1 minute ago, Arsenal79 said:

This.  Howie also didn't value RBs but he signed Saquon.

Baun is such a game-changer it would be idiotic to let him walk.

The trick with signing Barkley was 2 fold -- first, as I have posted before, he was getting less on an AAV basis than Adrian Peterson (AP was $14.38mm in 2011, SB is $12.583mm). But the cap was only $120.375mm in 2011 vs. $255.4mm in 2024. So as a % of the cap, SB was 4.9% as compared to 11.9% for AP, or almost 60% cheaper. Second, the team looked at every rush for Swift in 2023 and analyzed how much more SB would have gotten with similar blocking -- the team believed Swift left a lot of meat on the bone. So it came down to impact per % of cap. 

They'll do the same for Baun. My hope is the rest of the league looks at Baun as a one hit wonder, or product of the system, and the AAV stays below $10mm. But I expect Howie to do the same analysis on VORP and impact per cap dollar.

1 hour ago, NYEagle said:

I'm 56, Mrs.#2 is 37.....I got snipped after my second kid with Mrs.#1, no thank you to late life kids!

I concur.  It has been 54 years since I got snipped.  It is liberating.

2 hours ago, just relax said:

Really like him. I think he'll play guard and I think he needs a year of pro weight training but he's very athletic and he can run. Would the Eagles draft him? I doubt it, especially if they keep Becton. Then he'd have Steen and Keegan ahead of him, both young guys. He definitely has some position flexibility. I think he'll get drafted on Day One, making him too rich for the Birds, who have other and more pressing needs. If they don't re-sign Becton then, yes, they might draft him, especially if he slides a little.

Thanks. Im on to the Purdue kid Mbow next

if we are going to spend a top 100 pick on OL i think it has to be somebody they believe can be the RT of the future. Feels unlikely

The Saints hired Staley! Thank gawd!

4 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

The trick with signing Barkley was 2 fold -- first, as I have posted before, he was getting less on an AAV basis than Adrian Peterson (AP was $14.38mm in 2011, SB is $12.583mm). But the cap was only $120.375mm in 2011 vs. $255.4mm in 2024. So as a % of the cap, SB was 4.9% as compared to 11.9% for AP, or almost 60% cheaper. Second, the team looked at every rush for Swift in 2023 and analyzed how much more SB would have gotten with similar blocking -- the team believed Swift left a lot of meat on the bone. So it came down to impact per % of cap. 

They'll do the same for Baun. My hope is the rest of the league looks at Baun as a one hit wonder, or product of the system, and the AAV stays below $10mm. But I expect Howie to do the same analysis on VORP and impact per cap dollar.

Interesting.  I'm sure Howie does this kind of analysis for any player.

I would expect that Baun grades out as "worth it" for around $12m/yr or roughly 5% of the cap, but we'll see.  Perhaps 5% of the cap is the max he's willing to go for "low value" positions like RB or LB.

1 hour ago, RLC said:

McLane saying we'd keep Milton but not Baun is very Howie-pilled.

It makes a lot of sense from how the Eagles do things though.

I wouldn't be surprised if they brought back Burks to run with Dean (if healthy), Trotter, BVS and a draft pick and then spend in the trenches as he always does. 

3 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

The Saints hired Staley! Thank gawd!

Hopefully Lurie gives Parker a monetary consolation prize. He likes to do that

1 hour ago, Wentz_Era said:

Props to you, we are still deciding on more at this point.

Given this discussion about children, this article published this week is an eye opener.  Hard to have children if you can’t find a partner.

You're pipe dreaming if you think Baun is getting 3/$30M in here. Defensive Player of the year candidate and finished 5th. He's gonna laugh at that. Too much cap space out there for that to happen. Thinking 3/$45M is what he gets. Entering his prime here and has low tread on the tires. And I'm happy to hand that to him. No Superbowl without Baun on the team.

15 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

The Saints hired Staley! Thank gawd!

What team is left?

I'm surprised we didn't lose Parker or Anderson

5 minutes ago, jojodancer said:

You're pipe dreaming if you think Baun is getting 3/$30M in here. Defensive Player of the year candidate and finished 5th. He's gonna laugh at that. Too much cap space out there for that to happen. Thinking 3/$45M is what he gets. Entering his prime here and has low tread on the tires. And I'm happy to hand that to him. No Superbowl without Baun on the team.

If someone is willing to pay him 3/45, he is long gone. I see no chance of him getting that. 

1 minute ago, vikas83 said:

If someone is willing to pay him 3/45, he is long gone. I see no chance of him getting that. 

Everyone in FA gets overpaid. 

1 hour ago, Iggles_Phan said:

McLane being wrong isn't a new thing.  And are the Eagles actually talking to him?    He must be getting information from the agent side.  

 

1 hour ago, RLC said:

McLane saying we'd keep Milton but not Baun is very Howie-pilled.

 

33 minutes ago, pgcd3 said:

He’s using Howie’s rep and assumed he learned nothing. We never drafted CBs in rd 1 until we did and we never valued LBs until we had an All Pro and won the SB. I like to think that Howie continues to learn and while he thinks lines first he is seeing that other positions matter

100% this. He's basing it off of the Eagles history of paying lineman and not paying LBs.

And fair enough on that assumption — there is a decade of data to confirm that assumption.

But one of Howie’s best qualities is that he truly learns from mistakes and tries to rectify them. So I think there is a decent chance Baun gets re-signed.

21 minutes ago, Arsenal79 said:

It would be foolish to bring back Becton instead of Baun if the cost is similar.  I know Howie "doesn't value" the ILB spot, but Baun hasn't just been good or even great, he's an All-Pro.  A versatile chess piece weapon in Fangio's scheme.

