ALMOST a month ago I nearly put out an article saying how much I was looking forward to Howie Roseman returning to the role of General Manager. But it was early and so I didn’t want to jump the gun. I’m glad I waited, because right now, I have some seriously mixed feelings about the job he’s done so far. Before I get into giving the world my two cents, I think it’s important that we go over the facts to make sure we’re all on the same page.
THE CUTS:
It’s important to get rid of players that are bad apples, players who don’t fit your scheme, or players who are no longer productive. We started off by shedding WR Riley Cooper who’s productivity has always been questionable at best, and who was clearly not worth the weight of his contract. Soon after followed ILB DeMeco Ryans who was not only a bad fit for the 4-3 system we’re implementing, but who would have also been in the way of budding star Jordan Hicks. Ryans contract was simply too heavy to sit him at that price. These moves made sense. If anyone can find the fault in them, I’d be interested to hear it. Logic however says these cuts deserve a top grade. (A)
RETAINED FREE AGENTS:
Before you reward a stranger for things he hasn’t done for you, it’s pretty smart to reward the guys you drafted who have performed well. RT Lane Johnson‘s durability and consistency were worth rewarding. TE Zach Ertz has improved his production every year of his career so far. You reward that. DE Vinny Curry‘s production has consistently out-paced starters on this team. TE Brent Celek has been a good soldier for this city since the day he got here. SS Malcolm Jenkins is a leader on and off the field. You reward those things. QB Sam Bradford had half of a good year. You rew- Wait. Hold on. The guy puts up pedestrian numbers in a high powered offensive system and it makes him worth bring back? Especially now that he’ll be back to running a more traditional system, which he’s been mediocre at over his whole career. 5 out of 6 equals an 83. (B)
TRADED PLAYERS:
We gave away ILB Kiko Alonso and CB Byron Maxwell to move up five spots in the 1st round of this Draft. Yes that move clears cap space, but it also widened our hole at LB without getting much in overall return. The move up is to get what? A QB? There is no franchise QB in this Draft. Granted, some of these guys look better than the other guys, but you wouldn’t put any of them against Andrew Luck the year he came out. You wouldn’t put them against Cam Newton, or Eli Manning the year they came out either. This years QB crop is far from great, so moving up to get one would be stupid. Oh yeah! We also gave away RB DeMarco Murray to swap 4th round picks with the Titans. So instead of a depth and a 1-2 punch at RB, we now have to cross our fingers that when RB Ryan Mathews gets injured again (and he always does), it won’t be for too many games. We got hosed twice. (F)
SIGNED FREE AGENTS:
At the time that this is being written (4:28am 3/10/16) the Eagles have so far added FS Rodney McLeod, CB Ron Brooks, OLB Nigel Bradham, QB Chase Daniels, and G Brandon Brooks. This is largely a shrug inducing list. (Though I’ve been big on Bradham for years now. In fact I was hoping that we’d get to draft him.) Bradham’s experience with the system run by Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz should help the team right from the get-go. From what I hear McLeod is pretty good too. Ron Brooks and Daniels are career back-ups, and finesse blocker Brandon Brooks offers us nothing that Allen Barbre wasn’t already giving us. Which was clearly not enough. Given that by the time you read this, we could have signed two more guys, I won’t put a grade on this section. But let me tell you, it wouldn’t be a high grade if I did put one on it. (-)
On the whole, we’re no stronger than we were the day Chip Kelly came to work and saw Jeff Lurie throwing his shit out of a second story window. I mean just look at the talent we added or lost, position by position.
QB – We’re no better
RB – We’re less talented
WR – No better
TE – No better
OT – No better
G – No better
C – No better
(Defensive grades are not adjusted for the new system. This is just about player talent.)
DE – No better
DT – No better
OLB – Clearly better
MLB – No better (We had Hicks last year)
SS – No better
FS – Questionable (Thurmond was very good for us last year)
CB – Less talented
So far our 7-9 team has gone backwards in terms of talent. For that we can (SO FAR) only blame Roseman. That being said, this is a highly fluid situation and a couple of moves one way or the other could stand the whole thing on it’s ear. Still, I’m glad I waited on that article.
While I love the clear breakdown of all the moves to this point, I do NOT like what it seems to say about the upcoming season.
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Junk moves. This is not a increase in talent but shredding payroll. Nothing bold here just fielding a squad.
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That’s exactly what it seems like. We’re not even stockpiling picks at this point. Not even future ones.
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That breakdown that you gave really highlights that we are draining talent. Lets face it, if Bradford is not successful next year they will pitch Chase Daniels as pedersons protege. Im not seeing any star power here at all. Lets face it whne you make a run you need a top tier DE and DT. Curry could be that guy. Cox needs a strong body next to him . The linebackers look above average but of injured not deep. We still have Ol issues and have no WR guarantees. Now RB is looking thin. They better get someone that can take it the distance on offense because it looks a little slow to me. IDK not a real encouraging.
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Right now the Defense looks good, but we’re kind of shrug inducing at our Offensive skill positions, and we have deep and looming problems on the Offensive Line. Depth seems to be a problem at every position except TE and KR/PR.
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Not sure why you don’t think we are better at guard. Brooks is a monster who has been honing his skills in the trenches against JJ Watt. I don’t know much about McLeod, but from what I hear he’s a smart kid that is willing to lay the wood. I know you like some contact and from what I have heard the guy hits. Really Murray and Maxwell are additions by subtraction. They clearly didn’t want to be Eagles so getting anything for them was a plus in my book. Don’t misunderstand me though, I don’t see this as a quick fix. Chi Kelly has really done major damage to this team and roster. It’s going to take some time to rebuild this thing. Still I’m not ready to make claims that they aren’t better in some areas or whose just yet. They still have the draft and are now picking in the top ten. If they select the right guy he should be able to make an impact relatively soon. Frankly I was not a fan of Roseman getting his job back, but I can’t complain about what he’s done so far. I don’t expect all of these free agents to work out, but then again I’m not expecting much from them this coming season either.
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Really I’m not expecting too much this year either. I think you can’t win a division without a good QB and Sam Bradford has NEVER indicated that he can be that guy. The rest of these moves…We’ll see.
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I hope Sam Bradford can be that guy, but reality says otherwise. They need a quarterback.
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He is better than kevin Kolb. But really, I think Eagles will add another OL in the draft . We do not look great on paper
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Saying he’s better than Kevin Kolb is like saying a crash dummy is better at driving than an egg. In any case he’s not good enough to get us where we want to be, but I agree with you. This team isn’t close to that yet anyways.
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