free agents

FOUR THINGS: WK 1: EAGLES – FOOTBALL TEAM

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/09/10
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, free agents, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Rivals. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

EAGLES vs “Football Team”. My god. How does Washington not see how stupid that looks?

The 2020 season sees last year’s Division Champs, your Philadelphia Eagles, return with a bigger, beefier QB Carson Wentz. Back comes DT Malik Jackson. Added was NT Javon Hargrave. Now DT Fletcher Cox will see more one-on-one blocking. The same Fletcher Cox who beats double-teams! We added the power to control offenses.

Then we realized that we needed speed. Speed was our need. Greasy, fast speed!

So we added it. WR DeSean Jackson returns! Instead of making him our only source of speed, the Eagles also added WR Marquis Goodwin. Then WR John Hightower. Then WR Quez Watkins. Goodwin opted out of 2020, due to Covid-19 concerns. That leaves us with “only” three players who can blow the lid off of the defense, this Sunday.

A badly wounded Eagles team won the division in 2019. Then we lost in the first round of the playoffs. That made the team angry. And hungry. So they spent the offseason, sharpening, honing,  their edge so fine, that you can hear a breeze splitting against it. If the Eagles could defend in 2019, they can hunt in 2020.

Win the division and we’re in the playoffs. No nonsense about being the 7th team, or getting help to qualify. Win and we’re in. Beating 2020 means winning the division. So that’s the mission: Beat 2020.

The first Adam’s Apple that even now, trickles blood at the point of our sword? Washington.

Settle your affairs Washington! The Eagles are coming.

The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics will practically guarantee our Eagles this win. CAUTION: I don’t have the faintest clue as to what a point spread is, and I know even less about how it works. I know football and that’s IT. If you use FT as a gambling tool, you are trying to lose your money.

So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to focus on this week versus the (ahem) “Football Team” :

1) Run the football: That means at least 24 handoffs this week. Washington’s defense is sporting a new scheme. That’s true. Still, their interior is the same guys that our Offensive Line has physically been pushing around for years now. This year however, they’re smaller at DE and OLB. That won’t fare well vs our 2-TE sets. Especially if we don’t give them a strong-side to read easily. I guess they could always walk the SS into the box. Right, DeSean?

2) Blitz off our right: The loss of LT Trent Williams was massive. So Washington is attempting to plug the hole with OT Geron Christian Sr. Yes, Senior. He’s just 24 years old, and he’s already listing himself as “Senior”. I suppose it’s so he isn’t mistaken for his 3 year old son. In any case, he’s basically Halapoulivaati Vaitai, in a Redsk- Football Tea- (Lord, give me strength), Washington jersey. Overload his side. Confuse him. Force their RB to give blitz help on the edge, and take away one more receiving option. Let’s get their QB holding that ball a little bit longer. 

3) Throw aggressively: SS Landon Collins is one hell of an ILB. Too bad that’s not what they signed him to play. That has led to one the most flammable secondaries you’ve ever seen.The funniest part was this offseason, when they gave CB Ronald Darby a boatload of money to pretend he’s hurt after blowing some more coverage assignments. This couldn’t be happening to a better team, and I mean that sincerely. A better team wouldn’t pay him. Get that ball down the field, Carson!

4) Make tackles: Seems like a silly thing to say, but winning has a great deal to do with confidence. Start out by doing things right, and the confidence will bloom. Not just that, but missed tackles might make Washington’s suck-ass players feel like they have a chance. Take a chainsaw to that shit while it’s still in the cradle. Make those tackles.

If we do all these things we should win, with a score looking like…

PREDICTION: EAGLES 34 – Red- (Ughhhh! Fuck it!) Redskins 17

Check back in a couple of days for Four Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how it went.

