Asante Samuel in Town
as reported by a number of media outlets and confirmed by the eagles, asante samuel is in town and is expected to sign with the birds today. he's the best corner available and the birds are awash in cap room, so i'm pretty happy with the signing. not thrilled necessarily because i think he's a little overrated and i'm not sure exactly how he fits into jj's defense (considering jj likes to play man on the outside and ne played a lot of zone), but adding a playmaker to the team is almost always a good thing.
gcobb is speculating that this is a precursor to a lito to arizona trade for larry fitzgerald. i'm more excited about the samuel (possible) signing opening up this option than with the signing itself. larry fitzgerald can be a difference making player for the birds. i was hoping the samuel speculation earlier in the week might lead to something like this.
one thing that is going to annoy me about the signing is that the morons at wip are going to say the eagles are "finally changing their cheap ways and opening up the wallets to sign free agents", when that is an absurd position to take. do the eagles sign big free agents every year? no? but there also aren't difference making free agents every year. when there are free agents that the eagles really like, they have always been willing to pony up with a big contract, even when ray rhodes was coaching.
jevon kearse
troy vincent
darren howard
lecharles bentley (who ultimately spurned them to go home to cleveland)
kevin curtis
carlos emmons
jon runyan
steve everitt
kevin turner
have they always been right? no, but my gut tells me that they're probably better than most at hitting on their high dollar free agents. cheapness has not been a factor. they horde their cash waiting for the right players (or what they perceive to be the right players) rather than foolishly spending their money on fringe players just because they're the "best available".
if they get samuel and fitzgerald and are able to improve their passrush, the eagles will be one of the top 2-3 teams in the nfl this year.
gcobb is speculating that this is a precursor to a lito to arizona trade for larry fitzgerald. i'm more excited about the samuel (possible) signing opening up this option than with the signing itself. larry fitzgerald can be a difference making player for the birds. i was hoping the samuel speculation earlier in the week might lead to something like this.
one thing that is going to annoy me about the signing is that the morons at wip are going to say the eagles are "finally changing their cheap ways and opening up the wallets to sign free agents", when that is an absurd position to take. do the eagles sign big free agents every year? no? but there also aren't difference making free agents every year. when there are free agents that the eagles really like, they have always been willing to pony up with a big contract, even when ray rhodes was coaching.
jevon kearse
troy vincent
darren howard
lecharles bentley (who ultimately spurned them to go home to cleveland)
kevin curtis
carlos emmons
jon runyan
steve everitt
kevin turner
have they always been right? no, but my gut tells me that they're probably better than most at hitting on their high dollar free agents. cheapness has not been a factor. they horde their cash waiting for the right players (or what they perceive to be the right players) rather than foolishly spending their money on fringe players just because they're the "best available".
if they get samuel and fitzgerald and are able to improve their passrush, the eagles will be one of the top 2-3 teams in the nfl this year.
Labels: football
posted by The Mean Guy at 10:03 AM
28 Comments:
What !! How could you forget the biggest free agent ever ?? Me-o !!
Yes, I know we sent somebody to San Fran so maybe techinically it was a trade of some sort, but it showed they were willing to add a difference maker. Even though it ended badly, we did go to the SB that year.
Captain
i excluded him because it was a trade. we sent that defensive end from cal (whose name escapes me right now). brandon whiting was it?
I don't love this signing as I didn't view it as an area of biggest need. That would be DE, DE, DE. recognizing those guys just aren't out there and the Birds may not be done, I will accept this move.
I don't think they're cheap, just cautious. That's why this move surprises me a bit. However, if they are not done, and they will now use Faberge egg Lito as trade bait, I am on board.
Samuel is a play maker, getting play makers never hurts. Now they need playmakers at DE, S, K, and WR.
Bumble
PFT made it sound like they might keep Lito and move Brown to safety. Would appear to upgrade 2 positions with one signing. Fitz might be a great WR, but I don't think anyone's worth $30 mil over 2 years which is what is left on his current contract.
I thought about that move of Brown and like it a lot-gives you 3 guys who can cover and Brown is tough against the run. I see Lito moping and he supposedly wanted out due to $.
