Eagles trade for Rams LB Will Witherspoon
by JasonB on Oct 20, 2009 4:39 PM EDT
in Philadelphia Eagles News
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PrintThe Eagles official site has confirmed that they have traded rookie WR Brandon Gibson and a 5th round draft pick for linebacker Will Witherspoon.
Witherspoon has played both the WILL and the MIKE position, the latter which he'll likely focus on as an Eagle at least for this year. Most reports suggest that Witherspoon is best suited to the weakside. With Omar Gaither potentially out with a foot sprain, Trotter clearly not at game speed, and Joe Mays failing to impress the Eagles obviously felt like they needed to make a move to shore up their linebacking corps.
The fear you have with any midseason trade and a reason such moves are so rare in the NFL is that it usually takes a player a long time to learn a team's system and playbook. The great thing about Witherspoon is that he's spent the entire year learning the Eagles' system from Rams' head coach Steve Spagnuolo, who spent many years here as a defensive assistant. The learning curve for Witherspoon should be minimal.
Details of Witherspoon's current contract via PFT.
Witherspoon is signed through 2011. His current base salary is $2.5 million. Next year, it doubles to $5 million. In the final year of the deal, it remains at $5 million.
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God Speed Brandon
Good luck in Saint Louis. Show them what you showed us. I’ll be watching. Best Wishes.
Welcome Witherspoon!!!!
Along with Bye Dawk, SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNN!!!!!
His 2004 numbers with the Panthers as a MIKE are off the charts.103 tackles, 3 sacks, 4 INTs, and 1 FF. This looks promising.
Andy Reid needs to go. 36-32-1 (2005-present) Oakland game is unacceptable.
by Route36 on Oct 20, 2009 4:50 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
You know who else was great in 2004?
Trotter. Five years is a long time.
by Tracer Bullet on Oct 20, 2009 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Trotter
is three years older than Spoon, has bad knees, and missed a year of football. Witherspoon was a team MVP in 2007.
I hope you're right
But citing his 2004 stats proves nothing. I’m glad they’ve got an athletic guy who can run, but Rams fans seem to think he was playing out of position at MLB and a head-buster like Jacobs is going to hurt himself laughing at a 239-pound MIKE.
by Tracer Bullet on Oct 20, 2009 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions
He has consistently been around 100 tackles guy even since then. He just turned 29 on August. That was just his best year.
Andy Reid needs to go. 36-32-1 (2005-present) Oakland game is unacceptable.
by Route36 on Oct 20, 2009 4:56 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
thats 5 years ago
For real, did you just say his numbers in 2004 are of the charts, this looks promising?
DORK!
Look at my comment above idiot
Andy Reid needs to go. 36-32-1 (2005-present) Oakland game is unacceptable.
by Route36 on Oct 20, 2009 9:56 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Our FO did the right thing . . .
I am really glad to see them ‘buying’ today. I love the move, and I love that our FO is active.
Yep. Totally didn't expect it
but love that they used a 2009 6th and a 2010 5th to get a starting MLB … who can become the starting WLB if Bradley returns to full health.
When I saw this move, it was definitely a ‘wow’
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
So I saw Bye, Dawk’s scouting report of ‘Spoon (its already fun to say!) in another post and it says he’s a little undersized for the MIKE position. Before the trade, I was kind of thinking the Eagles would trade for a guy who could play MIKE but when Big Stew came back, they’d shift over to WILL. Anybody think that this was a move for now and for the future? Or am I just being silly?
Let the beasting begin.
by TransplantedFan on Oct 20, 2009 4:55 PM EDT reply actions
i like the idea of witherspoon in the middle....
but we can’t just leave gocong out there.
"it's like i tell my ex-wife, i never drive faster than i can see, and besides it's all in the reflexes." -Jack Burton, Big trouble in little China
MUCH NEEDED!
Well fellas, our LB play has been so dreadful that it really had me worried. I hope he fills that gap!
E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!!
I just hope
We don’t do him like we did Takeo and let him come in and have a promising season then cut him because we think we have a replacement ready. Will is a stud and is versatile. We could move him around next year.
I think the difference
is that we probably won’t have a replacement ready.
Otherwise, that’s a good call. It is a pretty similar situation, Spikes could play more than one LB position and was due $5 mil.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
gocong at DE?
maybe sean jones at SLB? we really need to utilize jones. he’s too physical to be on the bench. and it would definitely be an upgrade in coverage at that spot.
"it's like i tell my ex-wife, i never drive faster than i can see, and besides it's all in the reflexes." -Jack Burton, Big trouble in little China
Sean Jones at SLB?
