You always wonder why a former All-Pro linebacker in the prime of his NFL life would be traded by a playoff team like the Houston Texans for a 4th rounder…
Yes, there are health concerns about our next MIKE starter, who is only two years removed from a devastating Achilles tendon rupture injury suffered in 2010… but they say it takes two full years to recover from such a dysfunction…and after all, ILB DeMeco Ryans stuck it out through 2011, and may be primed for a huge payoff in 2012 with the Eagles.
DeMeco Ryans (#59)…inside LB, 6-1, 250, now in his 7th year out of Alabama… Team leader, outstanding tackler, former Pro Bowl performer, and “only” a $7 million cap hit…
All the Eagles had to give up was a fourth-round draft pick and a swap of third-round picks with the Houston Texans to get the 6-foot-1, 250-pound Ryans.
On the surface, the acquisition plugs what were gaping holes in the Eagles defense last year. They get a big-bodied middle linebacker who can fend off blockers behind the wide-nine defensive front. They get a three-down veteran who will mentor a cast of young linebackers. And they get a former captain who will lead a defense lacking in leaders.
It sounds almost too good to be true. And, well, there is a caveat. Ryans is less than two years removed from rupturing his Achilles tendon. He returned last season but wasn’t the same player. Some of his regression can be attributed to Houston switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 scheme in 2011. He had never played behind an odd-man front and had started at middle linebacker for 70 straight games before his injury in the seventh game of the 2010 season.
But the Eagles saw a player who they believed only needed to play in a 4-3 again to return to old form.
And there’s the rub… wishful thinking on a bargain… perhaps my only cynical thought against this transaction.
“DeMeco is a proven Pro Bowl linebacker in this league and we’re excited to be able to plug him into the middle of our defense,” Eagles head coach Andy Reid said in a statement yesterday. “He’s been the signal caller and a leader on a very good Texans defense for the last several years. He’s a tough, instinctive football player and he’ll be a great fit for our team.”
Andy said all the right things. With Ryans in the middle, Jamar Chaney (if healthy) will likely move back to strong-side. The third-year linebacker started last season on the outside but was moved inside when rookie Casey Matthews was overwhelmed. Chaney, though, couldn’t handle all the tasks of the job either, and by the end of the season was only on the field for running plays, and suffered a debilitating nick injury of his own…
The Eagles may say otherwise, but their record in free agency and the draft shows that they don’t prefer to invest too big in the linebacker position. It looked as if they were taking a similar approach to free agency this season, but the team did not believe that such high-priced candidates as Tulloch, Lofton and several others were worth their asking prices.
Ryans, though, will cost the Eagles “only” $5.8 million in base salary this season. He’s slated to earn $6.6 million in 2013 and $6.8 million in 2014 and 2015. Houston was looking to clear cap space and Ryans no longer fit their scheme…(again, big caution flag thrown here for Eagles fans)… but it was obvious from the reaction of some Texans that it was a tough move to make.
“I wouldn’t be half the player or person I am today without (Ryans),” Texans linebacker Brian Cushing tweeted. “This one hurts. Philly got an unbelievable player and leader today.” Houston general manager Rick Smith released a statement saying as much about Ryans, who he called “a class act.”
Well, Ryans IS a class act… just look at his foundation chariity work in the Houston metro area…
But can he still play at an elite MIKE level in a 4-3? And will that Achilles tendon blow out again?
Selected by Houston out of Alabama in the second round of the 2006 draft, Ryans started in the NFL almost from Day 1. He was voted into the Pro Bowl in his second season and again in 2009. But in 2010 he tore his Achilles in pass coverage against the Chiefs; and when he returned last season his production slipped dramatically.
Before the injury he averaged 8.2 tackles a game; after the injury he averaged only four. He will undergo a physical on Wednesday, one he has to pass before the trade is approved.