THE 2020 ROSTER (FIRST EDITION)

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/09/06
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Draft, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Roster, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

THERE were a few names among the cuts that I was not happy with: DT Anthony Rush, CB Rasul Douglas, and DE Shareef Miller specifically. That said, I wouldn’t rule out seeing one or two of those guys added to the Practice Squad in the next couple of days.

The key to this roster is not to over-react to it. With no preseason there may be a guy or two who made the team, simply because the coaching staff felt that they needed a look at him during live fire, before shipping him out. Cutting “just a guy” in order to make sure that you don’t pass on a diamond in the rough, is a hard thing to argue against.

Here’s my take on the Eagles roster as it stands now. We’ll keep it simple: GREEN (Ready to roll) / YELLOW (Serviceable, but needs bolstering) / RED (This can’t be the best we can do)

QB: Carson Wentz, Nate Sudfeld, Jalen Hurts – I have no worries here. Wentz is a top ten starter, Sudfeld has never been “WOW!”, but he’s never sucked either. Hurts is a rookie with a lot of talent, but he’s 100% untested at this level. GREEN

RB: Miles Sanders, Corey Clement, Boston Scott – This is a good group. Good. Not great. Everyone here can catch the ball and is dangerous as hell in the Screen game. What’s missing is a 3rd and 2 banger. A back to wear down the defense, eat clock, and quiet the crowd for road games like Week 10 (giants), Week 11 (Browns), and Week 13 (Packers). (YES! We drew away games at Lambeau TWO years in a row! Total bullshit.) GREEN

WR: Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, Greg Ward, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Jalen Reagor, John Hightower, Quez Watkins – Seven. I thought the team might keep six, but I guess with Jeffery not being back from injury yet, Watkins is getting an opportunity. Numbers aside, I’ve been an Eagles fan since 1989, and I have never seen our team assemble a receiver corps this dangerous. Jackson, Hightower and Watkins can all fly. Jeffery is open even when he’s covered. (And here’s a link for those who forgot that.) Greg Ward has a knack for uncovering early in his route, which gives the QB an almost instant place to go with the ball. Reagor and Whiteside have reportedly looked very promising in camp. This group is very fast, and diverse, so they can be schemed to exploit a new weakness every week. GREEN

TE: Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert – This is likely the best TE 1-2 punch in football. The problem is that there is no depth here. While on most teams, a second TE would be depth, our team plays them both so much, that an injury to one totally disrupts our base offensive concept. This is one of the positions that either requires and add, or for a lineman to switch position. (Now who might be athletic enough to handle such a switch…?) However, as long as these two are healthy, opposing defensive coordinators can kiss a week of sleep, goodbye. GREEN

C: Jason Kelce – Good solid player. GREEN

G: Isaac Seumalo, Jason Peters, Nate Herbig – This is a solid bunch, though I still think that if Peters is playing the position, he should be on the Left, not the Right. YELLOW

T: Lane Johnson, Matt Pryor, Jordan Mailata, Jack Driscoll – Johnson is a perennial Pro-Bowl type of player at RT. Everyone else is a a crapshoot. With the season ending injury to Andre Dillard, Jason Peters should be at LT. Instead, we’re out here holding tryouts a week before the season starts. RED

DE: Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry, Derek Barnett, Josh Sweat, Genard Avery, Casey Toohill – Both Graham and Curry play the run well and get plenty of heat on the QB. (Though neither is a sack machine.) Barnett has yet to put it all together, and has been average at best to this point in his career. Sweat showed flashes last year, and may be nipping at Barnett’s heels for his starting spot in 2021. Avery is an OLB/DE tweener who relies on explosive brute force to get to the passer. We saw a tiny sample of that in 2019, but there’s a lot of buzz about him from coaches this year. Toohill is still here because a 250 pound DE, who runs a 4.62 forty, is a nice thing to have on Special Teams. This isn’t a flashy position, but there are at least 4 players here who are NFL caliber starters. GREEN

