Monday FA Update

Posted: March 11th, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 56 Comments »

Last time we talked, Geoff Mosher had the Eagles interested in FA Danny Amendola.  Les Bowen reported on Twitter that he was hearing the Eagles did not have interest in Amendola.  Dave Spadaro then came on Eagles Live and said definitively the Eagles do not have interest.  ”Will not happen.”

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Kudos to Les for getting down to the bottom of Amendolagate.

And kudos to Dave for giving us a definitive answer.

A few people have asked whether Dave’s comments should be trusted.  Could he be saying this to help negotiations?  Does he really know?  Dave’s been wrong about this guy or that guy in the past.  And so on.

As I always say with Dave, you have to study what he says carefully to find out what is his opinion, what is fact, and what might just be a hint.  I cannot recall a case of Dave being so definitive.  Oh, he may have said in regard to some elite FA target “That guy won’t be an Eagle”, but you can read between the lines of those comments and see he’s generally trying to keep fan expectations from getting out of hand.

Danny Amendola?  This time Dave is reporting what he’s heard from inside the building.  Take this to the bank.

It sounds like Mosher might have gotten used by an agent to get the report out there.  Then Les does his digging and Dave does his.  There is no question in my mind that Amendola is not a FA target at this time.

Remember that we’re going to hear all kinds of rumors in the next 2 months (FA and draft).  The local guys do a very good job for us, but one place they get info is from agents.  Sometimes that info is false or just misleading.  Agents have an agenda.  They want competition for their clients.  That means we’ll have to deal with a few erroneous reports.  Better to have a mixture of good and bad info than no info at all.

The national guys are the ones who can really get used by the agents.  Trust Jay Glazer.  Kinda trust everyone else.

As always, the devil is in the details.  Read the words used by the writer/reporter.  ”The Eagles will pursue” is vastly different than “The Eagles are expected to be interested in”.  Too often fans read those sentences the same way.

C’mon people. Conjugate you’re verbs. Cross your i’s and dot your t’s.  Avoid using semi;colons and definitely don’t end sentences with prepositions (or propositions).  Do you know what I speak of?  Put your English learnin’ to good use.

* * * * *

QB Matt Scott will be arriving in Philly this afternoon.  He succeeded Nick Foles at Arizona and had a very good year.  Scott is the type of athletic QB that Chip Kelly worked with at Oregon and could be what Chip is looking for.  He is a project so I had him projected as a late round pick, but there is speculation that he may now go as early as the 3rd round.

Bill Lazor will work Scott out in Arizona in a couple of weeks.  Today is just a meeting between Scott and the coaching staff.

* * * * *

Jay Glazer reported the Vikings are trading WR Percy Harvin to the Seahawks for draft picks.  You thought the Vikings were one-dimensional last year?  Oh boy, wait til you see the offense without their one passing game weapon.

Seattle’s offense now has an interesting mixture of young skill players.

* * * * *

Dave Spadaro mentioned on Eagles Live that he expects the Eagles to re-sign LS Jon Dorenbos.  I hope so.  Dorenbos is a good LS, but also is a good locker room guy and a fun player to follow.

* * * * *

Back to FA.  Les Bowen said he is hearing the Eagles will go after one of the top CBs.  Les just couldn’t get a specific name.  I think we all expected this, but it is good to hear.

Adam Caplan said on Eagles Live that he expects the team to go after a starting Safety.  Again, not a surprise, but still good to hear.

Get me a couple of starting DBs and I’ll be a happy camper.

* * * * *

Daniel Jeremiah said on Twitter that Isaac Sopoaga makes a lot of sense for the Eagles, because he can play NT.  I still question the Eagles going after an older guy like that.  Jeremiah didn’t say this was a rumor.  Just speculation on his part.

* * * * *

Dallas just released Dan Connor.  This is a guy I’d love the Eagles to sign as a STer and backup ILB.  Connor can start, but isn’t anything special.  He turns 28 this spring so he’s got a few more years left in him.  Dallas is trying to cut salary so they needed to let him go.

_

  • http://www.facebook.com/watkinsont Tom Watkinson

    Irresponsible reporting much like the Revis/Roseman rumor. Since when did it become the norm in my fair city w a outstanding journalistic history to have supposed journalists publish a story w/o at least 2 sources verifying a story.

