1 minute ago, jojodancer said:

Howie gets paid the BIG MONEY to project ahead. In 1-2 years, Reddick has a real shot of becoming Robert Quinn in his last days as an Eagle, where he clearly lost a step. While Huff has a good shot becoming Haasan Redick at his prime. Next year, it's close to a wash on the stats. All good for less guaranteed money. Howie's got to get this defense younger and follow the Chiefs template. I suspect he will load up on defense this draft, where this becomes a much faster and younger defense than past years. They were simply worn out, haggard and old last year.

Thank you. I'm not sure why people can't wrap their heads around this very simple and important fact. Maybe Howie ends up being right, maybe he ends up being wrong. But when you just invested a first round pick in an edge rusher and you were able to sign a young ascending edge rusher with similar production to Reddick last season in far less snaps, giving him 25 million a year on a long term extension would have been massively risky to say the least, bordering on stupid.

5 minutes ago, T-1000 said:

Didn't read it, link not working. Sadly for this hot take a pesky little thing called facts (Bosa 44.5 sacks last three seasons, Reddick 38) doesn't agree. Oh, and not to mention there's this little thing called context where one guy is 26 and the other is about to be 30. Considering this entire Reddick situation/trade was a result of him demanding a huge money extension his age and projecting where he might be over the next three seasons is kind of a big factor. 

https://web.archive.org/web/20230128145332/https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-mailbag-haason-reddick-better-pass-rusher-than-nick-bosa/

He gets into why he thinks he's better even with the numbers.

16 hours ago, Sack that QB said:

If Huff outplays Reddick I’ll eat crow and tip my cap to Howie. If Huff disappoints or at the very least even if he plays well but Reddick plays much better, Howie better get criticism he deserves.

I lost trust in Howie after last year. His 2023 offseason was absolutely terrible. Misevaluation after misevaluation. So it’s not like he’s incapable of screwing up on this one.

Howie doesn’t get criticism. You should know that by now

16 hours ago, Sack that QB said:

If Huff outplays Reddick I’ll eat crow and tip my cap to Howie. If Huff disappoints or at the very least even if he plays well but Reddick plays much better, Howie better get criticism he deserves.

I lost trust in Howie after last year. His 2023 offseason was absolutely terrible. Misevaluation after misevaluation. So it’s not like he’s incapable of screwing up on this one.

 

Giving Reddick a monster new deal would have been Howie doubling down on what he did last year and that was pay guys on the wrong side of 30.  

Reddick did somethings well, excellent at crashing down the LOS to stop the run, but struggled with blockers if you ran at him, and you could seal him inside being overly aggressive on run plays. On pass plays, he had a great first step and leverage, but would often over run plays against mobile QBs, opening up that side of the field for a scramble.

He's a good edge rusher, but not as effective as his sack numbers would suggest.

1 minute ago, RememberTheKoy said:

 

Giving Reddick a monster new deal would have been Howie doubling down on what he did last year and that was pay guys on the wrong side of 30.  

Howie's offseason last year wasn't terrible because of the Bradberry signing. It was terrible because he completely neglected linebacker and safety and really made no effort to add anyone even remotely of quality to either position. Bradberry is a small part of it, but I actually don't knock him much for that because how could he have known a fall that stark was coming when he was so good in 2022.

And again, I've never once said the Eagles should have given Reddick a monster deal. They didn't have to and I don't think he's going to get one from the Jets.

2 hours ago, Sack that QB said:

We don't know if he wore down. People have just assumed that. Maybe he was just part of a toxic situation on defense where they changed coordinators midway through the season.

And maybe being dropped into coverage by moronic defensive coordinators had something to do with this too? I don't agree he was worn down

2 hours ago, austinfan said:

Reddick wore down last season, turns 30, that's a red flag. Doesn't mean he won't still be productive, but 600 snaps, not 850, which means he's Huff but 4 years older.

It was one thing to stick with Cox and Kelce, who are elite players still playing at a high level at reasonable rates in their 30s, but Reddick is a speed rusher who'll fall off rapidly when he loses that explosive first step. And he hasn't shown the ability to drop into coverage, which means he's more DE than 3-4 OLB, but undersized at DE.

Reddick wore down or the entire defense looked like complete crap in the second half of the season?   How do you isolate that it was Reddick that wore down, and not the entire defensive side of the ball imploding?     And now Reddick is Huff, rather than Huff being Reddick?   Huff has had ONE notable season... ONLY ONE, it just so happened to coincide with when he hit free agency.  Is he ascending, or did he just have an anomaly season?    Is he Byron Maxwell?  Who knows at this point?   

