3 minutes ago, Giddyunc said:

I hate saying this, but Howie is absolutely coming back. Throughout his entire tenure with this organization, Howie's decision-making powers have been a mystery. No one knows what picks he's made, which players he's advocated for, etc.  Due to his amorphous responsibilities, he's always able to deflect blame through timely placed media leaks. This is pure speculation on my part, but this all leads me to believe that Howie is public face of Lurie's meddling. Howie is Lurie's personal assistant and they bounce ideas off each other. Again, this is pure speculation, but if this is remotely true, there's no chance Howie gets fired. 

Could be, if that's the case maybe Lurie should look into selling and get an owner in here that knows how to run a football organization not a qb factory or whatever the eagles Are trying to do.

34 minutes ago, Bacarty2 said:

A drop back is a pass in my opinion, which proves how bad the play calling was. 

12 yards of passing in 2 of 8 plays in a 40 yard drive tends to confirm that issue. 

37 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

You guys aren't seeing it yet.  The cap in 2021 is already blown up.  There's no way to save it.   Cut your losses, take as much of a hit as you can for this year and don't drag any more dead money into 2022 than you absolutely have to.   That's why Howie needs to go.  Rolling Jackson's (or any of these others guys') dead money forward into 2022 is the worst move they can make...  This is bad, really bad.   Take your medicine and deal with it quickly, before it gets worse.

 

2021 is a year to get youth involved.  Young guys on cheap contracts, hungry to prove they can play in this league.  This team lost its hunger and drive after the Super Bowl.  Time to move on... and do so swiftly and a little painfully. 

I agree with this completely.  I don't think there's a need to hang on any expensive vets.  It's all about freeing up space for 2022 and seeing what cheap young talent is on the roster.  

I mean, how many GMs can have rifts with three separate coaching staffs and still remain in power? The fact that he wasn't fired midseason this year leads me to believe that he's going no where. If the organization was going in a new direction, getting a new GM in here for the last month or so would provide invaluable time to properly evaluate this roster. For better or worse, I think Howie is going to be the GM here for the foreseeable future. I'll say it again, I think he works in tandem with Lurie and is the "public figure" of their relationship. 

16 minutes ago, Giddyunc said:

I hate saying this, but Howie is absolutely coming back. Throughout his entire tenure with this organization, Howie's decision-making powers have been a mystery. No one knows what picks he's made, which players he's advocated for, etc.  Due to his amorphous responsibilities, he's always able to deflect blame through timely placed media leaks. This is pure speculation on my part, but this all leads me to believe that Howie is public face of Lurie's meddling. Howie is Lurie's personal assistant and they bounce ideas off each other. Again, this is pure speculation, but if this is remotely true, there's no chance Howie gets fired. 

I mean he's teflon coated.  

28 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Looking at over the cap and his contract it might actually benefit the eagles from cutting him post June 1 with the rollover money for 2022. it’s really a crappy contract  

It really is, and I suppose they could do that.  However, I do not believe that doing that would benefit them for the issue they have of being over the cap.  So, they'd already have to do funny business to get under the cap in the first place... so in so doing, just biting the bullet on that and making 2022 as clean as possible for the new GM is my preference.  Of course... the new GM would be the one making that call.

 

Howie has made an awful, awful mess of things.

19 minutes ago, Giddyunc said:

I hate saying this, but Howie is absolutely coming back. Throughout his entire tenure with this organization, Howie's decision-making powers have been a mystery. No one knows what picks he's made, which players he's advocated for, etc.  Due to his amorphous responsibilities, he's always able to deflect blame through timely placed media leaks. This is pure speculation on my part, but this all leads me to believe that Howie is public face of Lurie's meddling. Howie is Lurie's personal assistant and they bounce ideas off each other. Again, this is pure speculation, but if this is remotely true, there's no chance Howie gets fired. 

Yeah.  He's a lawyer, he's Lurie's buddy and long lost son or whatever.  But regardless, he needs to go. 

