Eagles free agent rumor roundup: Thomas, Houshmandzadeh, Peppers, & Weaver
by JasonB on Feb 25, 2009 7:52 AM EST
in Philadelphia Eagles News
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PrintThe Eagles are in negotiations with LT Tra Thomas, but according to Thomas the talks are moving slowly.
"I would love for the Eagles to step up to the plate to get it done," Thomas said following his afternoon workout at the team facility. "If not, I'm ready to move on. It's weird, but it's also exciting. I haven't been in this position for a long time. For 11 years, I've always known what would take place next year."
The Sporting News is reporting that T.J. Houshmandzadeh is the #1 free agent target for the New York Giants. The report also lists the Eagles, Ravens, 49ers, Dolphins, & Seahawks as interested in the free agent WR.
Panthers beat reporter Darin Gantt floated the idea of a Julius Peppers for Lito Sheppard(and 1st round pick) trade.
Since Philadelphia's on his list (whether anyone will say it out loud or not), you start connecting dots. The Eagles are trying to move disgruntled CB Lito Sheppard. Would Sheppard and getting your own first-rounder back from last year's draft-day trade do the trick? It's the 28th overall pick. If it was Philadelphia's 21st, would that change your mind? If next year's game was there instead of here, would it matter? And does QB Jake Delhomme get a vote? He'd be all for not having to throw in Sheppard's direction.
Our pals over at the Panthers blog Cat Scratch Reader would be into this deal.
Finally, according to his agent free agent FB Leonard Weaver is likely to leave Seattle.
"As far as him staying in Seattle, I'm sure Leonard would be very happy," Harold Lewis told Pro Football Weekly. "But just being a realist, I don't see it."
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What about dawkins?
I just want to see them get his deal done. Then Tra’s of coarse. Not sure if i like the peppers trade or not. I wouldnt be apposed to it if we did make the move though. As far as TJ goes, we HAVE to sign him just so the giants will be shit out of luck next year.
idk
getting closer to free agency im really starting to get nervous about signing him
To me the Eagles are like that girlfriend that pisses u off, then u hate her, but the next morning you wake up and remember that thing u love so much about her
by XxBleedGreen5xX on Feb 25, 2009 8:44 AM EST up reply actions
the other thing you have to consider is how tight-lipped this organization is… it may be done and we may just be sitting on it… giving other teams the idea that we’re not bringing him back and he’ll be other there gives them more to think about
"I tried to run him over but Eli had his big boy pads on and he kind of stopped me from getting in the end zone. The next time I’ll try to jump over his head.’’ - Asante Samuel
Right now, the chips are going to fall where they will regarding Dawkins and Thomas… just the way it is. Do I want both back? Sure. As far as TJ… It’s going to be an interesting day in the Houshmandzadeh household later this week. I know the lipservice that the FO is giving us regarding a WR, but I’m sure they’ll atleast take a good run at him; especially considering our salary cap situation. I’m more interested in this Peppers thing.
Honestly, there’s a few things that come to mind with this deal. First, what do the Eagles have those two picks earmarked for? Is one tradebait in their view? Second, part of me believes that they’ll grab a WR somewhere… if it’s Boldin, then we need one of those picks to trade, so Peppers is out. If we sign TJ; march along. Next, we saw what Sheppard’s value was last year. Is the Panther’s first round pick and Sheppard enough? Finally, this would all hinge on Peppers agreeing to sign some type of longer term deal once the transaction was done. It would be bonecrushing if this deal went through and we only had him for one year.
"I tried to run him over but Eli had his big boy pads on and he kind of stopped me from getting in the end zone. The next time I’ll try to jump over his head.’’ - Asante Samuel
Well i thought i’d throw in some wishful thinking to start the morning on a good note! I don’t see it happening either though. Oh hey, check your email if you have a sec.
"I tried to run him over but Eli had his big boy pads on and he kind of stopped me from getting in the end zone. The next time I’ll try to jump over his head.’’ - Asante Samuel
Anyone interested in Albert Haynesworth ...
He played a good amount at DE this year and was productive. Currently Howard is our hybrid DE/DT and while he had a good to great year this year Haynesworth is a definite step up in that department and younger.
Not to mention its being said that the Redskins are going after him and I would love to steal him away.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m worried about his attitude but I’m starting to like the guy after watching some tape of him at DE.
"I need to do a better job of putting players in the right position to perennially come up short of expectations"
Not at $15M a year…
"I tried to run him over but Eli had his big boy pads on and he kind of stopped me from getting in the end zone. The next time I’ll try to jump over his head.’’ - Asante Samuel
I think we could get him for 9-10 and you could drop Darren Howard. It’s looking like the Skins are going to nab him which makes me want him more haha.