I agree with the idea of not paying Reddick ridiculous money, but part of why his cap number is so high in 2024 and 2025, was because of how small it was in 2022 and 2023.   When you kick the can, eventually you have to pay the price.  That price is being paid now in 2024 by having a worse player (Huff) rather than the better player (Reddick).   Now, in 2025, that might change.  Or, they both might suck.  I'm still not sold on Huff, but am hopeful that he can replicate last year's stats.  And I am also hopeful that the entire defense as a whole doesn't look anything remotely close to the dumpster fire it was over the 2nd half of last season.

1 minute ago, Sack that QB said:

Howie's offseason last year wasn't terrible because of the Bradberry signing. It was terrible because he completely neglected linebacker and safety and really made no effort to add anyone even remotely of quality to either position. Bradberry is a small part of it, but I actually don't knock him much for that because how could he have known a fall that stark was coming when he was so good in 2022.

And again, I've never once said the Eagles should have given Reddick a monster deal. They didn't have to and I don't think he's going to get one from the Jets.

 

Howie's offseason last year was awful because he gave new deals with two cornerbacks over 30 while letting a young CJGJ and TJ Edwards walk in free agency.  He was determined to play for the comp picks but when it came time to pick and choose which of their own players to pay he chose guys on the wrong side of 30 instead of the two young mid-twenties players at the two very positions you say he neglected.  

 

They had to give Reddick a monster deal because that is what he was wanting. If Reddick was going to be a happy camper and play out the remaining year on his deal without any disturbance the Eagles would not have made this trade. It is an almost certainty there will be reports coming out in the next couple of weeks from leaks from the Eagles FO on things that had already occurred and been communicated behind closed doors that gave the Eagles reason to believe that Reddick wasn't simply just going to be a happy camper for his final year. 

1 hour ago, Saltpeter said:

What assertions can we even make about individual* players on defense last year? They all pretty much spiraled at once.

*Except for Bradberry. Get him the hell off my team.

Exactly.

49 minutes ago, Outlaw said:

Not that it matters much, but here’s how ESPN has our depth chart right now:

 

 

I would love to watch Noah Elliss play LB at 346 pounds.

Levon Kirkland 2.0

11 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

 

Howie's offseason last year was awful because he gave new deals with two cornerbacks over 30 while letting a young CJGJ and TJ Edwards walk in free agency.  He was determined to play for the comp picks but when it came time to pick and choose which of their own players to pay he chose guys on the wrong side of 30 instead of the two young mid-twenties players at the two very positions you say he neglected.  

 

They had to give Reddick a monster deal because that is what he was wanting. If Reddick was going to be a happy camper and play out the remaining year on his deal without any disturbance the Eagles would not have made this trade. It is an almost certainty there will be reports coming out in the next couple of weeks from leaks from the Eagles FO on things that had already occurred and been communicated behind closed doors that gave the Eagles reason to believe that Reddick wasn't simply just going to be a happy camper for his final year. 

He could have given Slay and Bradberry those deals and kept CJGJ and Edwards. The Eagles could have afforded it cap-wise. Howie chose not to bring both of them back. It was an egregious error.

They did not have to give Reddick a monster deal. He's under contract, he had no choice. He's a professional he'd go out and play like ultimately they all do. Because he'd be playing in a contract year and it would affect future earning potential if he didn't. You way overrate the happy camper thing.

Or they could sign a younger player with upside who had one less sack in about half the snaps, trade Reddick for a future 3rd round pick, and not risk having an unhappy player in the locker room coming off of what happened down the stretch last season.

Bo Richter looks like an under the radar potential find. Played for Air Force. As Voch and Broaddus say on thier podcast together if a guy plays lower competition he better walk on water. And that is what Richter does on the field at Air Force. He looks like a man among boys.

6'2'' 246. 40'' vert. 4.53 40 (injured hamstring on that run), 26 bench reps. Did not do agility drills because of hamstring injury while running his first 40.

The athleticism is top notch and it shows on tape. Hes also stronger than anyone he plays against. 

Depending on the team, some have said they see him as an edge, outside LB, inside LB, even FB....

I dont see why he wouldnt get a shot right where he is at edge. Looks pretty nice.

 

When Reddick is on, it's pretty independent of the rest of the defense, he's beating the OT with his first step and making flash plays.

He wasn't doing that the last six games, neither was Sweat, which suggests both players had too many snaps.

Which both says he should rebound in NJ with a lighter work load, and that he wasn't worth a big money extension since he should be more of a rotation pass rusher going forward.