5 minutes ago, Giddyunc said:

I mean, how many GMs can have rifts with three separate coaching staffs and still remain in power? The fact that he wasn't fired midseason this year leads me to believe that he's going no where. If the organization was going in a new direction, getting a new GM in here for the last month or so would provide invaluable time to properly evaluate this roster. For better or worse, I think Howie is going to be the GM here for the foreseeable future. I'll say it again, I think he works in tandem with Lurie and is the "public figure" of their relationship. 

Black Monday will be like Christmas morning for me as a kid... I either got the gift I really wanted... or my parents bought me that really expensive suit that I never wanted to wear in the first place and decided to 'make it special' and wrapped up the stupid thing to give to me as a present.    I'm hoping this is the slot car racing set year for me instead.

19 minutes ago, Giddyunc said:

I hate saying this, but Howie is absolutely coming back. Throughout his entire tenure with this organization, Howie's decision-making powers have been a mystery. No one knows what picks he's made, which players he's advocated for, etc.  Due to his amorphous responsibilities, he's always able to deflect blame through timely placed media leaks. This is pure speculation on my part, but this all leads me to believe that Howie is public face of Lurie's meddling. Howie is Lurie's personal assistant and they bounce ideas off each other. Again, this is pure speculation, but if this is remotely true, there's no chance Howie gets fired. 

 

3 minutes ago, Giddyunc said:

I mean, how many GMs can have rifts with three separate coaching staffs and still remain in power? The fact that he wasn't fired midseason this year leads me to believe that he's going no where. If the organization was going in a new direction, getting a new GM in here for the last month or so would provide invaluable time to properly evaluate this roster. For better or worse, I think Howie is going to be the GM here for the foreseeable future. I'll say it again, I think he works in tandem with Lurie and is the "public figure" of their relationship. 

I've often considered what you have suggested here.  It is quite possible you are correct.  It would be a serious indictment on Lurie's effectiveness as an owner if what you allege is true.  It would basically mean we have our own Jerry Jones, albeit one that is totally unable to draft players or "meddle" in effective ways, and also hides behind someone else rather than taking the responsibility and the criticism that comes along with it up front.  

The ONLY face saving move for Lurie is to fire Howie, finally and at long last, and bring in a real leader for the personnel side of the team.  Whether this would be a scapegoating move, or done on merit, I do not really care, but if this is not done than Lurie immediately enters into the category of owners who are purely playing games, dealing in nepotism and screwing around with the franchise, rather than fulfilling his absolute OBLIGATION as owner to do what is best for the team.  There is no justification in continuing to employ anyone involved in the personnel decision making and especially the drafting done by the Eagles over the last several years.

4 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Black Monday will be like Christmas morning for me as a kid... I either got the gift I really wanted... or my parents bought me that really expensive suit that I never wanted to wear in the first place and decided to 'make it special' and wrapped up the stupid thing to give to me as a present.    I'm hoping this is the slot car racing set year for me instead.

Well, I'm your little brother who already peaked inside the present and spoiled the surprise for you...Howie is coming back. Lol

58 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Just to go into depth on the 2017 signings... 

Chris Long - 2 years $5.2M.  Ate $1.2M when he retired at the end (btw, he would have come back, if the team had said they were going to use him more - great pass rusher still.  Not great run stopper.) 
Patrick Robinson - 1 year league minimum
LaGarrett Blount - 1 year $1.25M
Stefen Wisniewski - 3 years $8.0M
Torrey Smith - 3 1 year deals at $5M each.
Alshon Jeffery -  1 year $9.5M   (how he's up to over $16M now is beyond me)
Nick Foles - 2 years $11M.

Chance Warmack - 2 years $3.9M

 

Notice anything about these deals?  None of them would set the franchise back far if they failed, or would be tough to get out of.  The Warmack deal was likely the single worst, and cost just $4M.  Howie loses $4M in cap space now just by picking up the phone when Jason Peters is on the line.  Howie is broken.