    • ICDogg

      It’s been years since that was the standard. Now it’s one “reporter” makes up [insert crap rumor here] and everyone else publishes a story that according to a report, [insert same crap rumor here].

      • Cliff

        Blame it on the interwebz?

        • Neil

          Nah, the only person who can decide to make reporters retarded is reporters.

      • A_T_G

        The Fox News cycle!

      • D3Keith

        You have to be willing to get scooped to make accuracy a priority.

        Personally I’m not sure readers care as much about scoops as much as journalists do, so long as we all have it in a reasonable amount of time.

    • http://twitter.com/MFlicker Mike Flick

      Have you lived under a rock for the last 20 years?

    • TommyLawlor

      Not irresponsible. Geoff reported something he heard. I’m assuming it was from the agent. Don’t know that for a fact, but it makes sense. If that’s what happened, Geoff got burned for trusting the agent.

      Nobody gets multiple sources anymore.

    • http://www.facebook.com/matthew.verhoog Matthew Verhoog

      With politics before an election I could get upset about things like this, but it’s a game about a game about a game.
      Oh Danny boy, we could dream for that half-hour or so.

  • http://twitter.com/MFlicker Mike Flick

    Tommy,

    I am really amazed at the quantity of information that you have been putting out. When things get busy, I have been tending to rely on a few of the bloggers to hit all the sources, and keep me up on what is going on.

    With this guy Pugh, do you think he is a 2nd round target?

    Thanks,
    Mike

    • TommyLawlor

      I’m still figuring Pugh out. I can’t see any way he’s worth pick 35. Question is whether he is on the board for our 3rd rounder. I tend to think so, but can’t say that with great confidence.

  • http://twitter.com/BugeHalls Buge Halls

    You forgot one – never EVER trust a report from Howard Eskin!

    • TommyLawlor

      Wait…I thought he was never wrong. You can’t trust a man in a fur coat anymore? What’s the world coming to…

  • Cliff

    I was kind of hoping the Danny Amendola rumors were true. I liked him when he was on the practice squad. Back then, wasn’t it sort of him vs. Chad Hall for a spot on the roster? Can’t really remember. Didn’t the Rams sign Amendola around the same time they traded for Brandon Gibson? I really liked Gibson too.

  • T_S_O_P

    You mentioned on the blog that Q got released but you expect the Eagles to look for bigger safeties. Q, of course, only became a player after a good few seasons honing his skills on STs. Anyway, Ray Ray had his pro day today. He is certainly a bigger safety from a school with safety pedigree, but I wondered Tommy if you had any thoughts on late rounder or UDFA Terence Garvin of WVU. There he played in a strange D where he was a quasi safety/LB. Isn’t that what we are looking for?

    • TommyLawlor

      Haven’t studied Garvin yet. Ray Ray is huge.

      There are several guys the coaches should like. I’ve got thoughts on one of them, but I’m trying to wait for the FA stuff to die down so I can get back to draft info.

      • D3FB

        Your thoughts on Rontez Miles as a late round target?

        • TommyLawlor

          I’d be fine with him. Watched one game. Didn’t do a lot, but didn’t exactly have the ball near him much. Interesting project. Worth using late pick on.

      • austinfan

        Ray Ray didn’t run very fast. I think a 4.65. 7.23 cone drill which is not good for a safety, and he weighed in at 6’3 216.

      • T_S_O_P

        Gavin’s height and weight measurable a match Ray Ray’s.

  • http://twitter.com/KeeepSwinging Anthony Hart

    Eagles worked out Geno Smith today. Lurie, Roseman, and Kelly were all there. Do you think this is just due diligence or legit interest in him at 4? Seems interesting that the all 3 musketeers went, especially Lurie. Is the owner going to a workout standard practice? Link: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/11/eagles-give-geno-smith-a-workout-in-morgantown/

    • Iskar36

      I would guess that this is due diligence. If you draft Geno Smith with the 4th pick, you are making him the face of your franchise and basically tying the success of your franchise to him (meaning guys like Roseman and Kelly will either succeed with him or get fired because of him if you draft Smith). To me, that’s something the the owner, GM, and Coach will all feel is important to be careful about, so my guess is that while this is just due diligence, they are not simply going through the motions.

      • http://www.insidetheiggles.com/ CalSFro

        Well put.

    • D3FB

      I would imagine picking so high the Eagles will bring in or go work out all of the guys expected to go in the top 10-15. Part of it will be creating misinformation, part of it will be doing due diligence in case we move down.

