6 hours ago, Texas Eagle said:

They can’t fix the defense in one draft. Too many holes and question marks. They’re only going to be decent if Huff is what we hope and Nolan, Carter, and Davis take huge next steps. Still have massive question marks at CB and LB even if they all step up.

They could go from horrible to OK

Who writes this stuff? One of the biggest freak DL ever? 

 

5 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

They could go from horrible to OK

As long as the offense returns to form, OK is all the defense has to be. 

It's the NFL, the defense can go from bottom feeder to top 10 in a season.  Play more zone coverage and Bradberry will be better.  Allow Davis to play his natural position of NT and he will be better.  More lane/assignment discipline and the whole D is better.  An experienced DC with a proven record of improving defenses on board.

It's the off-season,  it's football, why not be optimistic and hopeful?  The worst that can happen is the team sucks.  Big deal.  The best that can happen is they are great.  Again, big deal.

Have fun.

 

14 hours ago, kiwieagle said:

Its a very small reason why trading Reddick this year also makes sense. Accelerates his dead cap into this year, rather than having it next year if he left as a FA. 

And yet... having this amount of dead cap space is what Howie WANTS... he does it more than any other GM by a wide margin.   So, that alone isn't going to cut it for me as a reason to trade away your best defensive player.   Howie created all that dead cap space, so what you are saying by positing this as a rationale for why it makes sense, actually says that Howie forced himself into having to make this move due to his choice of how he structures contracts and overly relies on pushing costs to the future and creates void years and dead cap space he then has to tap dance around.   

It is a problem of his own making.

8 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

It is a problem of his own making.

Is it really a "problem?"

Howie's system basically loads the roster with players at today's market value and defers some of the cost to future years where, with the exception of the covid season, the cap increases continually. He's simply using future cap increases to build a team today. It would only be a "problem" if the cap was stagnant. 

Another go with the draft simulator…this time assuming Howie wants to trade up in 1st round to grab a top OT w/ Lane turning 34 this year.  Not saying I’d do this, but I could see Howie doing it with two 2nd round picks

10 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

And yet... having this amount of dead cap space is what Howie WANTS... he does it more than any other GM by a wide margin.   So, that alone isn't going to cut it for me as a reason to trade away your best defensive player.   Howie created all that dead cap space, so what you are saying by positing this as a rationale for why it makes sense, actually says that Howie forced himself into having to make this move due to his choice of how he structures contracts and overly relies on pushing costs to the future and creates void years and dead cap space he then has to tap dance around.   

It is a problem of his own making.

Agree to some extent, but the dead cap issue is mostly due to the retirements of Kelce, Cox, and Graham for 2025. It’s not too common to have big 3 retirements hit you in the same year. That’s difficult for any GM to manage.

There’s more to the trade than just cap relief. The overall roster can be improved with better roster management.

 

14 hours ago, judunno said:

I don't recall Reddick overplaying and losing contain much last year pinning his ears back for pass rushes. I do recall Sweat doing that a ton though.

I do

9 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

Is it really a "problem?"

Howie's system basically loads the roster with players at today's market value and defers some of the cost to future years where, with the exception of the covid season, the cap increases continually. He's simply using future cap increases to build a team today. It would only be a "problem" if the cap was stagnant. 

Yep. You get it. 

 

14 hours ago, Know Life said:

Yes, please.

 

Gotta think if he says no that Mick Foley might get the call and throws on #62

  

15 minutes ago, McMVP said:

Another go with the draft simulator…this time assuming Howie wants to trade up in 1st round to grab a top OT w/ Lane turning 34 this year.  Not saying I’d do this, but I could see Howie doing it with two 2nd round picks

Alt is the real deal. Cosign.

22 minutes ago, McMVP said:

Another go with the draft simulator…this time assuming Howie wants to trade up in 1st round to grab a top OT w/ Lane turning 34 this year.  Not saying I’d do this, but I could see Howie doing it with two 2nd round picks

Denver must have really wanted that #50 pick

22 minutes ago, garingovt2000 said:

Denver must have really wanted that #50 pick

lol…yeah the simulator let me, but it would likely have to be the #50 and maybe a 6th thrown in

but Denver is probably desperate for picks

30 minutes ago, just relax said:

Alt is the real deal. Cosign.

Had a feeling you would

42 minutes ago, wussbasket said:

Agree to some extent, but the dead cap issue is mostly due to the retirements of Kelce, Cox, and Graham for 2025. It’s not too common to have big 3 retirements hit you in the same year. That’s difficult for any GM to manage.

There’s more to the trade than just cap relief. The overall roster can be improved with better roster management.

 

And those were shocking events?   Cox' dead money, btw, has nothing to do with his retirement.  IIRC, he wasn't under contract for 2024, so his cap hit was already determined based on previous negotiations.   Graham also wasn't under contract for 2024, so his dead cap number has nothing to do with his impending retirement either.   And Kelce's retirement has been anticipated for some time... and during those anticipation years, Howie pushed base salary from previous years to void years with renegotiations.   In other words, Howie made this situation, 100% himself.   It isn't something that he didn't know was coming.   

 

People need to stop trying to find ways to defend Howie on this.   He knew these guys were getting old and had very little time left.  And this is how he CHOSE to handle it.