All 220 pounds of him? Your kidding right?
Witherspoon at MLB, Gaither backs up all three positions, next year Gaither and Gocong battle it out for SLB. This should also serve to light a fire under Gocong’s ass.
You're displacing
Akeem Jordan in that “next year” scenario, right?
This helps us this year and gives us options for next year … I don’t think we really need to know the answers now, given Bradley’s status, etc. And that’s what makes this such a good deal (along with the price paid, the $ Will is due and the fact he played under Spags)
Hard not to like this one.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
Good move
your Front office has been active on the trade front this year and has made some solid moves – It does not seem a high price to pay for a starting LB.
I had hoped the Giants would address the safety issue but either failed to do so or did not see the need to do so.
by G Fan in England on Oct 20, 2009 5:11 PM EDT reply actions
Good move
Especially since he is coming from our system already.
Drafting Derrick Johnson would have been sick, but he don’t know our system. Which wouldn’t really help.
This is great. Our FO sees that our LBs suck, so they go and get a new one. Wow
Sorry Gibson! We have to win now.
love adding spoon
disapointed to see gibson go though, i was excited to see him live up to his pre season hype. oh well, love the addition none the less
With you there
Gibson had a future, which is obviously why the Rams were interested … but it doesn’t decimate us at WR with Avant (he’ll re-sign), DJax and Maclin.
This deal was made possible by great drafting, was it not? Not only did they take the best available in the 6th even though they already had taken a WR, the fact that they had already taken a young WR made it possible to let this one go.
We can certainly beef with plenty of the FO’s moves, but they come out looking rosy for keeping Gibson on cutdown day, not budging and cutting Baskett instead, and then trading a 6th round pick not contributing yet this year and a 5th next year for a player that helps right away.
Thumbs up.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
wow!
where did this come from .. absolute steal ..ive seen him play many times .. was a monster in carolina .. a victim of a bad team .. he is our best lb rite now .. if bradley were healthy .. i would still be making that same claim .. how we steal this guy for a borderline roster wr and a 5th round pick amazes me .. i love love love this move .. hes better than derrek johnson
by jack is better than asante on Oct 20, 2009 5:41 PM EDT reply actions
He was a beast in Carolina
That was my first thought after getting the text alert.
Then I was like “wait, doesn’t he play will too? So after Bradley gets back …”
Then when I signed on here, I saw the terms of the contract and was reminded that he had been playing this season under Spagnuolo.
That’s four reasons to like the deal before we even get to how much we needed the LB help.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
douche monkey!
you didn’t call this one either jibta .. was a tough trade .. gibson was better than brown .. borderline my a$$ .. bradley is better than you give credit .. should have traded jack instead .. still a good move, even if jibta likes it .. jibta is stupider than freddie mitchell
what
i didnt say i called it u jackass .. and gibson was almost cut
by jack is better than asante on Oct 20, 2009 8:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Who’s getting cut to make room?
Kudos to cheapskate Banner to recognize our suckage at Linebacker and addressing it. Safety is thin too, skinflint. But nowhere near as bad as our lb situation.
by ghostofandrewatters on Oct 20, 2009 5:53 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Don't have to cut anyone
Gibson was traded.
But someone that was normally on the inactive list is now going to have to join it. My guess is Tracy White or Joe Mays or somebody. (I’m honestly not even sure who’s on the practice squad right now)
Also, Herremans and Curtis have been inactive lately, but if they both play, there will definitely be a shift in the roster hierarchy.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
WHY?
I’m sad to see Gibson go, why do you guys think they wanted Gibson over Curtis? I’m not feeling Curtis anymore and he’s aging. The thought of DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin being are starting receivers is really really amazing. Do you guys think the Eagles did not want to trade Curtis? …
why do you guys think they wanted Gibson over Curtis?
Same reason you do.
Gibson: Born August 1987
Curtis: Born July 1978
Gibson: Signed for 4 years @ $1.85m
Curtis: Signed for three years after this one @ 13.4m, plus another $3.5m in bonuses
http://www.eaglescap.com/Players/BrandonGibson.html
http://www.eaglescap.com/Players/KevinCurtis.html
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
Curtis is a receiver with a bum knee at present whose best years are probably behind him. Also, Curtis is a guy the Rams let go in free agency a few years back. I’d think since the Rams are building for the future— that they did not want Curtis, even if the Iggles offered him.
by ghostofandrewatters on Oct 20, 2009 6:43 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Im sad
Gibson has potential. Spoon….he already hit his. Again we have a 240ish lb guy trying to play a 255-265 lb position. Makes no sense. I would keep the 5th and Gibson for Spoon. Why not Curtis, Brown, McBride? Give them dumb dumb joe mays or Gocong if youth is what they wanted. We clearly got hosed in this deal…..PS Andy when 36West has 50 yards on 6 carries, FEED HIM THE BALL ALL GAME EVERY PLAY!!! There should be a new coaching position created just for AR. The “smack coach” main job is to smack andy in his face when he starts over thinking the problem.
demeco ryans
weighed around 230 his rookie year and won defensive rookie of the year. although i think he plays a little heavier now.