4 hours ago, NYEagle said:

keep him

he had 9 Million Guaranteed.  So they keep him.

6 hours ago, judunno said:

Thinking about it they really kind of screwed Reddick last year with dropping him in coverage and the like. Him having a trash DC really Fd his pockets. Last real chance for a decent pay day for him 

A SAM that can’t drop into coverage and the Eagles screwed him?  Or Reddick screwed the Eagles by not being able to do his coverage assignment.   Including Sweat and Graham, all the Eagles current edges except Lewis have dropped successfully in coverage, some not great at it but sufficient.  The OLBs need to be able to cover some to effectively fulfill their 1 1/2 gap responsibilities and to allow the defense to better disguise.  Nick is a fan of tailoring to the player’s strengths but too much of it makes the play predictable.  The Eagles were predictable on both offense and defense last year.  

Daquan "Dae Dae" Evans, DB from USF is a nice under the radar player. He appears to play mostly in the box as his new coach figured out that hes a really good blitzer. But he also shows the ability to line up in the slot and cover. Hes a versatile play maker. 4 sacks, 7 PDs, and 1 INT last year.

 

5 hours ago, Sack that QB said:

On paper right now I actually think the Eagles are worse faster on defense than the team they ended the season with.

FYP. The rest of the post is just grumbling. 

42 minutes ago, T-1000 said:

Or they could sign a younger player with upside who had one less sack in about half the snaps, trade Reddick for a future 3rd round pick, and not risk having an unhappy player in the locker room coming off of what happened down the stretch last season.

Or they could keep Reddick and sign Huff, go into 2024 loaded at pass rush in a very winnable NFC, and try to get over the hump. Again, this isn't Huff vs Reddick. It's Reddick vs 14 million cap space in 2025 and a 3rd round pick.

Put it to you think way, leave Reddick out of it for a second. Just remove him from the equation. If someone told you that you could sizeably increase your chances at having a better defense and winning a Super Bowl in 2024 and the cost would be 14 million in 2025 and a 3rd round pick in 2026, would you do it? Whether it's Reddick or otherwise. I would. That's essentially what the Eagles did. They said I'd rather have a smaller chance to win in 2024 with moderately improved flexibility in the future.

We'll see if they are right in that assessment.

There were similar debates last year. Discussing whether or not it was prudent to let Edwards go. Some people said it was too much money, put it elsewhere. Then they ended up trading for washed up Byard who cost more money than TJ Edwards would have.

I wouldn't be shocked if all this money in 2025 people are geeked out about the Eagles saving they just blow some of it on some mediocre deadline acquisition anyway. Who knows we'll see.

In a 10 year span between 2008 and 2017, all 5 bird teams made the SB

This is particularly notable because in the other 48 years the SB has existed, Seattle made it 1 other time, Baltimore made it 1 other time, Atlanta made it 1 other time, Arizona never made it before or since

Philadelphia in 1980 is the only time a bird team made the SB before 1998. Bird teams have made it 11 times since.

58 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

He could have given Slay and Bradberry those deals and kept CJGJ and Edwards. The Eagles could have afforded it cap-wise. Howie chose not to bring both of them back. It was an egregious error.

They did not have to give Reddick a monster deal. He's under contract, he had no choice. He's a professional he'd go out and play like ultimately they all do. Because he'd be playing in a contract year and it would affect future earning potential if he didn't. You way overrate the happy camper thing.

 

 

 

I don't overrate the happy camper thing at all.  The Eagles traded Reddick because of it. This is the reality of what has occurred. You're the one that is in a bit of denial and is majorly underrating that factor.  

5 hours ago, ManuManu said:

@we_gotta_believe

You asked me pre-free agency what my expectation was for the defense. After seeing everything shake out, I think we’ll be around 20th or so in DVOA. The defense didn’t upgrade in talent, but I’m hopeful that some of the young players progress and Fangio’s competence pushes this defense to a slightly below average. If Carter makes the leap and Huff is the real deal, there’s upside for more. 

I wonder if this overlooks what else was announced, the offseason schedule.  Sounds like there will be more focus on practice and that lack last year hurt.  Tackling should improve as should communication and fitting together.  

Why wouldn't the Jets have kept Huff if he's apparently just as good, younger and cheaper than Reddick... 

1 minute ago, greendestiny27 said:

Why wouldn't the Jets have kept Huff if he's apparently just as good, younger and cheaper than Reddick... 

gambling for Rodgers’ last year(s). A guy who can pop and fizzle out in 24 months is more valuable to them now than a guy who’ll still be killing it in 5 years.

Plus they’re the Jets