DT: Fletcher Cox, Malik Jackson, Hasaan Ridgeway, Javon Hargrave – Three of these four demand frequent double-teams. That alone will to open up many, many one-on-one opportunities for edge rushers this season. And what’s scarier: All the players at this position are all finishers. GREEN

OLB: Nate Gerry, Duke Riley, Alex Singleton, Davion Taylor, Shaun Bradley – Gerry is going to start. Beyond that, everything is a question or just speculation. As if to further fuel that very thing, the Eagles have taken down the depth chart section of their website. There’s a lot of speed here, but Gerry is the only one with significant experience playing NFL defense. Bradley and Taylor are both rookies. Singleton and Riley are career Special Teamers. Communication breakdowns are going to be a regular occurrence here. RED

MLB: T.J. Edwards – The Eagles don’t make a distinction between OLB and MLB. At least on paper they don’t. Fact is, with Edwards’s limited speed and range, he has to play the MIKE if he wants to play in this league. YELLOW

S: Rodney McLeod, Jalen Mills, Rudy Ford, Marcus Epps, Will Parks, K’Von Wallace – While I’m still peeved over letting Malcolm Jenkins walk, Mills will provide a little more speed. That means it won’t require McLeod to over-extend himself in deep coverage. Ford and Epps were here in 2019 and they combined for 17 games and 11 tackles. No passes defensed or nothing. Parks was brought in and moved into third on the depth chart, but he’s injured, and it remains to be seen how he bounces back. Wallace is a rookie. YELLOW

CB: Avonte Maddox, Cre’Von LeBlanc, Craig James, Darius Slay, Nickell Robey-Coleman – Slay isn’t quite “shutdown” level, but he’s the next best thing. Or at least he has been so far in his career. Maddox seems to be the second starter. He’s feisty and will gamble for the ball, but his stature (5’9”, 183) could become an issue. With Robey-Coleman being brought in to play the Nickle, it raises some serious questions about the role (and future) of LeBlanc. James just got a one year contract extension. YELLOW

 

K: Jake Elliott – Has been on a two year slide since 2017, and no one was brought in to challenge him. YELLOW

P: Cam Johnston – Needs to give his coverage time to get to the returner. YELLOW

LS: Rick Lovato – Must be awesome. You never hear his name. GREEN

 

Again, this is just the first edition of the roster. So there’s no need to freak out, and no reason to reserve Super Bowl tick- oh right. Covid.

PLEASE COWBOYS, SIGN EARL THOMAS

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/08/23
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Rivals, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

SAFETY Earl Thomas was thrown out of Baltimore today, after punching a teammate Friday. Conduct detrimental to the team they call it. He’s expressed on a few occasions his desire to play in Dallas, and I for one, hope like hell that they sign him.

Once upon a time while playing in Seattle’s Legion Of Boom secondary, Thomas was seen as possibly the premier FS in football. Heck, I wanted my Eagles to find a way to bring him here. He hit like a S, and covered as well as a CB. He even had a nose for the football with 21 interceptions, 45 passes defensed, and 10 forced fumbles in just his first 6 seasons.

But Earl Thomas hasn’t been “Earl Thomas” for a while now.

During his first 6 seasons he never missed a single game. However, in the last 4, he’s missed 27 in total (5 in 2016, 2 in 2017, 12 in 2018). So with him now being 30, his durability is clearly in question. He didn’t play Week 17 in 2019, but he was being rested for the playoffs. That can’t be held against him.

While all those missed games of course meant lower stats, it also became clear that he’d lost a step, as he was moved from FS to SS, once he signed with the Ravens last year. The added fact that Baltimore was willing to part ways with him so fast, also indicates that they feel he’s readily replaceable. All of which is telling.

The biggest thing however, is the lack of maturity. Seattle fostered a competitive, combative environment, which works very well for up-and-coming, young players. It however, ages poorly on stars who are supposed to transition into leaders and leaders of men. Instead they basically acted like teen bullies.

