Paying Sneed is one thing. Not interested in trading assets and paying him.

7 minutes ago, EricAllenPick6 said:

^^^ This.

Andy back in the day was a big fan of getting competition - I don't know that we need a big free agent signings, we need to draft some guys high, sign some mid free agents, and hope that someone bubbles to the top.

Meh. Free agents are less risky than draft picks at the position. Theres so many options with NFL tape, if he’s a stud we’re not going to pay him $20m a season when his contract is up. 
 

not to mention everyone crying if he busts. Dean was a 3rd round pick and you have guys here crying like we used a top 10 pick on him, and calling him a bust lol 

25 minutes ago, 315Eagles said:

Not sure if anyone saw it but there was a report that Eagles coaches were very hard on younger players when they made mistakes but wouldn't say a word to veteran players even when they made obvious mistakes on film.  Apparently that didn't fly with many on the team.

Lack of accountability was painfully obvious last season. If there was any accountability at all they wouldn't have been making the same fundamental mistakes from week 1 to week 18

Berman thinks they will be active on long-term fixes on defense. Younger guys.

If Reddick goes I wonder if they're in on Chase Young. Howie might think Fangio could get the best out of him and you'd be buying low.

2 minutes ago, GoEagles614 said:

Meh. Free agents are less risky than draft picks at the position. Theres so many options with NFL tape, if he’s a stud we’re not going to pay him $20m a season when his contract is up. 
 

not to mention everyone crying if he busts. Dean was a 3rd round pick and you have guys here crying like we used a top 10 pick on him, and calling him a bust lol 

You should be getting quality starters in the 3rd 

1 minute ago, Sack that QB said:

Berman thinks they will be active on long-term fixes on defense. Younger guys.

If Reddick goes I wonder if they're in on Chase Young. Howie might think Fangio could get the best out of him and you'd be buying low.

Isn't the knock on Young that he's a lazy sack? And the complaints in Miami were that fangio is pretty demanding of his players? Sounds like a match made in hell

5 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

Berman thinks they will be active on long-term fixes on defense. Younger guys.

If Reddick goes I wonder if they're in on Chase Young. Howie might think Fangio could get the best out of him and you'd be buying low.

Washington moved Young because he had no work ethic.  Niners aren't interested in bringing him back because he had no work ethic.

2 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

If they are going to do it, it will be in the next two weeks. No way they carry him until June 1st.

Interesting.   Why do you think that?  Because of the cap increase?  

6 minutes ago, devpool said:

Isn't the knock on Young that he's a lazy sack? And the complaints in Miami were that fangio is pretty demanding of his players? Sounds like a match made in hell

That's the reported knock on him. We'll see if they think the talent supersedes it if they desire an edge rusher.

18 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

Interesting.   Why do you think that?  Because of the cap increase?  

1. Because they can designate two players as post June 1st cuts but cut them at any time. They don't have to wait until the actual June 1st date.

2. That would be doing the player pretty dirty because you are holding on to them knowing you have no plans for them while forcing them to miss the spending portion of Free Agency and the draft. It really limits his market and what he can get in the next deal. Howie hasn't shown to do that really ever and clearly cares about the overall image of the organization. Purposely doing a player dirty, especially if you keep doing it, eventually catches up to you when trying to sign other free agents. 

7 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

1. Because they can designate two players as post June 1st cuts but cut them at any time. They don't have to wait until the actual June 1st date.

2. That would be doing the player pretty dirty because you are holding on to them knowing you have no plans for them while forcing them to miss the spending portion of Free Agency and the draft. It really limits his market and what he can get in the next deal. Howie hasn't shown to do that really ever and clearly cares about the overall image of the organization. Purposely doing a player dirty, especially if you keep doing it, eventually catches up to you when trying to sign other free agents. 

Excellent points and clarification.   Tampering period is in 13 days.  Agree with you that it will happen before then if it happens.

On 2/13/2024 at 4:25 PM, wussbasket said:

 

Sometimes its good to revisit these, as long as my opinion isn't in them. There didn't seem to be much interest in either of them previously.

Hey I gave McDuffie is credit and I am happy with my take on him lol. I dont bat 1.000 but know my Pac12 guys very well.

