Looking Ahead at Some Possibilities

There is a LOT of talk going on in the Nest lately. Names like Corey Dillon (RB), Kevin Curtis (WR), Mike Doss (S) and Ryan Fowler (who? LB) are being bandied about as potential Free Agent acquisitions.

But then again you already know that, cause my Rants page is not exactly stop #1 on the Eagles information train. Nor should it be. It is one of the best for analysis on the Eagles moves if you ask me.

IF some of the players the Eagles are rumored as pursuing wind up signing with the Birds, in the next week or so we could have:
- our WR corps set (either with Curtis or Stallworth, dunno which way this goes, but apparently Andy Reid came in front his family sabbatical to give the pitch to Curtis and called him personally to ask him to make Philly a stop on his FA tour. That counts for A LOT in my opinion. if you asked me right now - Curtis has the inside track).
- a big complimentary back to WB (so Dillon is interest in the Birds, if the price is right, it may happen)
- a new safety (Mike Doss, again, its reported that Big Red himself called Doss to ask him to consider the Eagles. In Bird-land, when the man with all the feathers flaps, things get done)
- potential LB (this RFA Ryan Fowler or perhaps a vet like Donnie Edwards or Ike Reese).

Personally, I would be happy if any TWO of the above occurred...

If so, the outlook for the Eagles Draft Day strategy would change some.
Defense First:
LB - not guaranteed, but I definitely think that if no FA help is signed that the Eagles would look to shore up the LB position with a first day pick. We need another play-maker besides OG.
DE - oddly enough, a late round pick here -- perhaps to see if they can strike some "Cole Gold" again--makes sense. Obviously McDougle is a waste of time, and I just can't see him surviving training camp to make the roster (again). A young DE also could provide the Birds some future flexibility--after the 2007 season-- say to cut a player like Darren Howard (if he has another disappointing year) or even Kearse (should he be unable to recover from his injury).
S/CB - Will James is here for another year and if Doss comes in a DB on Day 1 might NOT be the most obvious choice. However, a DB could make sense, it would let the coaches groom a young guy (in anticipation of James leaving) w/o having to rely on him to play a ton. IF Doss signs then we'll have our 4 safeties for the next couple of years, so a CB would be the way to go. If NOT then a safety would be at least an equal if not greater need for the DBs.
DT - We got two last year, lets see if they can play. Unless by some weird chance a really good one falls into our lap, I just don't see it.

Now for the Offense:
OL - please no more O-Linemen. I know O-Lineman are like crack to AR but could we just have ONE year without drafting a OL? First, we got mega-depth there by scoring with two undrafted guys last year (Pat McCoy and Nick Cole) add in #2 pick Winston Justice and #4 pick Max Jean-Gilles, plus third year man Scott Young....and we've got an entire second offensive line that could probably start for some of the weaker teams in the NFL. Unless something drastic happens I think our 10 OL are set...even if they want to stoke competition, the Front Office has done such a good job digging up undrafted OL gems, why waste a pick?
QB - you know if the right guy comes along, why not spend that second day OL pick on a QB instead. You never know when you might need one.
WR - I think FA will settle this position, and that the Eagles will not expend a pick on a WR unless something unexpected happens.
RB - Depends on FA, but I think the odds of us getting a veteran bruise like Dillon are iffy, at best. Much simpler to use a first day pick to pick up fresh-legged basher like Rugters' Leonard or Penn State's Hunt.

TE - interesting possibilities here. LJ Smith is in the final year of his contract and mediocre dudes like Daniel Graham and Visanthe Shiancoe scoring mega-contracts....You cannot have a roster full of mega-contracts....I think a new TE is a definite possibility in the draft.
K/P - um NO...Akers is here to stay, and I'm pulling for Rocca to knock the ball out da Linc (so to speak)

The Sky is Falling, the Sky is Falling

This Chicken Little refrain is growing increasingly common as Eagles fans do their annual fret over the Eagles circumspect attitude towards Free Agency.

A few nincompoops will say the Eagles front office is cheap, or scared to spend the "big dollars" necessary to "win it all." Well folks, the reality is that winning it all takes a unique degree of bounces (luck), freedom from injury (more luck), talent (inherent in almost every roster, though to varying degrees), and key play-making/play-makers stepping up at the opportune times (a little thing called execution helps, but a team can never have enough play-makers). Its is something that happens to only 1 team each year. Heck only a few team each year have a sufficient enough degree of those circumstances occur so that they can contend.

Take the Eagles playoff game vs the Saints. I freely admit that the Saints proved themselves to be the better team that day. But the outcome of the game was still in doubt well into the 4th quarter and was impacted by a wide variety of otherwise small things (the injuries to OG Shawn Andrews and LB Shawn Barber, a key and uncharacteristic drop by Westbrook, etc). This is what stood between the Birds and a trip to Chicago. Conversely, if it wasn't for Lito Sheppard's two game-saving INTs, the Eagles might not have even MADE the playoffs.

So please don't tell me that the front-office isn't committed to winning. How quickly we forget what a REAL money-grubbing front office feels like. Anyone still wish good ole Norm Braman was around running free agents out of town ?

Look, I agree, I would like the Eagles to make a couple of moves to shore up some loose spots on the roster (DB, LB, maybe WR) and cut out some dead weight (McDougle, Jones). I will also be sorely disappointed if they do nothing but let people walk and don't make any more moves to improve the team. That said, I doubt that will happen. The Eagles are waiting for a little bit of pricing sanity, and I think with the limited amount of money they have left, they are waiting for the chips to fall out on Donte' Stallworth before they go trying to sign a veteran "big back" or a bring in a LB to compete for a spot.

Honestly of all the LBs on the market, on the Colts' Cato June fits the Eagles mold (I wish that wasn't true but it is) and he's looking a good payday at a position the Birds don't value that highly (again, I think that is something worth faulting them on).