if you are really, really interested.  They give you 5 free articles.  Choose carefully.

Mosher said he had heard from a source that the Eagles were interested in Connor.  He also mentioned that another source said Connor was more of a backup plan and nothing was likely to happen.  The second part is the key to his report.

The Eagles have interest in Dan Connor, but as part of Plan B or Plan C or Plan D.  He is not an offseason target.  He is a contingency plan.  And that’s exactly what Connor should be.  He’s not so good you say “get me that guy”.  He is a serviceable veteran who could do the job if the better options haven’t worked out.  I watched tape of Connor and that’s the way I feel about him.  He would be an upgrade on what we had in 2011, but he’s not the guy I ideally want to solve our problems at MLB.

The most interesting nugget from Mosher is that the Eagles talked to the Panthers about a trade for Connor last summer, but they refused because of concern for Jon Beason’s health.  That proved to be warranted and Connor started quite a bit for them.

Dave Spadaro becomes an important source of information at this time of year.  His most recent column is titled “Expect Minimal Bang in Free Agency“.  That certainly doesn’t sound encouraging.  But then read the column and you see where he’s coming from.

UPDATE:  The column was changed to “Expect Minimal Noise Ahead”

Last year the team added multiple starters (Babin, Jenkins, Asomugha).  The team signed Ryan Harris to be a starter.  He got hurt so Todd moved out and FA Evan Mathis took his spot at LG.  You had big name backups in Vince Young, Ronnie Brown, and Steve Smith.  The trade for DRC also gets mixed into the equation.  That is a lot of activity.

Dave gets asked by fans about all kinds of FAs.  I get quite a few inquiries myself.  It can be enough to make your head spin.  You get the feeling fans want the team to go sign DT Jason Jones, CB Cortland Finnegan, G Carl Nicks, WR Vincent Jackson, MLB Curtis Lofton, and SAM Jarrett Johnson, unless Kamerion Wimbley is cut and we can add him.

That kind of stuff just isn’t going to happen.  The Eagles are basically set for starters at most spots.  With DeSean getting tagged, you have MLB wide open and SAM sort of open.  That’s it.

The Eagles will add one starting LB.  2 is possible, but unlikely because there aren’t great SAM targets for our system.

The Eagles will add backup players.  We need a veteran RB.  QB is still possible.  We could add a big WR like Plax (as a role player).  We could use a backup interior OL (assuming we let JamJax go).

One starter and a handful of backups is what  you’re looking at.  And frankly I think that is the smart way to go.  We can make moves in July and August if we have issues that pop up.  The best Eagles teams didn’t make a ton of FA moves.  They focused on quality and not quantity.

I think the FA column is just Dave’s way of calming down the fans who might be expecting a repeat of last summer and the FA frenzy the Eagles were part of.  Sometimes you have to read between the lines with Dave.  The Eagles don’t let him spill the beans on plans, but he will give us hints.  It takes a while to figure out what is BS and what is worth noting.

We’re going to read a lot of stuff in the coming weeks.  Make sure to read carefully so you aren’t mislead by just one part of a story.  And don’t to get hung up on headlines.  Those are written so you’ll click on the story and read it.  They don’t always accurately convey the point of the article or column.

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Check out The NFL Today discussion on the Bounty Bowl.  Brent Musburger, Irv Cross, Will McDonough, and Mike Ditka.  I don’t think Mike liked Buddy or Buddy liked Jimmy Johnson.  Hilarious stuff.