2 hours ago, bpac55 said:

Kind of need to know sooner than later IMO. There are moves that might have to be made based directly to what each player does. If you say the important thing is neither player ever wears another teams colors, you're pretty much saying, name your price to stay an Eagle. 

Last year Kelce let the Eagles know by the first week in March, before free agency.  I suspect he'll let Howie know within the next 7-10 days.

54 minutes ago, devpool said:

Isn't the knock on Young that he's a lazy sack? And the complaints in Miami were that fangio is pretty demanding of his players? Sounds like a match made in hell

Yup

zero interest in young

Youth on defense often works because it's where athleticism matters more. You can have a couple of older guys, but in general you want fresh legs.

11 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

So an unproven UDFA and Dean is a good plan? That would be a disaster heading into next season.  Shirley, you can't be serious.  

That "unproven UDFA" had the best PFF of any Eagles ILB.  

So,  I'd put it as,  the young player who played better than any other ILB the Eagles had last year.

It would be more nuanced than that.

Go in with the hope/expectation that Dean would be the green dot who plays every snap.  Just like last year.

Go in with the hope, and not quite the expectation that Ben VanSumeren wins some competition and is the other starter.   Is Cunningham there this year?  Then VanSumeren and Cunningham are in competition to see who is the starter.   Perhaps at that position there is a platoon system.

What the Eagles should be wanting is for the young, cheap, raw, getting better, top athlete to be good enough so that they don't have to go dumpster diving for vets or spending resources on vets or draft picks.   The Eagles should try to set it up so that VanSumeren is the starter.   If you got a great player as a UDFA, that's a coup.  Get great player and spend nothing to do so.  That allows you to spend your scarce resources elsewhere.   That's the outcome you want.   If you can make a great player out of a UDFA in a year or 2,  you can just hold onto cash, you can trade present draft picks for future draft picks. 

Right now,  right off the bat, VanSumeren had the best PFF of any ILB on the Eagles last year.   The Eagles could/should have just given VanSumeren the snaps so that they didn't have to bring in Leonard, and VanSumeren could have been even more advanced than he is right now.  But they didn't. 

You and everyone else should be thinking "this really cheap UDFA guy had the best PFF for ILBs, and it would be absolutely the best outcome if this guy can start, can push his PFF into the 70s or even 80s,  be great,  at such a low cost."   Of course,  others might say "but VanSumeren is that Big Back that can be hard to find.  230+ pound college fullback with a 4.40 pro day 40 is rare,  those numbers are like Saquon Barkley, and you want that too.  It's easier to get a good athlete at ILB than it is to get a RB/FB who is 230+ with a 4.40 40 and a 42.5 vert and everything else, so, he should play where his athleticism is greater that other options."    Both of those ways of thinking are legit,  but "let's throw resources unnecessarily at a spot where the Eagles could have a coup with a top athlete who costs nothing and is young" is not.

The Eagles have a problem at CB.   They're spending a lot of money on CBs who don't seem to be very good at this point.  Some think that the solution is to continue to add aging vets who are costly.  The CBs are a long list of players with PFFs in the 40s, 50s, 60s.  All below average (except Slay,  who is slightly above average).   Adding a 1st round CB will allow the Eagles to let expensive vet CBs who aren't really all that great now leave and save money.    The average PFF of the CB room needs to go up.   I like Cooper DeJean in the first,  but one of the other CBs that are likely first round picks might run a 4.22 40 at the combine, and maybe I'd want that guy instead.  Whatever it is, if that new CB is actually below average,   he would still bring up the average from where it was in 2023.    

VanSumeren's PFF was higher than every other ILB, and every CB.  

CB,  then,  offense.  Every RB was below average PFF.   And none of those RBs were big enough to do certain important things like run the ball over and over in the 4th when you're trying to run out the clock,  a very important part of football.   Henry and Barkley look good to me at that spot, doing that function.   2nd or 3rd round Braelon Allen could do that thing the Eagles couldn't do last year.  I'm looking at UDFA big backs so that the Eagles could solve that "can't get a first down and have to punt" in the 4th Q, when it matters the most.  I have Johnny "Offense" Langan,  former Rutgers QB/TE at the top of my UDFA list right now.  245 pounds and a lot of his highlights are moving the pile for extra yards.   Swift runs for 2 yards on 1st and 10 too often.  If big back can get 3,4,5 yards,  the Eagles get a first down,  2 minutes are off the clock,  and the Eagles win.  