We're much better off bringing back only Baun instead of Becton.  Baun is the only must re-sign guy we have.

I disagree with this.

Baun had the better season. Of that there is no doubt. But Becton might be more important to the team. JR mentioned Becton’s ability to block the second level, and for me this can’t be overemphasized: Becton routinely de-cleats linebackers and safeties. Many of those big Barkley runs are because Becton just obliterates guys at the second level. Essentially, the Eagles’ offense home run capability is in large part based around Becton’s skill set.

And then you have to consider how easy it would be to replace each player’s skill set. You can count the number of guys with Becton’s physical traits on one hand. Baun had a great season, but you can find a guy with his size and movement skills in the 4th round of the draft.

One of the things that made Baun so impressive was his ability to punch balls loose. That’s a coachable skill.

Can Baun repeat the number of turnovers he produced? Because that is where his real value was. I’d expect some reversion to the mean in that regard. But Becton’s ability to work his way to the second level and part the ocean like Moses is something he’s shown for multiple seasons and is a known, repeatable quality. And a rare one at that.

So much of offensive line play is continuity, team work, and coordination. Even with Steen having been in the system for two years, he has limited playing time and replacing Becton with him is going to be starting over in this regard to some extent rather than building on the foundation that was already set.

Personally I think and hope that we can keep both of them, but if I have to choose, I’m keeping Becton. And that’s without getting into the right tackle succession plan.

1 hour ago, jojodancer said:

If the Eagles stay with the current formula of being a running team and winning time of possession and having a lot of huge leads, Davis is a spare part here. A good one, but potentially an expensive one. For the most part, teams will be trailing and needing to pass in games, similar to the Chiefs game, where they had to abandon the run. This is still a passing league for the most part, so Milton Williams is not a luxury at all and a necessity. This defense with Carter and Williams makes everyone else's lives easier. I think Howie does make Milton a priority, but is he getting McNeil money or 4/84M or less? Being that it is a heavy DT draft, thinking $21M is the cap. Hargrave money sounds right.

Okay, I’ll bite.  When you say, "Davis is a spare part here. A good one, but potentially an expensive one” (1) how expensive do you expect him to be in his second contract? aAnd (2) what is your sense of what a second contract matched to his value to the Eagles is?

1 minute ago, WentzFan11 said:

Everyone in FA gets overpaid. 

LBs generally don't. Queen got 3/41 last offseason, but it wasn't real. Only $14mm was guaranteed, basically making it a one year deal for $13.84mm and an option on 2025 for $13.83mm. But only the 1st year was guaranteed.

One name if Baun does walk to keep an eye on...is Dre Greenlaw a buy low candidate?

33 minutes ago, pgcd3 said:

I agree.  A young DL people might project future impact and overpay.  An off ball LB who is 28 and had only one year as a starter in a perfect system fit might not get as much attention as some think.  Of course it only takes one team

But when that LB finished 5th in the DPOY voting and backed it up with a fantastic playoff run, I'd expect the price to be high.  Just hoping it's not out of Howie's range.

37 minutes ago, mattwill said:

I concur.  It has been 54 years since I got snipped.  It is liberating.

Good lord.....how did they perform the operation back then?  Did they just lop both of your nuts off with wooden tools? 

Just now, Arsenal79 said:

But when that LB finished 5th in the DPOY voting I'd expect the price to be high.  Just hoping it's not out of Howie's range.

I think that will be tempered by the one year wonder fear, as well as people wondering if he only exceled in this defense. 

If Dre Greenlaw is healthy, that screams 1 year/$6mm prove it deal.

1 hour ago, jojodancer said:

I like Ojomo, but you're jumping the gun with thinking all these young guys are gonna come in and maintain the standard here set last year. Very naive of you on that front. 

Time will tell.  As Creedence said,”Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river.”

Just now, hputenis said:

Good lord.....how did they perform the operation back then?  Did they just lop both of you nuts off with wooden tools? 

They took a very eunuch-like approach.

3 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

I think that will be tempered by the one year wonder fear, as well as people wondering if he only exceled in this defense. 

If Dre Greenlaw is healthy, that screams 1 year/$6mm prove it deal.

Greenlaw would be interesting.  I didn't realize he came back at the end of the season, although apparently he was still having lingering effects from the Achilles injury.  Could be ready to bounce back next year.

1 hour ago, Cliftoma said:

The shirt I bought fits well but is made of rhe cheapest fabric possible.  So rough it feels like sandpaper.  Not impressed

I got the standard green Nike SB t-shirt, and it feels like the worst quality shirt I own.  I'm literally scared to wash it once bc it might fall apart.  

4 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

I think that will be tempered by the one year wonder fear, as well as people wondering if he only exceled in this defense. 

If Dre Greenlaw is healthy, that screams 1 year/$6mm prove it deal.

Are you suggesting adding him here?  😬

29 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

It makes a lot of sense from how the Eagles do things though.

I wouldn't be surprised if they brought back Burks to run with Dean (if healthy), Trotter, BVS and a draft pick and then spend in the trenches as he always does. 

Agreed, and if they draft Jihaad Campbell with Pick #32 they will have added a player very similar to Baun who can play LB or Edge interchangeably.

He has risen to #1 on my Draft Board.

1 minute ago, mattwill said:

Agreed, and if they draft Jihaad Campbell with Pick #32 they will have added a player very similar to Baun who can play LB or Edge interchangeably.

He has risen to #1 on my Draft Board.

They are gonna trade 32 for 1st in 2026 and dominate that draft, or so I hope.