Thomas, CB Richard Sherman, CB Byron Maxwell, S Kam Chancellor… They never gave off the impression of being able to be The Man. There is nothing about them, that suggested being capable of being the grown-up in a room. Seattle’s low expectations (head coach, front office, fans) failed them in this regard.

To that end, Thomas has grown into a very old, very cranky child, who is essentially locker room cancer now, and does not know how to handle his business in public, apparently in private (OH BROTHER!), and from the looks of it, maybe even now on the field. 

That all being said, I would be THRILLED if he showed up on the roster of a division rival! Especially with a brand new head coach trying to establish a winning culture built on talent, intelligent choices, and individual accountability. That shit would make my day!

Gun to my head, if I had to pick where he goes, I’m hoping it happens to the only team in the division who could challenge the Eagles in 2020. Please, please, PLEASE Cowboys, go out and buy your locker room some gangrene. Here’s hoping that the Dallas Cowboys front office will be the Philadelphia Eagles 2020 MVP.

THE THIN GET THINNER

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/08/16
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Salt Bae Context

REALLY? So this is what we’re rolling with? I gave it a few days to see what move the Eagles would make, and the result is bupkis. Look, LB Jatavis Brown’s retirement shouldn’t come as a shock. Though he’s only 26, reports were that he’d fallen out of love with football. Given the handwriting on the wall, it’s not hard to see why.

Brown was a marginal player (at best) for the bulk of his four year career. The entirety of his playing days were for the Los Angeles (nee San Diego) Chargers. At one point in 2018, injuries forced the Chargers to start him for the majority of the season. He didn’t impress them.

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Once the Chargers let him walk, Brown signed with Philadelphia. Keep in mind, this was before the 2020 NFL Draft. (Where we picked up rookie LB’s Davion Taylor in the 3rd round, and Shaun Bradley in the 6th.) So when Brown signed, he probably did so with hopes of being a starter, for a contender.

Recent talk of LB’s Nate Gerry, T.J. Edwards, and Duke Riley, being the team’s primary three LB’s likely dimmed Brown’s hopes. Especially in light of the fact that the Eagles play a lot of Nickel, and therefore usually only have two LB’s on the field most of the time. Looking at being buried deep on a bench, beside two rookies who were drafted (i.e. invested in), may have gone a long way to souring Brown.

So now we’re down an experienced, albeit marginal player. Our LB corps now consists of rookies and back-ups, spearheaded by Gerry. There is talk of possibly kicking the tires on OLB Clay Matthews III, but he’s far more of a pass rusher than a “chase and cover” LB. For that matter we may as well stick with LB/DE Genard Avery.

2019 Genard Avery half sack

While Brown’s presence didn’t add much, his absence makes a large hole even larger. The Front Office created a hole in the floor when they allowed LB Nigel Bradham (Saints) to walk. They then attempted to patch it with a sheet of aluminum foil (Brown). However, before the foil could fail, it simply blew away. Now we’re left with the hole again.

Last month I wrote an article attempting to give the Eagles the benefit of the doubt regarding the moves made at this position, but I have to step back from that now. While Brown’s presence didn’t add much, his absence changes the metrics. Without a trade for an impact LB, I feel like this position is going to be an absolute liability for us in 2020.

This is nearly half of a century of disrespect for a position, which has coalesced into a culture of neglect for how this team treats it. The result is a self-inflicted wound which will show up every Sunday for this team. Dear Football Fan, imagine a defense where LB’s are an afterthought.

Adding DE Vinny Curry was a stroke of genius. The rich certainly got richer there. But the LB position? The thin have gotten thinner, and indeed, the poor have just gotten poorer.