4 million here, 4 million there. Pretty soon you're talking about a lot of money. ;-/

 

I'll compromise for a promotion/demotion scenario. I don't think that's the correct approach and will probably just blow in their face a few years down the line, but i'll settle. 

1 minute ago, dawkdaballhawk said:

4 million here, 4 million there. Pretty soon you're talking about a lot of money. ;-/

 

Agreed. That free agent haul was great... 7 major contributors for just about $4M each... including the dud in Warmack.   $29M/year for the 8 of them.  And that $4M for Warmack that was poorly spent was only $2M/year.  A good deal for a former top 10 OL draft pick that the OL coach had worked with in the past to make him a top 10 pick... yeah, I'd take that risk for $2M/year every time.

1 minute ago, LeanMeanGM said:

I'll compromise for a promotion/demotion scenario. I don't think that's the correct approach and will probably just blow in their face a few years down the line, but i'll settle. 

Yep. Chip understood three things. 1) tempo 2) smoothies, and 3) Howie's place in the basement

4 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

I'll compromise for a promotion/demotion scenario. I don't think that's the correct approach and will probably just blow in their face a few years down the line, but i'll settle. 

Nah, that's worse.  Give him full authority and let him blow himself up... Chip style.

1 minute ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Nah, that's worse.  Give him full authority and let him blow himself up... Chip style.

The problem is that Howie, it seems, knows how to insulate himself and prevent the typical blowback that occurs when one typically has full authority. Regardless of one's profession or field of expertise, we've all seen this type of scenario play out before. If someone has full responsibility for a decision, the weasel move is to constantly gain either tacit or expressed permission from their own supervisor (in this case, Lurie). It'd be almost impossible for Lurie to hold Howie accountable for anything when every decision is initially run by (or collaborated with) Lurie. 

5 minutes ago, Giddyunc said:

The problem is that Howie, it seems, knows how to insulate himself and prevent the typical blowback that occurs when one typically has full authority. Regardless of one's profession or field of expertise, we've all seen this type of scenario play out before. If someone has full responsibility for a decision, the weasel move is to constantly gain either tacit or expressed permission from their own supervisor (in this case, Lurie). It'd be almost impossible for Lurie to hold Howie accountable for anything when every decision is initially run by (or collaborated with) Lurie. 

I know.  That's the problem.  Lurie needs to be real with him.  "Here's the keys.  Get me another Super Bowl or drive it into a wall or anything in between, but this is all on you. Good luck."

No more half measures or anything else.  If Howie decides he wants a football guy to work with, great.  If he wants to do it all himself, fine.  Whatever.   But, he and he alone will be held responsible for everything.  No more of this crap of... "I was just getting the players that the coach wanted, but secretly I like X, Y and Z instead."  Or... "Joe put the board together, I just picked guys based on where he had them ranked."   Whatever Howie.  Either you are in charge and you get the glory, you get the blame... or you just get your butt out of town.

 

But, frankly, there's nobody for Howie to blame for the salary cap debacle.  EVERY NFL team is dealing with Covid and the cap restrictions for next year, but only the Saints are in a worse position than the Eagles.  How is that possible, if Howie is this supposed cap genius?  Either its not possible... or Howie is not a cap genius.   I'm going to go with the reality.  As Sherlock Holmes once said, "Eliminate the impossible, and whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."  So, since we are clearly definitely in the worse cap position of 31 of 32 teams... it must be possible for the cap situation to be real.  Therefore, Howie must not be a cap genius.   Elementary my dear, Jeffery.  Figure it out.

The fact that Mailata was ever benched for Peters is absolutely absurd.  

 

3 minutes ago, downundermike said:

The fact that Mailata was ever benched for Peters is absolutely absurd.  

 

Been saying it for weeks.

1 hour ago, LeanMeanGM said:

There's a small part of me that wants to see 15 O-line combinations in 16 games. I think I need professional help. 

One thing is for sure, you got it give it to those guys for grinding it out all year, both the veterans and the younger guys that have needed to come in on a drop of a dime.  Given the circumstances, they've done quite well, imo. 