"I need to do a better job of putting players in the right position to perennially come up short of expectations"
actually if the skins will pay him $15 or whatever, i’d rather them take him… Snyder is great for throwing tons of money at players with seemingly no consequences, until it blows up in his face… anyway we could sink $15M of the Skins payroll for somone who has a decent chance of melting down after he’s no longer motivated by money… i’m all for that.
i dunno… maybe i’d take him at $9M… but he’d still be way down on my list of needs
"I tried to run him over but Eli had his big boy pads on and he kind of stopped me from getting in the end zone. The next time I’ll try to jump over his head.’’ - Asante Samuel
Weaver
I’d like to see us make a run at him. He’s not a sexy pick up, but would help the offense I think.
that would make JasonB happy ...
I’d be good with this but I’m intrigued by Eckel … does he become our “big” back then?
"I need to do a better job of putting players in the right position to perennially come up short of expectations"
Well
I think I would like to see Weaver come in and have a competition with Eckel. Eckel showed some ability to make the short yardage runs when we needed them but I don’t know too much about his blocking ability so maybe they would keep him as special teams/short yardage/backup FB.
"Now Sav Rocca played for the Magpies in Australia. I don't know if it's a bird or a pie or what it is." Ike Reese
by The Badassador on Feb 25, 2009 5:14 PM EST up reply actions
i dont see the need for peppers
last year our ends played great. actually they played better than any of us expected and towards the end abiramiri played well as well. all in al im seeing a very talented defensive end group that would get a 7 out of 10 if i had to rate them, and peppers might just improve that a little. hey i have an idea why dont we trade lito and our first to get the titans D end Kearse… maybe he’ll improve our squad
Well with a starting D Line of Cole, Patterson, Bunkley, and Peppers we would be pretty deadly since teams would have to game plan around them, forcing TE’s to stay in or chip block or lineman to double team. Plus he has such athletic ability that we can do some trick plays and move him into coverage now and then, which he has showed interest in doing. There’s other areas of need and we do have good depth already, but Peppers is talent that’s hard to ignore.
"Now Sav Rocca played for the Magpies in Australia. I don't know if it's a bird or a pie or what it is." Ike Reese
by The Badassador on Feb 25, 2009 5:18 PM EST up reply actions
dont make that peppers trade. he had a good season last year but the year before that he only had like 2 sacks. that shows a player on the decline who upped his level of his play this past season because it was a contract year.
I hope im wrong but I think the giants will end up with Housh. theyll throw a lot more money at him then the eagles because they need him more.
honestly, I hope we trade one of those first round picks. a package that includes a 1st round draft pick can get you almost anyone you want.
but it’s not all about who needs him more… it’s about cap space and free agents… the giants have franchised jacobs and resigned carr. i think they still have something like 14 free agents to deal with just from their roster. so those are 14 spots that they have to deal with (and that’s assuming Plaxico returns). i didn’t look today, but i think after the tenders to jacobs and carr, they have something like $14 million dollars in cap space left. they can’t simply throw half of that at Houshmandzadeh and deal with whatever they have left.
we have so much more cap space that it’s alot easier for us to outbid the Giants actually.
"I tried to run him over but Eli had his big boy pads on and he kind of stopped me from getting in the end zone. The next time I’ll try to jump over his head.’’ - Asante Samuel
I think they also re-negotiated Mannings contract too. So there goes some more money.
"If they end up 2-14 and both of those wins came against Dallas, that's a pretty good year."
by midnitegreen on Feb 25, 2009 10:34 AM EST up reply actions
that might have opened up more money
when you renegotiate a contract and extend it, it spreads the money out made by the player over a greater number of years and a smaller amount will go towards the cap.
I’d be careful about making that blanket statement… If a player is in the last year or two of a contract where all of the cap hits were built into the front two or three years, it’s very easy for that new contract to add $5M+ to the cap…
Now, in general, most teams will try to minimize any adverse cap changes when drawing up a new longterm contract, it’s not just assumed that this is going to be the case. I know Eli’s cap number in 08 was around $12.5M. I would think his cap number for 09 and 10 to be a similar number… They’re looking at a 7 year $110ish contract. Now, there’s a good possibility that they’ll atleast be around the $12.5M cap value for the inital few years, but it doesn’t HAVE to be that way.
"I tried to run him over but Eli had his big boy pads on and he kind of stopped me from getting in the end zone. The next time I’ll try to jump over his head.’’ - Asante Samuel
Manning
I don’t think the Giants have renegotiated Manning’s contract yet. They have a fair amount of cap space pending what happens w/ Burress, although they’ll presumably use some for a long term deal for Jacobs. We definitely have more cap room than them, so we can win any bidding war if $$$$ are the issue.