Internal scream

COWBOYS ADD PAST RUSH

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/08/14
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, free agents, NFC East, Players, Rants, Rivals, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

bruce springsteen.jpg

LOOKS like the Cowboys have done it again! Yet again, they’ve put on Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” and reached into the fog, and back through the ages. They grabbed onto DE Everson Griffen’s 2017 reputation, and pulled it into the present. They stood over it proudly. Then they gave it some money. Never considering that Griffen’s body comes with his past reputation.

Griffen is coming off of an 8 sack season in Minnesota. He started 15 games, playing 848 defensive snaps. Apparently the Vikings felt that his back-up, DE Ifeadi Odenigbo (7 sacks, 0 starts, 368 snaps) made Griffen expendable enough to just let walk. That is telling. It makes me wonder about what went on in the treatment room.

Cowboys mainstay DE Demarcus Lawrence hasn’t been the same guy since his 14.5 sack season three years ago. Funny, that was also a contract year. Since getting his money, Lawrence has provided diminishing returns, despite having reliable help along the line.

lane jonson stonewalls demarcus lawrence as carson wentz sets to deliver.

Having not played a snap since 2015, it seemed that DE Aldon Smith was more like All Done Smith. Even before his 4 year hiatus, Smith had spent his last three seasons being a shadow of the player he’d been in his first two seasons. Frankly, the addition of Griffen, this late in the game, doesn’t indicate much faith in Smith.

The team also added DT’s Dontari Poe and Gerald Warren. Both are solid pass rushers, but they both saw diminished snaps in 2019, and were allowed to just walk out the door after the season.

Po Teletubbies

So the Cowboys went out and assembled, what would have been a really good defensive line in 2012. Except well…Demarcus Lawrence wasn’t in the NFL back then. He and Aldon Smith have never been good at the same time.

Past rush, or pass rust, Griffen’s signing seems to indicate that the Cowboys are already disappointed with the firepower they added months ago.

In the blink of a young girl’s eye, glory days!

Bruce-Springsteen.jpg

VINNY CURRY RETURNS! (AGAIN.)

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/08/08
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Vinny Curry

CURRIED QB is on the menu again in 2020! The Eagles have re-signed DE Vinny Curry, bringing him back on a one year deal for 2020. I’m a huge fan of the move. I love his experience in the scheme. I love his productivity. I love his schematic versatility. I love the depth he adds. Indeed, the rich have gotten richer.

It’s the timing on the move that raises my eyebrow.

When Curry was allowed to walk at the end of the season, the Eagles already knew what they had. So why wait until a week into camp to bring him back into the fold? My first instinct was, maybe they aren’t seeing as much from the young guys as they were hoping.

Rhodie (JFK)

Then I had another thought. Maybe it’s Covid-19 proofing. Our Defense is predicated on getting pressure on opposing QB’s. DC Jim Schwartz tries to do that with his four down linemen. So keeping those linemen fresh, is as important to the scheme as the X’s and O’s are. That in mind, we might just be stockpiling pass rush talent.

That would also explain last month’s cutting and immediate re-signing, of DE Daeshon Hall. Hall “failed” his physical, cleared waivers, was quickly snatched up by the very team that cut him, and placed neatly on our PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) List, where he incidentally won’t count against the roster. So basically Hall was stashed away.

While Curry at 32 years of age is unlikely to be stashed, a younger player could be. I’m thinking of players like DE’s Shareef Miller, Joe Ostman, Matt Leo, and the aforementioned Hall. A couple of those guys may end up on the Practice Squad, or this year’s very flexible I.R. format.

GRAHAM AND CURRY

If I had to bet on which DE’s make the Week One roster, I’d go with Curry, Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Josh Sweat, and Genard Avery playing a LB/DE swing role. Curry gives us a Nickle/Dime DT presence as well. (Graham and Barnett will start of course.)

This signing is a great move. Not only for what it added to our roster, but for removing Curry from garnering interest from a division rival at some point. Everything about this move was forward thinking. I have to love it.