17 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

I know.  That's the problem.  Lurie needs to be real with him.  "Here's the keys.  Get me another Super Bowl or drive it into a wall or anything in between, but this is all on you. Good luck."

No more half measures or anything else.  If Howie decides he wants a football guy to work with, great.  If he wants to do it all himself, fine.  Whatever.   But, he and he alone will be held responsible for everything.  No more of this crap of... "I was just getting the players that the coach wanted, but secretly I like X, Y and Z instead."  Or... "Joe put the board together, I just picked guys based on where he had them ranked."   Whatever Howie.  Either you are in charge and you get the glory, you get the blame... or you just get your butt out of town.

 

But, frankly, there's nobody for Howie to blame for the salary cap debacle.  EVERY NFL team is dealing with Covid and the cap restrictions for next year, but only the Saints are in a worse position than the Eagles.  How is that possible, if Howie is this supposed cap genius?  Either its not possible... or Howie is not a cap genius.   I'm going to go with the reality.  As Sherlock Holmes once said, "Eliminate the impossible, and whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."  So, since we are clearly definitely in the worse cap position of 31 of 32 teams... it must be possible for the cap situation to be real.  Therefore, Howie must not be a cap genius.   Elementary my dear, Jeffery.  Figure it out.

IMO, you're 100% correct. Every organization/company that is successful has a singular trait that they all share: accountability. Roles need to be clearly defined. This way everyone know who to blame and who to praise. It's literally the only way to foster a healthy and productive work environment. I can only speculate, but I'd imagine this is even more true when it comes to football operations.

1 hour ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Just to go into depth on the 2017 signings... 

Chris Long - 2 years $5.2M.  Ate $1.2M when he retired at the end (btw, he would have come back, if the team had said they were going to use him more - great pass rusher still.  Not great run stopper.) 
Patrick Robinson - 1 year league minimum
LaGarrett Blount - 1 year $1.25M
Stefen Wisniewski - 3 years $8.0M
Torrey Smith - 3 1 year deals at $5M each.
Alshon Jeffery -  1 year $9.5M   (how he's up to over $16M now is beyond me)
Nick Foles - 2 years $11M.

Chance Warmack - 2 years $3.9M

 

Notice anything about these deals?  None of them would set the franchise back far if they failed, or would be tough to get out of.  The Warmack deal was likely the single worst, and cost just $4M.  Howie loses $4M in cap space now just by picking up the phone when Jason Peters is on the line.  Howie is broken.

Right.  But guess what?  They won the Super Bowl with those guys.  So what happens next?  You got it...if you want to keep that team together, the price of poker just went up.

34 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

I'll compromise for a promotion/demotion scenario. I don't think that's the correct approach and will probably just blow in their face a few years down the line, but i'll settle. 

In my view changing the GM is the best step the team could take.  Howie has to be removed from any role deciding the players on the roster including structuring contracts.  Once there is a new GM, I would almost be inclined to give Doug one more season but give the GM decision making authority over the offensive staff.  The team needs a new QB coach and an OC.  I am inclined to believe that those changes are inadequate.  It would not bother me if the team moved on from Doug.  My concern is that it looks like Lurie wants to keep Howie and fire Doug.  I think that's just a terrible plan and we will be in for more of the same issues over the next 2-3 more seasons.  

7 minutes ago, Ace Nova said:

Right.  But guess what?  They won the Super Bowl with those guys.  So what happens next?  You got it...if you want to keep that team together, the price of poker just went up.

And they didn't.  And the guy on that list that was extended with a horrible contract and has been a locker room cancer is still here.

Two questions for the Blog:

1. Is there any way to move Dillard to swing tackle or to back up the right side? I'm just too elated with Mailata's progress and potential at LT to want the coaches messing that up.

2. For the draft gurus, looking at the LB position, which one of Moses or Surratt look like the better fit for the Eagles? Both should be available in the 2nd round, and it seems like an upgrade at the position is finally imminent.