      • Skeptic_Eagle

        Interesting that Lurie was there, though.

      • D3Keith

        This is what I think it is, though all the theories are interesting.

        Go back to the year we got Maclin at 19 when he was supposed to go 7 to the Raiders. The Eagles had to at least have an opinion of him despite the idea that nobody had him going to Philly in their mocks.

    • http://twitter.com/sjampendk Patrick

      As Jimmy Bama noted, it could also be the Eagles trying to tell the league that if you want Geno, you have to trade with us, or we might take him. Trying to create some buzz and a little value for a trade down. Remember the Vikes getting some late round picks because they convinced the Browns that they were wiling to give up Kalil if someone wanted to pay big for Richardson.

      • Iskar36

        I’m not sure I fully buy that argument. If there is a QB you like enough to draft at #4 in the draft, you don’t trade out of the spot to another team so that they can draft him instead. So if we are sitting there on draft day at #4 with Geno on the board, no team is going to believe the Eagles bluff that “well, if you want Geno, you need to trade with us to get him or else we’ll draft him.” (I will admit the one exception to that would be the Rivers/Manning trade, but to me, both seemed like more legitimate top QB options than Geno). I think the more likely trade angle comes from the idea that a team buys that the Eagles want Geno Smith, so they decide to move up ahead of the Eagles to draft him, pushing down a guy that may have otherwise been drafted ahead of the Eagles to the #4 pick.

        • Skeptic_Eagle

          Agreed. If anything, wouldn’t the Eagles perceived interest in Smith at #4 strengthen the Raiders’ pick’s value at #3?

          • http://www.insidetheiggles.com/ CalSFro

            That’s fine. If a team trades up to 3 for Geno then that just increases our options at 4.

          • A_T_G

            Or increases the options for a team that wants Floyd, for example, and then trades with us. Many it is a con on a deeper level than we are giving them credit for.

          • austinfan

            Which pushes a player they want down to #4.
            Win-win.

          • http://twitter.com/PhiIs_Goodman Phils Goodman

            That would appear to be Sharrif Floyd.

            I don’t buy into this con-job angle. I think Geno Smith is being considered for the #4 pick. If it means that Sharrif Floyd falls to them instead, I like that too.

        • http://twitter.com/sjampendk Patrick

          Im not sure either. The argument would be that the Eagles already have a guy in Vick who could likely start and a prospect in Foles. Yeah Yeah, Vick sucks and Foles doesnt fit, but the Eagles have the luxury of passing on a QB, since they have 2 legitimate choices already. Take the Dolphins last year, and imagine them going into season with Matt Moore and David Garrard as the franchise QBs.
          This is not a good QB class, which is why no fan wants their team to select Geno high, but not all teams can sit back and wait for next years draft with what looks like a crazy amount of legitimate QB prospects. The Eagles can, with Vick and Foles in place.

          I do however agree that its far more likely that the Eagles want to see Geno go in the top 3, instead of someone else.

  • Skeptic_Eagle

    The Seahawks have an “interesting mixture of young skill players” like a Maserati is an “interesting way to get from point A to point B”. Defensive coordinators are probably taking their heart pills thinking of trying to defend Wilson, Lynch, Rice, Tate and Harvin. Can you imagine the kind of problems they’ll cause if they run a 2 back triple option with Wilson, Lynch and Harvin in the backfield, like the Redskins did with Griffin? With Rice and Tate running deep routes, and the luxury of having Doug Baldwin in the slot? Yuck.

    Very glad to hear the Eagles are not interested in Amendola. It didn’t make a lot of sense in the first place. Not the kind of player they should be pursuing, in my opinion.

    Do you get the sense that Caplan has any kind of insider knowledge? He’s employed by the Eagles organization, and has at times seemed like Dave Spadaro’s best bud. So far he’s been bullish on Jean-Francois, and now a starting safety.

    • TommyLawlor

      Caplan has a ton of connections. I’ve hung out with him at the last 2 Senior Bowls. He’s on the phone a lot. Talks to every agent on earth. Friends with coaches and GMs.

      You can’t totally trust his info, but more often than not he’s on the money. Also a good guy.