2 hours ago, bpac55 said:

Who writes this stuff? One of the biggest freak DL ever? 

 

 

 

It's a weak class for edge rushers and he does have physical traits that stand out.  I can see a team like the Bills drafting him late in the first.  He's nothing historic but was in the 97th percentile for his 40 and 10 yard splits.  
 

16 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

People need to stop trying to find ways to defend Howie on this.   He knew these guys were getting old and had very little time left.  And this is how he CHOSE to handle it.

Considering almost every team in the league is copying the way the Eagles front office handles contracts and manages the salary cap, I don't know why anyone needs to "defend" Howie.  

5 minutes ago, jsb235 said:

Considering almost every team in the league is copying the way the Eagles front office handles contracts and manages the salary cap, I don't know why anyone needs to "defend" Howie.  

Lurie has to cut some serious checks to make this approach work. The cap is real, but he can make it work most years because Lurie is willing to spend cash. 

3 hours ago, bpac55 said:

Who writes this stuff? One of the biggest freak DL ever? 

 

I don't think Vic will want yet another undersized edge player, I also hope not. I do think that they would like a player like Latu or Verse though. If Latu's neck is ok I have him as one of the Eagles targets. I'd be ok with him too. 

13 minutes ago, jsb235 said:

Considering almost every team in the league is copying the way the Eagles front office handles contracts and manages the salary cap, I don't know why anyone needs to "defend" Howie.  

No one in the league is doing it to the extent that Howie is.     A few days ago it was shown exactly how extreme Howie is with these types of contracts.  No team is even at the half way mark to what Howie has done.   Cleveland is the closest, but I think they are around 45% of the amount that Howie does it.

 

And people don't 'need' to defend Howie (he's got a job for life with Lurie)... and yet, they do it all the time.    Howie can't be held responsible for not being able to identify defensive players in the draft.   Howie needs to trade Reddick to free up money from the 2025 cap, because of these retirements... etc, etc, etc.    No.  Howie made this his STRATEGY for how he handles the cap and contracts.   He has renegotiated Lane Johnson's contract to push more money into the future on so many occasions that I've lost count.  It seems like an annual announcement... and what is the result of that?   Well, when Johnson's contract ends after the 2026 year, the Eagles will have a $39M dead cap hit for him in 2027.   Are we going to boo-hoo for Howie when he has to make a move that year or 2026 because of that payment due to the piper?   Kicking the can has benefits... which people point out all the time with the increase to the salary cap, such that the amount of money in the present is more valuable than the money in the future.  Which is fine and dandy.  But those same people can't then turn around and use the dead money as an excuse for why he needs to make a bad FOOTBALL decision (i.e. trading away a known quantity for peanuts) because of the amount of dead money committed to retired players.   That's just talking out both ends.  It's either wise to do it... or it is a calculated choice which has negative impacts for the future.  

 

8 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

No one in the league is doing it to the extent that Howie is.     A few days ago it was shown exactly how extreme Howie is with these types of contracts.  No team is even at the half way mark to what Howie has done.   Cleveland is the closest, but I think they are around 45% of the amount that Howie does it.

 

And people don't 'need' to defend Howie (he's got a job for life with Lurie)... and yet, they do it all the time.    Howie can't be held responsible for not being able to identify defensive players in the draft.   Howie needs to trade Reddick to free up money from the 2025 cap, because of these retirements... etc, etc, etc.    No.  Howie made this his STRATEGY for how he handles the cap and contracts.   He has renegotiated Lane Johnson's contract to push more money into the future on so many occasions that I've lost count.  It seems like an annual announcement... and what is the result of that?   Well, when Johnson's contract ends after the 2026 year, the Eagles will have a $39M dead cap hit for him in 2027.   Are we going to boo-hoo for Howie when he has to make a move that year or 2026 because of that payment due to the piper?   Kicking the can has benefits... which people point out all the time with the increase to the salary cap, such that the amount of money in the present is more valuable than the money in the future.  Which is fine and dandy.  But those same people can't then turn around and use the dead money as an excuse for why he needs to make a bad FOOTBALL decision (i.e. trading away a known quantity for peanuts) because of the amount of dead money committed to retired players.   That's just talking out both ends.  It's either wise to do it... or it is a calculated choice which has negative impacts for the future.  

But that’s not why Reddick was traded, and I certainly wouldn’t call a third round pick, even a delayed one, peanuts. 

40 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

And those were shocking events?   Cox' dead money, btw, has nothing to do with his retirement.  IIRC, he wasn't under contract for 2024, so his cap hit was already determined based on previous negotiations.   Graham also wasn't under contract for 2024, so his dead cap number has nothing to do with his impending retirement either.   And Kelce's retirement has been anticipated for some time... and during those anticipation years, Howie pushed base salary from previous years to void years with renegotiations.   In other words, Howie made this situation, 100% himself.   It isn't something that he didn't know was coming.   

 

People need to stop trying to find ways to defend Howie on this.   He knew these guys were getting old and had very little time left.  And this is how he CHOSE to handle it.

As long as the ratio of dead cap remains the same, it doesn't matter if the dead cap number keeps going up. I'll stop defending Howie using void years when it puts us in a situation like the saints being $73mm over the cap in 2025.