The addition of Ryan will likely alter how the Eagles address linebacker in April’s draft. Many have pegged the Eagles to select Boston College’s Luke Kuechly in the first round, but that was always a long shot since Reid has never drafted a linebacker that early. Some would argue the team still needs to upgrade at the position. Aside from Chaney and Matthews, we have Brian Rolle, Keenan Clayton, Akeem Jordan and Moise Fokou as holdovers from last season. Rolle ended his rookie year as the starter at weakside.
There’s still plenty of time to work out the details. But for now it looks like the Eagles reeled in a winner…with a lot of luck needed to make that vision come true.
Ryans was the Texans’ all-time leading tackler and a long-time captain. Ryans did manage to start all 16 games in 2011, even playing through an elbow injury for the league’s No. 2 defense. But for the first time in his career, he was not an every-down player as the Texans switched to a 3-4 under Wade Phillips, with Ryans coming off the field in passing situations.
If the trade becomes official, Darryl Sharpton would likely replace Ryans in the Texans’ starting lineup. Sharpton was a fourth-round draft pick out of Miami (Fla.) in 2010. He suffered a season-ending quadriceps injury last season against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Texans and Eagles swapped their third round picks in this deal [Houston picking 77th overall in the 3rd and received the 4th pick in the 4th round (100th overall)]. The move comes on the heels of what appears to be one of the craziest offseasons in Texans franchise history, where the Texans have also lost Mario Williams and cut long time right tackle Eric Winston.
As Texans fans see it, Houston has made another unfavorable move with the fan base by letting go one of the all-time favorite players of the organization. But just like with the Eric Winston release, the Houston fan base needs to look at the big picture and see that Ryans was no longer the right fit for the Texans’ 3-4 defense. He is a stout 4-3 middle linebacker and works better in that system. The bigger factor was what his remaining salary looked like for the coming years— he is due $5.9 million this coming season with $1.45 million of that guaranteed, and was a big cap number for a cap-strapped team. His remaining contract looked like this: ’13- $6.6 million, ’14- $6.8 million, and ’15 -$6.8 million, which was too much for the Texans to pay for someone who had beome a part-time player.
This is a sad day for Houston fans, but the game will go on. There has to be an off-season plan for the Texans in place, because moves like this are hard to explain to hometown fans. This is a move to bring in younger and cheaper players like Darryl Sharpton, and the trade itself will only cost the Texans $2 million towards the cap. It makes sense for the Texans in the long run.
But we Eagles fans have an equal burden. We are now asked to believe that DeMeco Ryans is the stopgap measure at MIKE necessary for winning in 2012, and not just a depreciating asset cast off by a Houston Texans organization who knew better.
As usual with the Eagles, it’s a leap of faith…and a lot of love and luck required.
Later updates, Wednesday, March 21… more notables:
—First QB Tim Tebow was traded from Denver to the Jets for a 4th round pick…now the trade has been nullified by the NFL due to an unauthorized $5 million kick-back clause in the deal…
—Bengals signed RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis (Patriots) to a 3-year contract, terms undisclosed…
—Buffalo signed DE Mark Anderson to a 4-year, $27.5 million contract with $8 million guaranteed…
—New Orleans signed DT Brodrick Bunkley (Denver, former Eagle) to a 5-year contract for $25 million, $9 milz guaranteed…
—San Francisco re-signed QB Alex Smith to a 3-year, $24 million contract…
—Detroit re-signed LB Stephen Tulloch to a 5-year contract, terms undisclosed…
—Buffalo re-signed S Bryan Scott, terms undisclosed…
—Colts signed C Samson Satele (Raiders), terms undisclosed…
—Vikings released DT Remi Ayodele…
—Patriots signed CB Will Allen (Miami) to a 1-year contract, terms undisclosed…
—Raiders re-signed OT Khalif Barnes, terms undisclosed…
—Raiders signed CB Patrick Lee (Packers) to a 1-year contract, terms undisclosed…
—Arizona re-signed WR Early Doucet to a 2-year contract, terms undisclosed…
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