I'd consider a flyer on a Justin Smith. Supposedly some guy who was out of football in 2006 is coming to town tomorrow for DE. Not the signing that would fill me with confidence.
They cannot draft enough athletes. I'd target that Felix jones from Arekansas in the draft. Good RB, good return man. They DESPERATELY need RB depth.
Bumble
From the mouth of the Big Dog, this is a good if not great move. They got the #1 FA. Samuel is a playmaker and automatically makes this team that much better. I would move Lito if a) you can package him and get a Roy Williams or Larry Fitzgerald or b) a 2nd round pick or higher. You can not have enough good DBs in this league. Honestly I would rather keep him and move Sheldon to FS. Crazy talk, but then I would move B Dawk to SS...at this point in his career he can still hit, but I still may want to upgrade SS...anyhow, the Eagles really hold the cards now. I heard they are bringing this Clemens character in...hopefully just a depth move as isn't he really Chris Gocong? I think he's only 240...anyway, I like the Samuel move, the last big ticket CB they got in FA turned out to be one of the best Eagles ever. If they just went gonzo and brought in defensive help I would be cool, with the caveat that they got a Mario Manningham (I know he ran a 4.6, but so did Jerry Rice)....guys this move is only positive and I want to see them be aggressive until the draft is over!!!
They still need to address the following problems: WR, WR, WR, WR, WR, WR.
I also agree they need better RB depth. 36 isn't going to stay on top forever.
Phil,
Westbrook won't stay on top forever, true, but good lord,if we can keep him where is his for 1-3 more years....Man he's incredible.
Not sure Brown would be happy with a move, but it is interesting. Also I agree, an upgrade at WR would be nice, but who and at what cost? You don't win SBs with WR as can be exampled in this year's game. What we need is to make sure our O line is healthy and experienced.
- Joe
in another "brilliant" move by head coach Andy reid, the Birds signed Dan Klecko to play fullback. Never mind that Klecko has never played the position because Andy knows best. If you need someone to play fullback, why not go get someone who has played fullback? Seems basic enough.
I just don't get this team. Another ho hum quiet off season for a team that finished last in the division. Where is the urgency to get better after a dismal 2007?
Let's strap in for another basement dwelling season friends and neighbors.
Bumble
Bumble,
Just to let you know, the rest of us humans don't perform well when injured. When you have a QB injured, you're not going to have a good season. You may ask, well why didn't we have better backups? Like who? Plus, a backup is really only meant to provide coverage for one game. That's how long it'll take D coaches to figure out why he's a backup. If he was better, he'd be a starter somewhere.
Now, upgrading. Who would you like to see us make a move for? Who's available that's worth it and will help the Eagles where we're weak?
Healthy, McNabb and Westbrook are incredible. Curtis will be fine as long as we lower the penalties (otherwise it won't matter if we go back in time and kidnap the younger Jerry Rice)
Reggie Brown did get better as the year progressed, but I'll admit he hasn't panned out as well as I had hoped. TEs are coming along ok, not great, but you can't get everything.
The Eagles needed secondary help. ok, they did that.
The Eagles need O line help. Who's available?
- Joe
My problem is they are getting old at key positions (OT notably) and they aren't good enough at others (WR, S) and none of those has been addressed. Granted the OT thing is tough and maybe you move up in the draft, but safety seems doable if you're creative. The difference between Samuel and Lito is not that significant, so I;m not overly thrilled with that move. You're paying Lito plus 2 inches $7 million more. The 240 DE does not excite me. I;m sorry Joe, please explain what exactly they have done this off season. Resign a turd TE who's got no balls and can't hold on to the ball? What has been done to just give this team a pass? The 7-11 divisional record over the past 3 years isn't exciting me, so where do I get charged up for this team?
Riddle me that fellow.
Bumble
Bumble,
I'm saying they don't actually need to do that much this off season except get everyone healthy. If McNabb was healthy all year last year, we're in the playoffs without question.
I agree OT, S and WR would be nice to add. But what I'm saying is there's no one out there worth getting.