MANIACAL FACT: When Vinny Curry starts 16 games, his team ALWAYS wins a Super Bowl. 

card.vinny.curry

GUARDED OPTIMISM

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/07/15
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Roster, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

jason-peters-jordan-mailata.jpg

FINALLY! Not only have the Eagles signed eventual Hall of Famer Jason Peters, but they’ve FINALLY decided to move him from LT to G. I’ve been on about that potential move for YEARS now.​

To finally see it take place… I- I feel so much pride right now. I now know how Ms. America felt when she got the roses, and began to make her way past all that human wreckage, as they cried real tears of pain, while giving her fake congrats. That had to feel amazing!​

And yes! With this news, I feel mah-velous.

billy-crystal-you-look-marvelous-instrumental-am​

Though Peters is just signed to a one year deal, moving inside could add two, maybe three high level years to his career. Study habits, strength, technique, concept of scheme, he owns all of those as an Eagle. Where he was starting to show wear and tear, was versus speed off the edge. That and the nagging injuries resulting from overextending to compensate for it.​

That’s no longer an issue, as opponents don’t get to try running around him. Now they have to wrestle with him in a phonebooth. Early word has him playing RG, to sub for RG Brandon Brooks whom we lost for the season, with a tear of his Achilles tendon.

While a right side of C Jason Kelce, RG Jason Peters, and RT Lane Johnson would be sick, this configuration won’t be the one that benefits the Eagles the most in the long run. Flipping LG Isaac Seumalo to RG and playing Peters at LG would be the most helpful alignment.

Jason Peters catching Ryan Mathews

Hey, does anyone remember the day Peters CAUGHT RB Ryan Mathews, out of mid-air to give him a soft TD landing?

Playing Peters one spot over from his familiar LT post, would help him mentor new starting LT Andre Dillard. While Peters at RG would be good while he played, the wisdom that he could pass down to Dillard, could help make the young man a perennial All-Pro, for the next decade-plus.

So Peters could either be a replacement for Brooks, or an investment in Dillard’s future. Instant gratification vs the long-term, high yield payout. In the end we’ll see who gets the roses.

UNSIGNED EAGLES ARE A PROBLEM

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/07/12
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Draft, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Rants, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

TRAINING Camps are rumored to be targeting a July 28th start date. With today being July 12th, that’s a mere 16 days from now. Two weeks and two days, or “Two and two.”

Love Connection Chuck Woolery.jpg

In the meantime, eight of our ten 2020 Draft picks, are still unsigned. To be clear, they will not be able to participate in TC without a contract. Not being able to do so, would slow their learning curve, and limit how early they can become serious contributors. Who do we have yet to sign? Take a look:

1st – No. 21 – WR Jalen Reagor

2nd – No. 53 – QB Jalen Hurts

3rd – No. 103 – LB Davion Taylor

4th – No. 127 – S K’Von Wallace

4th – No. 145 – OT Jack Driscoll

5th – No. 168 – WR John Hightower

6th – No. 196 – LB Shaun Bradley

7th – No. 233 – LB/DE Casey Toohill

Reagor not being signed (at this point), is extremely troubling. WR Alshon Jeffery isn’t expected back anytime soon from his 2019 foot injury. On the other hand, WR DeSean Farrakhan is being made to jump through hoops just to remain an Eagle.

In the event that the Eagles release Djax, the Offense will be right back where it was when the 2019 season ended. By that I mean, leaning on WR Greg Ward, and hoping that WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside can somehow put together the concepts of “get open” and “catch ball”.

Whiteside drops an easy score.

Remember this drop? If he catches this, he scores and we win. We lost 24 – 27. Good times.

The LB position remains an open wound. It would be asking a lot for 3rd round rookie LB Davion Taylor to be the upgrade that we need. However, we’re so thin on talent there, that we basically have to ask for exactly that.

All indications are that the Eagles have big plans for FS K’Von Wallace, but every day that he misses of TC, will be like a week’s worth of make-up time. Rookies who fall behind mentally, become liabilities that opponents will exploit during the season.

