Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Wentz Deal is Official

Posted June 10th, 2019 | Comments Off on Wentz Deal is Official

Jeffrey Lurie and Carson Wentz met the media on Monday to talk about the new deal between Wentz and the Eagles.

Lurie kept it short and sweet, focusing on how much the Eagles like Wentz and how they’ve been committed to him since the first meeting back in Fargo.

Wentz gave some quick remarks and then fielded questions. The highlights:

He loves the Eagles organization and wanted to be here long term.

He loves the city of Philadelphia. Some of this is PR, but I also think Wentz is genuine with how much he loves the fanbase and the area. His personality might be a bit awkward in Los Angeles or Miami or New York. He wouldn’t be as natural in New Orleans or San Francisco. Philly really is a great fit for him and vice versa.

One of the things I liked most is what Wentz said about pressure.

Exactly right.

When you play QB, you get the glory. You also get the pressure. That’s a package deal. You can’t just have the good stuff.

Wentz not only understands this, he embraces it. The pressure to succeed is part of what makes him such a driven person. We’ve seen plenty of QBs have some success and then get caught up in the fun stuff. Wentz is naturally grounded.

There were some questions about the timing of the deal. Did Wentz consider waiting? He said that he wanted to get the deal done. He wanted to be an Eagle and the team wanted him to stay. The two sides worked hard to find common ground and get the deal done. Right now, this is a happy marriage.

He might have a big contract now, but Wentz remains very hungry. He was asked to look back and the highs and lows of the previous three years. Wentz said he preferred to focus on the future. He talked about how talented the team is and how they’ve got a chance to do something special.

While Michael Vick had his Ron Mexico alias, I don’t expect we’ll be seeing Donnie Dakota anytime soon. Wentz isn’t guided by money. He’s obsessed with football and winning, partly due to chasing the postseason legend of Nick Foles.

Wentz is all in.

*****

https://twitter.com/SportsRadioWIP/status/1137476058222120960

Joe knows a thing or two about contracts.

Roseman and Banner are both outstanding negotiators. From an outsider’s perspective, it seems like Roseman has a way of making the player and agent feel really good about the deal. Banner came across as more competitive, as if he were trying to win deals.

To be fair, Banner had plenty of satisfied players and agents. At the same time, it sure seemed like more guys got upset back then than they do now. Maybe that’s just changing times.

*****

We know one current Eagle isn’t happy.

https://twitter.com/WilliamsSharrie/status/1138129819978346497

Let’s hope Roseman and Jenkins can work something out that is fair to both sides.

*****

Speaking of Roseman…

About what we expected to hear.

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More Front Office Talk

Posted June 9th, 2019 | 1 Comment »

The Jets got their man when they hired Joe Douglas.

That is a major commitment to Douglas.

The Texans are looking around for a GM. Unlike the Jets, they are not going all out in pursuit of a top candidate. Coach Bill O’Brien is the big dog in Houston so the team is looking for someone to work with him be his Yes Man.

Houston has talked to Martin Mayhew (former GM of the Lions) and Ray Farmer (former GM of the Browns). Both men are experienced executives, but also have mixed track records. Mayhew is the better of the two (despite Farmer being a former Eagles LB who played a big part in a shutout win over the Giants in 1996).

Every organization is run differently.

Douglas was part of a big front office in Philly. Howie Roseman was the ultimate decision-maker, but Jeffrey Lurie encourages things to be done in a collaborative way. Douglas also saw that style when he was in Baltimore. He will run the show in New York, but I’m sure he will attempt to build a high quality scouting staff and will embrace a collaborative style.

This is a great point by Sheil.

Douglas wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime evaluator who discovered prospects everyone else missed. Heck, he loved Donnel Pumphrey. But Douglas was good at building consensus as the scouting staff put the draft board together. He also worked with Roseman on pro decisions and internal evaluations. You can be sure they didn’t agree on everything, but they found middle ground and helped build a great roster together.

The Eagles still have plenty of good scouts and talent evaluators.

Tom Donahoe – Senior Football Advisor – Longtime scout and executive for the Steelers. Was also GM for Buffalo. Old school football scout.

Anthony Patch – Senior Director of College Scouting – Has been with the Eagles since 2002. Patch has been an area scout and mid-level executive.

Brandon Brown – Director of Pro Scouting – Was the Asst Director of Pro Scouting and got promoted when Dwayne Joseph left for the Raiders. Has worked for the Colts and Eagles, starting in 2015.

Ian Cunningham – Director of College Scouting – Joined the Eagles in 2017 to work with Joe Douglas. Previously was in Baltimore for nine years.

TJ McCreight – Player Personnel Executive – Has worked as a scout and personnel executive since 1997. Experience with multiple teams.

Alan Wolking – Assistant Director of College Scouting – Has worked for the Eagles since 2011.

Shawn Heinlen – Southwest Area Scout – Longtime scout for the Bills came over to the Eagles last May.

Max Gruder – Assistant Director of Pro Scouting – Joined the team this offseason. Came over after working for the Dolphins.

Ryan Myers – West Coast Area Scout – Outstanding area scout. Previously covered the East Coast for the Eagles.

Jim Ward – Northeast Area Scout – Has been a part of the Eagles scouting staff since 2016.

Matt Holland – Senior Pro Scout – Has more than a decade of experience, working as both an assistant coach and scout.

Patrick Stewart – National Scout – Worked for the Patriots from 2007-2017. Joined the Eagles a year ago.

Casey Weidl – Player Personnel Coordinator – Brother of Andy Weidl. Has worked in football operations / scouting since 2015.

Chris Nolan – Player Personnel Scout – Just got promoted from Scouting Assistant.

When you hear Daniel Jeremiah praise the Eagles scouting staff, this is why. That is a deep, talented group of evaluators.

I didn’t list Andy Weidl and Andrew Berry, who would be the top two executives. I wanted to focus on others, who are lesser known, but very important parts of the roster building that has gone on in recent years.

Douglas helped the Eagles build a great scouting staff. Now they have to figure out who should run that staff.

I am interested to see if the Eagles promote Weidl to Douglas’ role. Replacing Douglas won’t be easy, in part because he’s got an odd job description. I remember that Slash talked about how hard it was for Guns n’ Roses to replace Izzy Stradlin. They struggled to explain exactly what Izzy did and that made it tough on the guys trying to replace him. Izzy was much more than just a rhythm guitar player.

Weidl should know better than anyone what Douglas was doing for the past two years. Of course, Weidl could follow his friend to the Jets.

Stay tuned on that.

As much as the Eagles need a strong talent evaluator, they need a leader, communicator and people person.

*****

There are all kinds of rumors going on with Douglas. He has talked to Todd McShay of ESPN about joining him. They were on the University of Richmond football team together. That would be an interesting hire.

Phil Savage’s name has come up. He lost his AAF job and worked with Douglas back in Baltimore so he would definitely make some sense.

Weidl and Ian Cunningham have both been mentioned. They are friends with Douglas, but have to decide if leaving the Eagles makes sense.

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