- Joe
Bumble, they got the best FA out there. Would you rather they overpay for mediocre talent like the Raiders this year? Everyone says you build championships via the draft anyways so let's see what they do there before killing management.
Also, they took care of one OT position several years ago when they drafted Andrews. Not his fault that Runyan still keeps strapping them up. While he's dropped off a bit over the past several years, he's not reached the cover-your-eyes awful stage yet.
Andrews is a top 3 guard in the league. I am not sold he has quick enough feet or long enough arms to be a good OT. He is a mauler inside however and I;d keep him right there and let him be the Birds version of Larry Allen. LA struggled when he moved to OT then came back inside and just mauled again.
I would trade 3 rounds worth of picks to move up and get Jake Long. That kid is a stud!
Bumble
OK Boyz, this is completely off-topic, but I need your help. I'm asking everyone who posts at scrapplelog to help me out with the following info. Where you work, what you do, maybe a quick sentence or two about your industry. Rather than jam up the site and have everybody's info floating in cyberspace, you can send it to me personally to : cmeehan7atverizondotnet (standard email format but I hope that foils the spammers). Don't worry that your company isn't hiring or whatever, I'm just gathering information at this point - I need to make a career change and the more people I know on this earth the better. The subprime mortgage meltdown/current credit crisis has me fighting for my financial life, so please help me out here. Anybody worried about divulging info to me, TMG can vouch for me, we've known each other since 4th grade. Thanks for your assistance!
Captain
Would Iggles fans really accept the team signing someone named "Roy Williams" even if he did play WR? I say not only would he be accepted but the SB or bust chants would begin immediately.
As long as we don't get rid of Curtis to get Williams. Look at their yards. Curtis got like 300 more, and that was without McNabb in there all the time.
Joe
I know local fans would scream at this, but if I were Andy I'd be working on Tuna for that first pick. We have so many picks this year. I'd trade Lito, my one and two for the number 1 overall pick to get Jake Long. Plug him in, Willie or Runyan retire, and you've got an all world LT who will devour blockers for the next 10-12 years. That guy is scary good, a once in a decade lineman, get it done.
Am I nuts, or do you go bold?
Bumble
Well last year this time I made the prediction that the phillies wouldn't make the playoffs. Once again, I will say The Phillies Will NOT Make The Playoffs.
- Joe
The Phillies management team, including Gillick and Amaro, are the worst in pro sports. They make Homer Simpson's management style look like Jack Welch's by their buffoonery.
Bumble
I wouldn't make the Long trade because the #1 pick isn't worth the money. $30 mil guaranteed? Rather pay that to a FA who has at least proven himself. Just look at Galley (OAK) who was the last "can't miss" "all-decade" tackle prospect that's been nothing but meh as a pro.
I also don't understand the big rush to move Sheppard out of town. I've never been a huge fan (thought he has been too erratic, injury prone), but the dude's a solid corner.
I don't know Phil. I think the reason teams haven't had more success against the Eagles is because they don't go to Lito's side as often as they could. He gets beat A LOT. At least last year. Many times it was just luck that they didn't throw that side. I think he had/has potential, but just worry about the double move on him.
- Joe
You cannot bring Shepherd back unless you move Brown to safety. He'll be disgruntled being the nickel back and that's just a bad situation waiting to happen. plus he's not very good. Besides Cowboys games, this guy gets beat by everyone.
Bumble
I don't know, but I think it's possible we win every home game this year:
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/gameday/schedule.html
That with Cinn and Cleveland, I think we've got 10 wins this year.
- Joe
It all hinges on those first 4 games. They must get out of the blocks no worse than 2-2 this year and buld some momentum. I no longer trust this team as elite. They just aren't good enough for us to assume wins over anyone anymore, so let's hope that a healthy Donny and good old fashioned hard work get them off to a good start.
Bumble
Mean guy we need a new thread here brother. Lots going on-pre-draft musings, Chad Johnson or Jared Allen rumors, Schedule. Help some brothers out.
sorry bro. been busy working and working on the new house (well old house actually, we bought a 100 year fixer upper). i'm out of town at a conference this week.
i'll get back in gear sometime next week.
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