Last year,  the Eagles were short a starter on offense.   Hurts, Brown, Smith, Goedert and RBBC/Swift.    That's 5.  There should be 6.    The Eagles probably should spend a 2nd round pick on that 6th guy.  I don't know what position he plays.   Probably WR (WR3).   Maybe TE (TE2).  I like Xavier Legette for WR3.   He ran faster than any NFL player did last year,  with a 22.3 mph.   A scarier weapon than Quez.   But if some 6'5 WR runs 4.22 at the combine, then maybe them.  

OL.  The Eagles have more starting OL than they have OL spots.  Never hurts to add another OL on day 3,  probably should do that every year.   But it's not at all a need, and if they don't do that at all,  that would be fine too.

1) DeJean
2) Legette
2) Allen (or Henry or Barkley)
3) Is there a blazing fast,  freakbeast CB available.?    CB or not CB,  anyone with a 4.2 40?  He might not be a great CB (or S or WR or RB) right now,  but stock that cupboard.   Last year there was a pretty good discussion about the merits of getting one of the fast RBs in the 2nd like Achane.   If there is someone blazing fast who is a CB who could be a jet sweeper guy or a kick returner or is a WR or RB (the Eagles should probably consider the merits of a backup WR to Brown and Smith,  so that they might rest and not have to play every down, thereby avoiding the injuries that happened last year to every single good skill position player the Eagles have.   Or RB,  the fast kind,  because all the RBs are leaving except for Gainwell, who I like, despite the fact that he isn't actually very good. Mostly because he was a high school QB, and completed a pass last year).  

Day 3)  rounds 5-6.    high ceiling guys, whatever you can get.  The Eagles have like 4 picks within the space of 20.   That's where you get raw freakbeasts for defense.  The ILB you want,  a DE,  an OL, a S.  

59 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

Excellent points and clarification.   Tampering period is in 13 days.  Agree with you that it will happen before then if it happens.

Technically they would have to wait until after the tampering period when free agency starts which is also the start of the new league year. 

Tampering period unofficially started weeks ago. TJ Edwards agreed to a contract an hour into the tampering period last year. 

4 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

They don't really ever operate that way. If they have no plans for the player they get rid of them sooner rather than later so they can find a deal somewhere else before all the waves of FA and the draft end. He's also the biggest contract hurdle of possible cuts so I don't see why he wouldn't be one of the two designations. 

unless that player's name is Rashaad Penny or Alex O.    Alex O. they have even brought back for a sequel to "The Invisible Man".

4 hours ago, NOTW said:

In general, I hope they address the main things in early free agency and draft. Signing guys in August is fine if you need depth or there are major injury issues, but I hope the "answer" at certain positions isn't waiting until an August signing.

Good news.   The answer at certain position wasn't waiting as an August signing either!

Albert O. walked in on a spit roast...

5 hours ago, NOTW said:

Howie: last year they made a conscious decision to put more resources into offense and knew they were losing some guys on defense. Looking back, they miss some of those guys, that starts with me. Opportunity to improve everywhere.

If you look at defense, a lot of young players at DT so is that a priority area over others, probably not. But that's also an important position, so won't be in position to turn down a guy just because they have resources there already because we believe in the D line so much. (Likely smoke screen language, this place will riot if they draft another DT in the 1st)

No way they go 1st round DT, but I think 2nd round could be in play as a dark horse pick. Milton Williams is scheduled to be a free agent after next year & I doubt he’s brought back. There’s also a handful of DT that seem to provide good value in the range our 2nd round picks happen to be in. I definitely could see them going for a guy with DE/DT versatility, Darius Robinson from Missouri is someone who springs to mind there. I’ll admit I need to watch more of him, but from what I’ve read he’s viewed as a fringe late 1st/early 2nd guy, & got a ton of positive talk from the senior bowl. Maybe he doesn’t last to 50, but is someone worth keeping an eye on. 

I'm fine with a rotational DT on day 3, but no more IDL. We have Carter, Davis and Williams. We need pocket-pushing DEs.