"it's like i tell my ex-wife, i never drive faster than i can see, and besides it's all in the reflexes." -Jack Burton, Big trouble in little China
I cant look up his rookie weight but..
He currently weighs 250lbs. On top of that Spoon has been in the league for years this is his playing weight.
wow
we traded a borderline roster 6th wr who hasnt even played and we got ripped off for a starting lb .. ur an moron
by jack is better than asante on Oct 20, 2009 8:19 PM EDT up reply actions
There you go again JIBTA
Creepy and pathological. If you don’t like what the guys says, you call him a moron. And you act shocked and hurt when I call you for being a douche monkey. You’ve got no respect for anyone.
JIBTA, STFU and go play with your poodles.
I'm with JIBTA ...
… words that bring pain to all of BGN, I know. But …
We clearly got hosed in this deal
… are you serious? Look, I like Gibson’s potential as much as anyone, but we have three other young receivers ahead of him on the depth chart, and we had a need at LB.
Why are we complaining about a 6th and a 5th being traded for a player who will start on Monday? Even if Witherspoon didn’t remain with the team next year (he can shift outside if Bradley is back in the middle), this wouldn’t be a bad deal.
Aren’t all you people saying let’s go for it, build a team that can win now? This helps now and mortgages a very slim part of the future. Gibson might go on to be productive, but there’s no guarantee we just gave away a superstar.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
I agree with the move...
… but no way in HELL will I ever stand with JIBTA.
umm yeah im serious..
We traded potential talent in Gibson and an un anmed 5th rounde for a 2-3 week band aid. If they thought any different they would of drafted or replaced our OLB’s before the season started.
my question to you is … would Gibson or that 5th round pick help us out in this same 2-3 week period? and yes this is rhetorical (I seem to be doing this more and more often … weird)
Jim Johnson 1941-2009
"The 0-2 pitch, swing and a miss! STRUCK HIM OUT! The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 World Champions of baseball! And let the city celebrate! " - Harry Kalas 1936-2009
2 0r 3 weeks
he is not band aid .. he will lead the team in tackles for the rest of the year .. this is probowl caliber lb we just got
by jack is better than asante on Oct 22, 2009 1:41 AM EDT up reply actions
LOL
Don’t talk to me ever about your evaluation of talent. How is jack doing this year? Gibson has not seen the field because it is in the staffs best interest to get their no1 wr pick on the field to see what that multi million dollar investment can do. They need to prove worth for that pick and player to their boss. I’m not saying Gibson is better than Maclin but he has a lot of potential. Spoon is mediocre and a half year fix. We gave potential for a hald year fix. Bradley will start next year.
what were they supposed to do then? forget about this year and not address the gaping hole at linebacker?
I agree
People like Regal are retards. They have the High School mindframe that just because a player goes hard in practice gives a good show that they deserve a big contract, all love, and a starting spot. ITS THE NFL!!!! I’m liked Gibson, but we needed a LB more than we needed Gibson. We’re pretty stacked at WR right now. I like the group Avant, maclin, and Jackson. Lets not forget that none of them is over the age of 26. I dont think that Brandon was going to find his way into that group while he was young. Thats a good group for the next 4-5 years. People like him exist in the NFL, they’re called Al Davis.
high school mind frame??
1.) I never said he deserved any contract worth any money.
2.) I never said we needed him this year or ever. I said he had great potential.
3.) I never said he should start. I did state that he has not gotten the opportunity because he was a 6 round pick. Freshman year economics says you must get value out of you’re early picks AND for the money you spent on them. 1st rd pick carries a talent value that carries production expectancy with that pick. If you’re the guy responsible for that pick, that pick must live up to it’s value or you show poor performance. Hence the 1 rd pick gets first dibs to prove its worth.
4.) The Eagles do have a wealth of skill at the WR. Hank Basket a walk on got three or four years only to be cut in favor of Gibson. Point being Hank was kept because of his physical tools. They were different (height, body size, physical presence) than any other WR on this roster and it was believed he gave us a big red zone target. Since Gibson and Hank shared the same tools they must of thought Gibson was better than Hank was with his skills. Did the goal of getting a red zone target go away? Our red zone problems have not.