Not to downplay the importance of the remaining five Draft picks on the above list, but 1) None of them are signed either, and 2) The three guys that I pointed out, are the guys that the team needs big contributions from in 2020. (If there’s even a season.)

Rookie wages are subject to a wage scale, where every player earns less than the guy drafted ahead of him. So there are already valuation charts that approximate what every rookie should eventually sign for.

paid peanuts

Usually the Eagles have the rookies signed by late April, mid May, but many sportswriters want to speculate that the delay is because of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. However, given that Philadelphia moved into the Yellow Phase of the re-opening on June 5th, there is no reason why these deals shouldn’t have been/ couldn’t have been, negotiated in principle over Zoom, and then road tripped to finalize and sign.

Right now, we’re thin at LB and we aren’t signing rookies or veterans. Right now, we’re shaky at Opening Day WR, but instead of signing a top threat, we’re hinting at cutting one of the NFL’s top deep threats. Right now, we have more questions than answers at S, but we aren’t signing or trading for any.

Until we address those things, we can’t even seriously entertain the idea of adding an insurance RB, or getting some help at LT, or spending big coin on an over-hyped DE, who has just 32 sacks in 6 years. GM Howie Roseman, you gotta get it together.

THANK YOU, DAK PRESCOTT!

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/06/23
Posted in: Conversations, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Rivals, Roster, trade, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

shadenfreude2

GOTTA admit it. I thought that either Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would cave, and give QB Dak Prescott his 40M$ per year deal, or that Prescott’s holdout would go into the season. I’d have bet good money on it lasting through Cowboys training camp. Well I’d have lost that money. Dak Prescott finally cried “Uncle!”. Or did he?

At first his signing made no sense to me. For about 12 seconds. Then the idea hit, and I felt like giving a high-five to Prescott’s agent. Very cagey move getting his client to sign now. I sat and waited two days for the NFL Network, or ESPN, or Fox Sports to weigh in, but nobody mentioned the genius behind this signing.

Well let me spill the beans, and also tell you how this helps the Eagles. It helps the entire NFC East, but it helps the Eagles in a much more immediate sense. Right now, the NFL is pushing to have a season in 2020, but the Coronavirus Pandemic (Covid-19) gets the last word on that.

coronaviruses

If the NFL does manage a season, then Prescott plays for the tag. He plays for less than he wanted, but it’s still more than he’s ever made, and he’s doing what he loves. Unless he gets hurt, misses games and damages his pristine record, he’s still in line for a big deal in 2021.

Now here’s the genius of the signing. If the NFL cannot start or sustain the season, Prescott still gets credit for 2020. The money is his, fully guaranteed, he doesn’t get hurt, and he doesn’t “fail to make the playoffs/take another playoff loss”. It also puts the narrative on his side. He will have been “underpaid” for four years, then have signed a franchise tag. He’ll be undeniable.

So how does that help the division? Specifically the Eagles?

Doug Pederson laughing

Signing the tag now, locks in the money that the Cowboys are spending on Prescott. True, the Cowboys said they wouldn’t rescind the tag, but up until Prescott signed it, the option still existed. That could have become cap space to offer Jets SS Jamal Adams, who recently requested a trade to one of seven teams that he prefers, Dallas being one of them.

Adams also named the Eagles as a preferred destination, and we have 22M in cap space, but we still have to sign our rookies. Not to mention that we’re projected to be 51M$ over the cap in 2021, and word is, the Eagles want to roll as much of 2020’s cap over into 2021 as possible.

Currently Dallas has about 11M$ in cap space. Between Prescott’s contract and still having to sign their rookie class, in particular first round Draft pick, WR Ceedee Lamb, the Cowboys will not have the money to offer Adams the 12-15M$ per year that he’s said to want. So Dak Prescott signing, effectively keeps Adams out of the NFC East. Making life easier for the division.

jon-stewart-steven-cobert-drinking-tea

The Cowboys CAN afford to make such a move, if they cut DE Tyrone Crawford (9M$ in 2020), and a couple other players. Or they can gut their depth at tight end, offensive line, linebacker, and cornerback to make cap space.

