Tackling the Garcia/Stallworth Question

Common theme following the Eagles 20-12 dud on Monday which dropped them to 0-2: If the Eagles had retained the services of both QB Jeff Garcia (currently 1-1 with Tampa but looking very sharp) and WR Donte' Stallworth (currently running under the radar - and behind Wes Welker and Randy Moss at wideout for a strong Patriots team).

After two games the offense looks out of sorts. Yes, McNabb looked awesome in the preseason (further confirmation that the preseason is NOT a good indicator of future returns), but he clearly is struggling right now.

Let me say this: If Garcia and Stallworth were both wearing Eagles uniforms, I do believe the Eagles record would currently be 2-0.

That said - I do not lay the blame solely on Donovan McNabb. He deserves some blame - he is the QB afterall - but the rush to judgment on McNabb is both premature and wrong. Why you ask?

1. Wasn't everyone fairly cognizant of the fact that McNabb was not going to be "old" McNabb in September. I mean its been what 9 months since his ACL injury? Lest we forget, the last QB to come back from something like this was Carson Palmer. Did he play all year. Yup. Did he look like his old self in Sep? Nope. What was the Bengals record last year? 8-8.
2. Given that, perhaps expectations that McNabb would be an MVP-type QB this year were a bit premature.
3. We had what 50 called pass plays (including sacks) Monday night, and less than 20 runs? What the hell kind of balance is that. Even with Garcia, I don't believe we'd be successful under that sort of run/pass ratio. With Garcia, however, the coaches seemed much more committed to running. With #5 back there, the Birds' coaches seem to get a collective amnesia. So instead of using the run to open up the pass, they just keep dialing up passes. Pass after pass after pass, even on a night when its obvious that McNabb is struggling AND the O is doing nothing to adjust to the defensive coverage.
4. Stubborn Act of Hubris, Part II - I can't let this go. The coaches did nothing to adjust to the defensive scheme of the Redskins. Nothing.
- No one was put in-motion
- The Eagles did not use any formation to make the press-man coverage more difficult (stacking WRs etc
- I saw very few routes designed to help break from the coverage (crossing routes primarily)
- The Eagles went deep all of once in the first half. Without challenging the opposition deep at least a few times, the 'Skins had no reason to respect the deep ball. They could just keep their guys up close because the Birds showed no inclination to try and burn them.
- Finally, the Eagles kept choosing to pass. Even of a night when Westbrook was carving up the run defense. They used no one else. Buckhalter got maybe 1 carry. Tony Hunt was de-activated. What the fuck?

Eagles Thoughts in Early June

Some off-season likes and dislikes so far, the dislikes first because there are much fewer of them:

- Using our first pick in the draft on a QB. I know, I've said this before, and I may love Kolb in 3-4 years, but still...
- Losing Donte' Stallworth (big, young (26), fast) and replacing his with a smaller, older (29) speedster - Kevin Curtis. I liked the guy, what can I say. My intent was to get a Stallworth jersey if he re-signed. Oh, well.
- L.J. Smith having "sports-hernia" surgery. Again nothing to be done about it, but I have a feeling its going to limit him this year a little bit. I'd love to be wrong, maybe I'm just worrying too much, or maybe not
- Not being able to trade Sam Rayburn. Serviceable DT, wonder why we couldn't have gotten a pick for him?
- DE Jevon Kearse doing too much cardio in his rehab and getting too skinny
- Not finding the heir apparent for Brian Dawkins. I love Dawk to death, but I thought now was the time to find the guy to groom, and let him play and learn from a HoF safety....
Well that's about it for my admittedly nit-picky dislikes about the Eagles off-season

The likes:
- The rest of the draft! We got some size, especially at RB. Abiamiri is a decent size DE, Hunt and Ilaoa bring some bulk behind the line of scrimmage and Bradley has good size for an Strongside Linebacker (SAM).
- Jekyll time - Kevin Curtis. Speed galore and awesome hands, I have a feeling I am going to come around and really dig this dude. He's 29 (concern) but has only played 4 years in the NFL (thank to his Mormon mission). I'm not sure if he's an "upgrade" over Stallworth, but I think he's going to prove to be very capable guy in our offense
- New blood at DT. These guys went from prospective strength to crippling weakness last year and a change was necessary. So the Eagles raided both Superbowl teams for Montae Reagor (the steady vet) and Ian Scott (a run-stopper who filled in very well for the Bears when they lost Tommie Harris).
- The Eagles overall aggressiveness in their off-season plan. YES, it did take them a little while to get started and that strung out us phans a bit. BUT the Birds F.O. executed very well. They identified priorities, stuck to them and recognized/addressed weak areas, speaking of which:
- Say HELLO TKO! Takeo Spikes and Kelly Holcomb for Darwin Walker and 7th rd pick? (and maybe now for 6th and 7th rd pick). Joe Banner should add highwayman to his list of job responsibilities for picking the Buffalo carcass clean like that....
- BYE BYE Dhani, Mr. Bow Tie, Jones. Take your talentless, non-play-making Air Banjo somewhere else
- Taking a gamble on Saverio Rocca. I really hope this Aussie boomer can make it good.
- Re-signing some key FAs. Yes we let Stallworth go, but we did keep Quintin Mikell, Juqua Thomas and Correll Buckhalter. And if those aren't household names outside Philadelphia, so be it. They proved to be very capable players for the Birds last year (it was great to see Buck comes back after all those knee injuries) and I look forward to more contribution from those guys. Retaining players who know your system can do a lot for year-to-year continuity. Just gotta keep the right ones (fingers-crossed).
- The continued class and leadership on display from Donovan McNabb

To Franchise or Not To Franchise - That is the Question

A lot of folks have asked on various Eagles message boards whether or not the Eagles could put the franchise tag on unrestricted free agent WR Donte' Stallworth. The short answer to that question is YES. They could. League rules allow a team to designate any player as a franchise or transition player.

That said, a franchise tag on Donte would cost the Eagles $7.3 million (that is the avg of the TOP 5 WR - which is what a team must pay any player designated as a "franchise" player). The problem isn't the money, its that the full total would come straight out of the 2007 cap, no spreading it out over several years (like a signing bonus) or any other neat little accounting tricks that "capologists" use to lessen a players impact on the HARD salary cap. The 7.3 mill would be all salary.

Moreover, that move would consume 7.3 mill of our projected 12.5-14 mill cap space? That is a hefty chunk, and since we also have to pay the rookies, it all but eliminate our cap flexibility to address other problems/holes on the team (read: defense). So why do that, when you can re-sign Donte and give him a decent sized signing bonus (i.e. the payday he seeks) over a longer term contract (say 5 years) and then say take a 2-3 million cap hit for the first couple of years when his base salary would probably be artificially low (somewhere in the 500-750K range).

There are also the psycho-social ramifications...for whatever reason PLAYERS (fueled by their agents as well) seem to HATE getting tagged...the most likely reason IMO: it prevents them from getting a signing bonus. Players have been tagged, with the tacit understanding that a long-term deal will be worked out - but in the Eagles case: is Donte Stallworth TRULY a TOP 5 WR? If that answer is NO (and it almost assuredly is) then why make that move?

Bottom Line: there ARE WAYS TO PAY DONTE that won't kill our 2007 cap (or any cap) and Donte WANTS TO STAY...that said, if Rosenhaus drums up some huge deal for him, he will not budge the Eagles...they are going to have an acceptable range for a deal with Stallworth, and if DR comes back way above it - they'll wish him the best and wave goodbye....