5.) Spoon is not a pro bowl, playmaker LB. He is a good solid guy that right now makes us better until Gaither comes back in 2 weeks. Jordan young. Gocong young. A 29 year old LB who has already seen the apex of his potential is merely a band aid for a 2-3 week span. I clearly stated that I would rather have potential of gibson and a 5th round pick and its potential over a 2-3 week band aid.
Thank you for reading this long post. Im not trying to convince you I am right. I am simply providing an alternate POV.
its..
not a gaping hole. Spoon is not a huge run stopper. He’s here to start until Gaither comes back.
Ok heres an article on....
how the people who covered the rams feel about the trade.
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/5301/the-rams-perspective-on-the-witherspoon-trade
"We got hosed"
was the first thing I thought when I heard we traded for a linebacker so close to the trade deadline. I thought we probably overpaid considering how big our need was. I slumped in my chair when I heard we traded Gibson I was really looking forward to him being a productive reciever in a year or two.
That being said this was actually a great deal for us. We plug a whole this year, and provide depth for next year. Even if we only get one or two seasons out Spoon I think it’s worth it. I mean a sixth rounder (albeit a good one), and a fifth next year for someone who could be productive from day one, that’s not bad considering where most late round picks end up (UFL).
I normally love draft picks and young potential more than proven vets (probably why I’ve always been a Reid supporteer), but this is a nice move considering we are still competative this year despite the rash of injuries.
"Seriously… F off." JasonB to a Denver fan after Dawk left.
by DownHillBradley on Oct 20, 2009 8:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Exactly
It’s not like we even traded a player who was likely to start over Jackson/Maclin/Avant at WR for years to come.
You have to give up something good to get something good. I don’t see how we could have traded for a helpful linebacker by giving up any less (teams don’t want to take on Curtis or Brown’s contracts), and if we had, people would be calling the Eagles cheap.
If nothing else, Witherspoon helps the 2009 Eagles much more than Brandon Gibson ever would have. It’s possible that statement is again true in 2010 and 2011.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
yea
like i said i would take one talented player over 1000 rudys .. heart dont mean shit .. you need talent .. gibson will never be anything more than a greg lewis type wr .. his absolute ceiling is jason avant .. big fuckin deal .. witherspoon is a huge upgrade .. and will play all season .. and hes better than gocong .. gocong is garbage
by jack is better than asante on Oct 22, 2009 1:45 AM EDT up reply actions
Any move to improve the LB’s is a good move. But why not Reggie Brown?
Okay so maybe it's time to move on. Hopefully it'll be moving on to winning a Championship!
Probably because the Rams dont want to pay him
by philiafan14364 on Oct 20, 2009 7:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Building with youth
and because you can get 3 1/2 seasons of Gibson for the price of Reggie Brown’s prorated 2010 salary.
http://www.eaglescap.com/Players/ReggieBrown.html
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
this kid
is young ! and hes a beast !
"I think pro athletes should be forced to use steroids. I think we as fans deserve the greatest athletes science can create."- Daniel Tosh
If Football Had A Church , Brian Dawkins Would Be My Preacher. -NPK
Im disappointed we gave up gibson but we had to do something about our linebackers. we couldnt just continue with what we had.
Yeah. It's probably a smart move, but it's medicine.
And like medicine, it tasted real bad to loose the potential that Gibson represented. It would have been so much better to get rid of Reggie, but that’s the way it goes. Nobody would have fallen for an aging underacheiver.
I hope Witherspoon rises to the opportunity. I’d love to see us having depth at LB come next season when Bradley is back in the middle.
Look at it as ...
… an endorsement of Eagles’ drafting. If we had a player on our roster that we grabbed in the 6th, that the Rams and everyone else passed on five times, and then got a starter for him … that’s good.
If you want, you can choose to believe the Eagles will find another Gibson-like gem deep in a future draft.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
Oh Noooooo!
I just realized that this is a TERRIBLE move!!! That’s JIBTA likes it, and JIBTA is always wrong. Poor Witherspoon, if JIBTA likes him, no matter how good he was, his career is over.
JIBTA Is Stoopider Than Freddie Mitchell
More interesting stuff about the deal
Per St. Louis Times-Dispatch:
Next week, the Rams also get linebacker David Vobora back from a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performancing enhancing drugs.
Financially, trading Witherspoon was basically a wash. Philadelphia inherits nearly two-thirds of his 2009 base salary of $2.5 million _ about $1.62 million _ representing the remaining 11 weeks of the regular season. So that goes off the Rams’ books. But the Rams inherit a cap hit of $1.8 million, representing the remaining (2010) proration of Witherspoon’s original $9 million signing bonus. So it’s a net cap loss of about $180,000 for the Rams.
