I’m ecstatic… I couldn’t be happier with the results of the Draft, our UDFA signings, our trades or Free Agency deals as we proceed into the magical 2011 NFL season…
Sometimes, you just know when things are good… and I’m planning on a hugely good season for the Eagles now…
Signing DE Jason Babin out of free agency from the Titans certainly didn’t harsh my mellow… makes sense in so many ways…
I’ve never been so confident in Andy Reid and his Front Office henchmen… Never in over 40 years of observing this franchise operate have I witnessed such a symphony of rational moves and logical deal-making…
If this is Andy’s “swan song”, then it’s a damn good one…
Everything is going to plan…
First up, take the finalized version of the Kolb to Arizona trade…
One word: Masterpiece…
Kevin Kolb, he of seven (7) total NFL starts in his entire career, ends up the successor to Kurt Warner in Phoenix, Arizona, with a guaranteed $20 milz on a 5-year deal potentially worth $63 million…
In return, we get Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, a Top-5-rated right cornerback in the NFL, at a relatively affordable annual salary of $950,000…
And… we get a 2nd-Round draft choice from Arizona in 2012…which could easily turn into the equivalent of a late 1st-Round pick if the Cardinals continue to suck as they did last season (5-11)…
This is the deal of the decade! Can you spell “coup d’etat” ?
Add to that early Christmas present: the signing of Jason Babin as the FA final piece to Jim Washburn’s wide-9 defensive scheme puzzle…
Remember when Jason was here in 2009 and tore up training camp with more fights than a J-Lo/Mark Anthony marriage?
Well, he’s ba-ack… and reunited with the DL coach (Washburn) who taught him greatness… And Babin is affordable, too… a 5-year $28 million deal but only $6 mil guaranteed…
Brilliant.
Remembering 2009— Babin was “The Disappointing Player Seeking Redemption”… obviously the Eagles have learned to play that card well.
Forget Michael Vick—no player embodied that “disappointing” tag more than Babin in 2009. The former first-round pick with the Houston Texans had been an NFL afterthought the previous three seasons, playing in only 11 games for the Seahawks and Chiefs. The Eagles signed him a couple of days into 2009 camp for what was probably his last shot, and Babin made the most of it every day. He was all over the field against the Colts in Week 2, getting a sack of Peyton Manning for his second quarterback takedown in as many weeks.
Then it just sort of all got lost in the 2009 haze of the Eagles’ defensive game plan…
But it’s a new day now… Babin is reunited with Washburn’s system and I am prepared to be blown away… 12.5 sacks last year with Tennessee…but I’ll be more than happy with 7 or 8 in the new Eagles’ DL rotation.
And considering that Charles Johnson got a $70 million deal in Carolina, Babin is still a bargain…
I’ve got to give someone his props, someone we all love in Philadelphia, Ray Didinger, for making this observation:
“For those who don’t think assistant coaches are important, think again. The Eagles are counting hugely on both Washburn and Howard Mudd to improve the play on the two lines. Two seasons ago, the Eagles had Rory Segrest coaching their defensive line and he had Jason Babin and Chris Clemons in his end rotation. Clemons finished the season with three sacks, Babin had 2.5. Last season, while Babin was piling up Pro Bowl numbers in Tennessee, Clemons was recording 11 sacks in Seattle. Why did they have so little impact in their one season with the Eagles? Why weren’t they better utilized? That’s a coaching issue, and the Eagles will be significantly better with Washburn replacing Segrest.”
Just another reason, albeit harsh, to like the 2011 Eagles’ chances even more than the 2010 edition.
Meanwhile, to add fuel to my fire for support of the Kolb/DRC+2 deal, here is Mike Florio’s take on the reasons why only Philadelphia and Andy Reid could have pulled off this miracle:
Eagles know how to coach up quarterbacks…
“It’s a point I’ve been making from time to time, both here and in other contexts. Under Andy Reid, the Eagles have gotten the absolute best out of every quarterback they’ve put on the field.”
“From Donovan McNabb to Mike Vick to A.J. Feeley to Koy Detmer to Jeff Garcia to any other quarterback who has played in any game since 1999 for the Eagles, they have performed better in Philly than anywhere else.”