  • TommyLawlor

    My take on the Geno Smith report and a couple of other bits of info are posted.

    http://eaglesblog.net/

    • Mark823

      Isn’t it weird that Lurie went on the visit? It doesn’t seem like something he normally does, especially because he seems to take a hands off approach in personnel matters. It would make sense that the visit is a smokescreen, but would Lurie really waste time going to a visit just as a smokescreen, or is it possible the Eagles do have real interest? I’m probably looking too far into it, I just don’t know if Lurie typically goes on visits like this or not.

      • Iskar36

        To me, I think it is more than simply a smokescreen. At the same time, I don’t mean that to say that they are seriously interested. I think they are just doing more than simply going through the motions. In terms of the Lurie angle, I agree if it was just a smokescreen, he wouldn’t waste the time. In addition, the reason he likely doesn’t do this often is because we have had very few opportunities to draft what would ultimately be the face of the franchise. If you draft Geno at 4, that is exactly what he becomes. Makes sense that the owner of the franchise is there in case you decide he is worth going after.

        • Mark823

          That seems like a logical explanation, Smith probably is not a serious target but is worth evaluating.

          • http://twitter.com/PhiIs_Goodman Phils Goodman

            How is that not serious?

        • xeynon

          I think you nailed it. I doubt Lurie gets on a plane to go meet Luke Joeckel or Dee Milliner or Dion Jordan. But a quarterback is more than just another player, he is the most high profile leader on the team almost by default. You don’t draft a guy to fill that position unless you’re sure he can handle all the attendant responsibilities, on the field and off.

      • the midatlantic

        Lurie’s presence probably speaks to Tommy’s theory that most teams would think it’s a stunt. Need to really sell it.

        • TommyLawlor

          Bingo.

  • SleepingDuck

    Interesting nugget from Ian Rapoport
    “Mike Tannenbaum walking around the newsroom. Mentions how close #Jets were to trading to pick Harvin in 2009 with #Eagles. Cost? ’10 first”

  • xeynon

    Mosher seems to be establishing a track record of being fairly unreliable. This isn’t the first time he appears to have been used as a tool by an agent or somebody else with an agenda.

    Didn’t really see what Amendola brought to the table that we don’t have already, so in any case I’m glad this is one rumor that doesn’t look likely to pan out.

    As for Sopoaga, I kind of like him as a stopgap at NT if we’re not planning to draft a top prospect in the first few rounds. We could take a developmental prospect later in the draft and if he doesn’t pan out by the time Sopoaga leaves, address the position with a higher pick in a future draft.

  • GermanEagle

    I respect you and your well put opinions, but I think you put too much stock into Dave’s remark. In the end he ‘only’ works for the Eagles so why should he say the opposite?! Personally I wouldn’t be surprised if the Eagles sign Amendola after all.

    • TommyLawlor

      I’ve read/listened to Dave for 20 years now. I know his normal tone. Saying “will not happen” in regard to a mid-level FA is a fact. Trust me on this.

    • http://www.facebook.com/matthew.verhoog Matthew Verhoog

      Dave is rarely definitive. I cannot recall a time that he said something so flatly and the opposite turned out. (except when the official stated position of the team was the opposite of what turned out, ie. Kolb/Vick).

  • Mac

    Tommy, thanks for the update on the Dorenbos and Anderson signings. My offseason is now complete.

    Let the games begin!

    • GermanEagle

      Is that your Irish roots or why are you so easy to satisfy (in reference to Irland’s loss to England in the 6 nations)?! ;)

      • Mac

        Ha, just a bit of blarney for ya ;) in all seriousness though i am glad we are keeping those guys for our special teams.

  • http://www.facebook.com/gaparsons Greg Parsons

    I remember when we signed Asomugha, that Roseman was asked how did the Eagles keep it so quiet that they were interested in signing him. His response was that they told the agent they would pull out if he leaked their interest to the media. He didn’t want to find that they were being used to drive his price up. This could be the same type of thing, but the agent leaked the story instead. So Roseman has pulled out of showing interest. Why else would they get Dave respond to a rumour? Do they do this with all the rumours that are out there?

    • A_T_G

      Interesting take. Obviously there is a lot of speculation there, but if that is how things went, what a great way to show agents that you mean what you say.

      This is my favorite theory.

  • Gregory Post

    Tommy, if you could purely speculate on a starting safety (Strong or Free) that the Eagles could acquire in a trade, similar to how we acquired a starting MLB in Demeco Ryans, who would be your guess?

  • Flyin

    The Proposition is a good movie.

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421238/?ref_=sr_2