If the Eagles give up the 28th pick and Lito for Peppers I will be sorely disappointed. DE is not a huge position of need in my opinion, and giving up a first round choice for a guy who is at the end of his career is a waste of a pick in my opinion. I would rather see them waste that pick on Michael Johnson.
My wife grew up in North Carolina and loves the Panthers (outside of the 2004 NFC CG, it’s luckily never been a strain…), so, thanks to the magic of Sunday Ticket, I tend to watch every Panthers game that doesn’t conflict with an Eagles game (and even when it does I flip over at times). Peppers is truly a special player.
Is DE a huge position of need? Nope. Is Peppers far better than anything we can hope to get at 28? Absolutely. I don’t like Michael Johnson — production isn’t all there, and you’re going to succeed far more often by drafting on actual college production than you are drafting on size and potential.
Now, do I think the cap hit is worth it when there are other, more important places we could be using that cap money? Nope. I’d rather have Housh, or trade that first rounder for Boldin, and give them that money. But it would clearly improve this team.
hence I said “waste” the pick on Michael Johnson. There are other players I would like to see drafted on Defense, Clay Matthews, Larry English or Brian Cushings, just to name a few.
by Clyde Simmons on Feb 25, 2009 11:30 AM EST up reply actions
NO NO NO!
NO to Michael Johnson. I watched a bunch of Wake games with my roommate who is going to Law school there next year, and because Aaron Curry is a beast. Michael Johnson is a poor tackler who is more often than not out of position, he makes a few great plays and then is a drain on the defense the rest. He had great, AWESOME, workouts at the combine, does that remind you of someone? Mamula..now he’s better than that, but he is not nearly as good as his workouts make him seem.
by TwoTonsOfIrony on Feb 25, 2009 4:53 PM EST up reply actions
Not a need but an upgrade...
Why is a 29 yr old DE at the end of his career? He’s missed 6 games in 7 years and had 10+ sacks in 5 of 7 years…
While I agree DE isn’t a huge need, neither was CB last year with a healthy Lito and Sheldon and Asante was a great pickup that helped the D a lot…
If the Eagles got Peppers and resigned Dawkins, they would have a top 5 D-Line and top 5 Secondary in the league…
This Sucks
I don’t mind the Tra Thomas signing, but I would almost prefer to move Herramens to LT and Andrews to RT. Then we can start Cole at RG, and either sign Saturday and move Jackson to LG or draft a top guard like Duke Robinson.
I do not, under any circumstance want TJ. Let the Giants throw a lot of money at him. He is not the type of playmaker that will fit in our offense (evidenced by last in the NFL in YPC). He will not replace Burress on that offense, and would only take away from the development of Jackson and Avant.
If we are going to trade a 1st rounder and Sheppard I would much rather target Bolden or Edwards than Peppers. Those are two of the best playmakers around, and much younger than TJ. I know Edwards had a terrible year, but I think it was more due to his team’s situation. We don’t need Peppers, especially at that kind of money.
Finally, I like Weaver, that sounds good to me, but please god re-sign Dawkins. I know our FO has an issue with long -term deals to players over 30 but he is the heart and soul of this franchise and can still play. Let him help develop Demps for another 1-2 years.
i’m not sure who this Bolding character is… but i’m going to venture a guess and say he’s worth more than a 1st and a 3rd
"I tried to run him over but Eli had his big boy pads on and he kind of stopped me from getting in the end zone. The next time I’ll try to jump over his head.’’ - Asante Samuel
Can we just stop with the Boldin stuff already?
Seriously, it’s not going to happen. Houshmandzehdeh maybe, but not Boldin (or Gonzales for that matter).
This year the Eagles front office is planning to put those 1st round picks to use in a long-term strategy. With such a deep draft, I think we’ll get some OL or TE that will make an immediate impact and stay around for a long time. Boldin is just 2 years younger than Westbrook.
by cybourgeoisie on Feb 25, 2009 11:10 PM EST reply actions
Comparing a WR to a RB
You can’t compare the age of a WR to the age of a RB…WRs consistently perform over the age of 30…Look at TO, Randy Moss, Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison, Cris Carter…had some of their best seasons after the age of 30 or even in their mid-30s…I think Thomas Jones was the only 30+ (turned 30 right before the season) RB this year that had a 1000 yds…
Did I mention injury-prone?
Because he is. Boldin I mean. And please don’t pretend not to know what I’m talking about.
by cybourgeoisie on Feb 25, 2009 11:11 PM EST reply actions
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