Aside from DE DeMarcus Lawrence, Crawford is the only sure thing they have at the DE position. They hope that DE Aldon Smith can regain his old form, and they hope that DE Randy Gregory will be re-instated so that maybe he can possibly fulfill his potential.

In the event of a fully played season, having little to no depth, during a year when teams are expecting their rosters to be hit by Covid-19… That really helps your rivals. And it helps your strongest rival the most.

Who again is the Cowboys strongest rival? My guess would be the team that beat them and took away the division last year, driving them from the playoff picture. And who would that team be? You guessed it. THE EAGLES.

So from all of us Eagles fans from all across America, THANK YOU DAK PRESCOTT!!!

dak hat

KAEPERNICK IN PHILLY?

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/06/19
Posted in: Conversations, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

NFL: Super Bowl XLVII-Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49ers

HEAD Coach Doug Pederson said the Eagles look at everybody. That said, long-time Free Agent QB Colin Kaepernick definitely falls in the “everybody” category. QB Carson Wentz being backed up by a guy who led a team to the Super Bowl, initially sounds like a good idea. However, given any thought, it’s fraught with problems.

First, if Kaepernick were a back-up, which back up would he be? Second, third, or fourth string?

Fourth string means that Kaepernick steals a roster spot from someone. So he hurts our depth, and may not even play a meaningful down all season long. That’s a bad trade-off, in exchange for twenty weeks of Carson having to answer the same questions repeatedly, about a guy he hardly knows.

carsonwentz_camo

Third string means that rookie QB Jalen Hurts has his development pushed back a year. Hurts is clearly here to be the #2 in 2021, so he needs to be able to get his feet wet in 2020. Kaepernick at #3 means Hurts is pushed to #4 on the depth chart. That almost certainly puts the rookie on the Practice Squad. Which is no place for a second round pick to start his career.

Second string means that QB Nate Sudfeld probably wouldn’t make the 53 man roster. He’s already on a one year deal, with Hurts breathing down his neck like a prison shower scene.

prison shower

Everybody asked Wentz what he felt when Hurts was drafted. Well here is how Sudfeld felt.

However, if Wentz goes down, Sudfeld is our only QB who is well versed in the Offense. If Wentz goes down for the year (knock wood), and we’re already out of the playoff picture, sure, start Hurts. If we’re still in the playoff hunt however, Sudfeld has to be the guy. He has to be.

Kaepernick may be more athletically gifted, but he can’t offer what Sudfeld can, in terms of keeping our playoff hopes afloat. He may be more experienced, but making him the #3, essentially throws away a second round pick. Is he worth not keeping an extra DE, or CB, or WR, if he doesn’t play a down all year?

Liberty Bell (4) - 1.16.12

On one hand, I love the idea of Philadelphia being the place where Kaepernick restarts his career. The idea of him taking a knee in the very city where Free Speech took it’s first breath as a Human right, gives me chills to even write it. The very POWER of the idea is seismic, and it nearly brings tears to my eyes. I want it, I CRAVE it on this city’s resume, because most American cities don’t have the backbone to take the weight of it.

This is the team that took in Micheal Vick when all the other NFL teams, bailed. QB Donovan McNabb vouched for him, and head coach Andy Reid took that recommendation to owner Jeff Lurie. These men believed in each other, and as a result, look at Vick today.

So yeah. Colin Kaepernick redefining how Americans view and accept political expression? I lust for that as part of Philly’s history. However, if it won’t work for the team, there’s no realistic way to expect it would happen. So Kaepernick coming to Philly is going to be a pass. (Get it? A pass?)