“For that reason, any team should have been leery about Kevin Kolb. Regardless of anything Kolb can or can’t do, the smoke-and-mirrors impact of excellent coaching makes guys look better than they are.”
“Given the deal the Cardinals have done, both via trade compensation and contract, they surely assume they’ll get as much or more out of Kolb than Reid did.”
Granted, this is kind of a back-handed compliment from Florio. Is he really saying that QB’s who go through the Philly system are somehow tainted by the magic of Andy Reid? That they’ll never be anywhere near that good anywhere else?
Addressing that implication, I hope Kolb turns into the next Johnny Unitas— just not against us!
But what Florio is essentially implying is that Kolb is overrated, overpaid and irrelevant to the Cardinals’ vision of him as the next Kurt Warner…or Jim Hart…or Jake Plummer, for that matter…
Florio goes on to boo-hoo:
“I personally like Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt. And this move makes me worry about his long-term job security. In many respects, he has pushed his chips into the middle of the table. If Kolb turns out to give Whisenhunt a winning hand, he’ll be set for life in Arizona. If it blows up, Whisenhunt could get blown out of town.”
Well, yeah, Mike, if Kolb becomes a $20 million mistake, then of course Whisenhunt (who signed off on the deal) will be fired…But that doesn’t take away from the good move made by the Eagles in trading away a guy who wanted to be traded…
“The Kolb trade marks the third time in seven years that the Eagles have gotten at least a second-round pick in trade for a quarterback. In 2004, they conned the Dolphins out of a second-rounder for A.J. Feeley, who would be traded a year later to the Chargers. A year after that, Feeley came back to Philly as a free agent. Last year, the Eagles got a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick for McNabb from the Redskins. And the Redskins just gave McNabb to the Vikings for a carton of smokes. Apart from all the points made above, the Cardinals should have been leery based simply on the fact that the Eagles know when and how to sell high.”
But Mike— as Paul McCartney once wrote and sang in “Silly Love Songs”— What’s wrong with that?
I think it’s a great trade for both teams. The Eagles made out nicely, and the Cards have a potential franchise QB… let it go, Mike.
Then there’s the underbelly of pro football…
Leonard Weaver was released tonight.
We saw it coming, as I may have mentioned here Leonard used to tweet me constantly with messages of hope and encouragement…and then they just stopped.
Permanent nerve damage to the affected joints and limb of his injury suffered in that September loss to Green Bay… Turns out, there’s no rehab or coming back from that.
At one level, it is a brutal stinking game… Leonard Weaver found that level. Or, should I say more acurately, it found him..Weaver is really one of the good guys in the NFL and anyone who follows him on Twitter knows that he has an ultra-positive attitude every day. Every reporter who covers the team says that Weaver was their favorite guy to deal with…. and today, the Eagles released him.
He got into the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of tiny D2 school Carson-Newman. He caught on in Seattle and actually got hurt his first year. However, when Mack Strong was injured the following year, Weaver stepped up and played well as his replacement. Two years later he hit unrestricted free agency and was looking to cash in. The offers never really came— and he ended up signing a $1.75 million contract for one year with the Eagles. He went on to have a great 2009 season, worked his tail off and made his first Pro Bowl. The following offseason he finally cashed with a three-year contract worth $11 million and $6.5 million guaranteed.
Then…well, you know the rest.
The Eagles had to cut him. He’ll still have the signing bonus, but now most of that lovely contract once belonging to him he’ll never see. And that’s how the NFL works. It’s a business and very often, it’s not a pretty one. Brutal…and it stinks.
UPDATE:
Kicker extraordinaire David Akers signs with San Francisco 49ers…
Punter Sav Rocca signs with Redskins….
Eagles are reportedly looking at Vince Young (released today by the Titans) as a backup QB… And (UPDATE) they signed him to a one-year deal!!!! UPDATE!!!!!!!
And my favorite blurb ever from Gary Cobb:
“HBO should be doing a ‘Hard Knocks’ (documentary) just following Jim Washburn around at Eagles training camp today…I cannot wait to see him whip this defensive line into shape… He’s riding Daniel Te’o Nesheim like he caught him breaking into his house! You can hear him yelling at Daniel from two miles away!!”
With all due respect to Leonard Weaver— this is gonna be the most fun season ever…
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