Let's Talk Some Eagles!

Well, the forums are abuzz with word from Adam Schefter over on NFL Network that the Eagles have signed former Colts DT Montae Reagor to a 3yr/$8mill deal.

The acquisition isn't going to make Eagles fans ga-ga. I mean, Reagor is a 285-lb pass-rushing disruptor-type; not the giant 300-lb+ run-stuffer that a lot of us would love to have and feel, quite correctly I might add, this team needs. That said, here is why the signing makes some sense: Reagor fits the Eagles system. Now I don't like a system that seems allergic to big DT the way Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson's system seems to be, but Reagor would've been a solid contributor to the Colts SB run last year if he hadn't gotten injured.

We can debate the pro/cons of DT weights all day long, it doesn't change the fact that the Birds are going to scheme with an "undertackle" (a "lighter" guy like Mike Patterson or Reagor) and a somewhat larger DT who's primary function I would like to believe is to consume blocks at the point of attack. (I use the quotes, because the Eagles don't have a true big-body at DT, Brodrick Bunkley and Sam Rayburn are the largest - listed at 300 & 303 respectively).

Here is what the signing does in an instant: It makes some folks expendable. With them under contract, look for the Eagles to make some draft day moves and I think we may just see a name like Rayburn or Walker fly the nest to another team in return for a Day 2 pick.

This is how the DT situation shakes out after the signing:
Patterson and Bunkley still have to thought of as being our starters, we NEED them to be. Reagor, Rayburn, Darwin Walker and LaJuan Ramsey round out the DT currently on the team.
6 names. for 5 positions. Even a Cowboys fan can do that math...

I can see it breaking out like this with Patterson, Bunkley, Reagor and Ramsey being our top 4 with both Walker and Rayburn's names being bandied about as trade-bait. Not that I think Ramsey is all-that, but I think the way the other two have peaked or plateaued Ramsey got the better upside...(who knows maybe that makes HIM more likely to get traded). AR likes him his linemen though, and even though the Eagles "only" invested a 6th round pick in Ramsey, I think he showed enough promise last year (before a late season fade) to warrant somewhat higher expectations this year.

Could both Walker AND Rayburn go with the final spot getting filled in by someone else? I guess its possible, but I'm not sure JJ would want to trust 3 or his 4 primary DT slots to two second-year guys and Reagor....I think the competition Raegor's addition brings to the bunch is a good thing. Ramsey cannot sit on his hands, neither can Walker or Rayburn, all those dudes better bring it, cause if the Eagles don't move on of them on draft day, then you can bank on a move later on.