Witherspoon has two years remaining on his contract beyond this season, with his base salary bumped to $5 million in 2010 and ‘11. With a $6.8 million scheduled cap count next season had he stayed in St. Louis, there was no guarantee that he would have survived the offseason with the Rams.
Coach Steve Spagnuolo’s defense seems to favor bigger, collision-type linebackers, and that’s really not Witherspoon’s style. Moved back to the weakside this season after three seasons in the middle for St. Louis, Witherspoon had a quiet 36 tackles in six games. He had no interceptions, no pass breakups, no forced fumbles (or recoveries), no sacks, and only one quarterback pressure.
In Philly, Witherspoon replaces Omar Gaither in the starting lineup. Gaither suffered a foot injury against the Raiders, will miss the Washington game, and could miss several weeks. Philadelphia coach Andy Reid said the Eagles wouldn’t have been so aggressive in pursuing Witherspoon had Gaither not gotten hurt. Rams sources said the trade didn’t even begin to materialize until Monday.
I thought the Vobora thing was interesting, made WW expendable.
Odd that Spags “seems to favor” bigger linebackers even though its more or less the same system as McDermott, is it not?
Not surprising that the Eagles would only say they looked to make a trade because Gaither was hurt, but when he gets better, then what?
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
Well, the Eagles system tends to favor a bigger middle linebacker. Thats part of the reason why Stew is there and not at SAM which I keep seeing articles that feature scouts saying Stew is playing out of position.
Let the beasting begin.
by TransplantedFan on Oct 20, 2009 9:08 PM EDT up reply actions
We were looking into Derrick Johnson
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/sports/eagles/102009_Blog_Eagles_Call_Chiefs_About_Trade
But I like this move nonetheless. If anything I like it more. Will is a very well experienced player, but playing on the Rams D he really hasn’t had as good a supporting cast as he will have here (except Otogwe). Here, he has a great front 4 in front of him and arguably the best secondary in the NFC East. All he has to worry about it run stopping and TEs.
I like the move as well
My wife is a Panthers fan, so I watched him a lot when he was a Panther. He’s a good one.
Am I happy losing Gibson? No. But the fact of the matter is, as has been pointed out, Gibson wasn’t going over Maclin, Jackson, or Avant (at a minimum) for the foreseeable future. I hope he does well in St. Louis. But this trade should work out well for this team.
I agree with JIBTA that the dude is a moron. Gibson was not even going to be ACTIVATED this season but we traded him for a starting linebacker that immediately is our best linebacker. We do not need receivers, genius, we need linebackers and even after Witherspoon, we STILL need linebackers. We traded a practice squad guy for a starter in our biggest area of need and we got"ripped off." Whatever, dude. JIBTA may be often wrong, but not on this.
by ghostofandrewatters on Oct 20, 2009 9:47 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
i love the fact that it wont take him long to learn our system
by rainvillefromottawa on Oct 20, 2009 11:06 PM EDT reply actions
Typical stupid overreaction
This was a move the Eagles should have made in the preseason when Bradley went down. Instead genius Joe Banner was a step behind again and was left scrambling after Mays/Gaither inconsistency and the desperation move in resigning Trotter. If fans want to criticize Reid/Banner for their personnel moves, one area should be for their unwillingness to address a clear secondary need going into a season instead of being such stubborn jacka$$es and insisting they can somehow get by instead.
It seems the last 3 years that the Eagles think they can get by at a position with a player with largely no experience there and it generally winds up costing them at least a game during the course of a season. A legit PR in that GB game & a FB in a few games last year come to mind.
As for Spoon, it is ridiculous to call him a ‘beast’ or tout his stats from 2004. That is a lifetime ago in the NFL. I am hoping Spoon still has something left in the tank and the Rams largely just traded him for contract reasons to save some bucks this year & next year.
Derrick Johnson
Would have been a much better fit for what the Eagles need right now – a run stuffer in the middle who is still mobile and athletic enough that he doesn’t become a complete liability in pass coverage ala Trotter last week in Oakland.
I wonder what the Chiefs wanted for him though. It was probably alot more than what the Eagles gave up for ’Spoon which essentially was some secondary scraps.
Draft Picks
Everyone wants draft picks because of the possibility of an uncaped year. There will be a lot of talent in next years draft, a lot of kids will be leaving school early.
I like the deal we made, I hate to give up any picks and a young guy with upside, but we had to do something…
Do we need any Hines Ketchup Ward to go with our offensive meal plan? (I know its a stretch)
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