Bleeding Green Nation: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Sports blogs for fans, by fans.
New Blog: World Soccer Digest for Soccer Fans!

Wide Receiver options

With so little on the market in the form of TEs, it really does seem like our best shot at adding another offensive weapon is at WR. So let's see what's out there, because it certainly looks as if there are more impact WRs to be had than TEs.

First and foremost I'm going to get Randy Moss out of the way. He's due to be an unrestricted free agent. There's not much analysis as far as Moss goes. If you want to pry him out of New England you're probably going to have to pay him a staggering amount of money. The talent is pretty much unquestionable, he's the best there is.

Adam Schefter had some news on guys that could be looking to get traded this offseason. Chad Johnson and Javon Walker.

First, like I did a few weeks ago, Schefter questions whether the Bengals are at all interested in trading Johnson.

... Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson and Broncos wide receiver Javon Walker are expected to try to seek trades.

Cincinnati sounds far less open to dealing its wide receiver than Denver.

Since last season, when the grumblings about Johnson's future first began, the Bengals have been adamant about refusing to trade the receiver who set the franchise record this season for receiving yardage.

However, a showdown is looming in Cincinnati, where few of the Bengals are happy with the way this past season went and some, including Johnson, could opt to seek their exit.

The fact is that the Bengals disappointing season can be traced directly to it's 9th worst in the NFL defense. Their offense, for the most part, did its job. Unless Johnson is totally unhappy and forces his way out, it's hard to see how he'll be gone when everyone in the organization says they want him back.

Javon Walker is another story.

As for Walker, Denver will look to deal him in the coming months. The Broncos are reluctant to pay Walker the $5.4 million option bonus payment due to him. Denver surrendered a second-round pick to Green Bay two years ago and since then, Walker has battled injuries and controversy, the most recent coming Sunday when he said he didn't want to return to Denver for next season.

Now Denver will seek to find a new home for Walker

Back when Denver traded for Walker, some reports said the Eagles were so close to a deal for him that they actually had him in town for physical... Walker has said he wants out of Denver and almost certainly will be available for less than what the Broncos paid for him. It wouldn't be a bad move, but Walker isn't exactly the bonfide pro bowl #1 WR that everyone seems to want. He's missed 23 games over the past 3 years and that's a real concern. He's also really only had 2 maybe  3 years that were really impressive. In 03(his 2nd year) he caught 41 passes along with 9 TDs(a lot like Reggie Brown in 2006). The next year he really broke out with 89 catches for almost 1,400 yards and 12 TDs. He was injured in the first game of the 2005 season but went to Denver the next year & caught 69 passes for almost 1,1000 yards and 8 TDs. Last year played just 8 games and caught 29 balls and no touchdowns.

There's no doubt that a WR corps of a healthy Walker/Curtis/Brown is better than Curtis/Brown/Avant or Baskett or Lewis... and at 6'3 Walker would provide the first real imposing physical presence we've had at WR since "the player" was here. Plus, having played in Green Bay and Denver he's been in the west coast offense his whole career. There'd be little to no learning curve and his upside is impressive. Frankly if we could add Walker for something like a 4th round pick and keep LJ Smith I think the offense would look pretty good.

It should be noted that Javon Walker has apologized for saying he wanted to leave and The Mile High Report thinks Javon will be back in Denver next year.

As for free agent WRs, any of these guys interest you?

Teams in the market for free-agent wide receivers could choose from Oakland's Jerry Porter, New England's Jabar Gaffney or New Orleans' David Patten, among others. But rather than signing a free-agent wide out, teams could decide to trade for one.

Jerry Porter is probably the one guy that would raise eyebrows, but a quick peek at Porter's stats shows that he's not really any more productive than the guys we already have here. That said... he is very quick and he can stretch a defense, plus he's been stuck in some very poor offenses. Porter doesn't excite me all that much, but like I said with Walker... Our WR corps would be improved with him. The selling point of Porter over Walker is that we wouldn't have to trade for him and he'd play for less money than Walker.

The only other free agent WR option likely to make a real impact next year is Chicago's Bernard Berrian. Berrian is a speedy deep threat that doesn't have great size. He's also looking for huge money. He already turned down an extension from the Bears with $8 million in guaranteed money and recently hired none other than Drew Rosenhaus as his new agent. Berrian is looking to get #1 WR money despite never really having #1 production. This year was the best of his career and he had less receptions, less yards, and less TDs than Kevin Curtis. No thanks.

0 recs  |  Comment 7 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

Berrian
Berrian = Todd Pinkston 2.0

by Andrew on Jan 9, 2008 10:40 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

My vote would be try and trade for walker.
Not to sound like madden 08 but he has that big-play spectacular catch ability that our WRs dont have now. He's got great size and would be a huge red zone threat. I like Curtis and Brown -- Walker would be huge.

We would probably have to REALLY break the bank to get Moss

by JoeD on Jan 9, 2008 10:29 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

porter?
lets not forget moss was completely unproductive in oakland too. and if porter doesn't pan out then we've only lost minor salary cap space. plus he doesn't have major health issues like walker.

by crickles on Jan 10, 2008 3:24 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Porter
How is Jerry Porter any better than Donte Stallworth?  Porter catch percentages in 2007, 05, 04, and 02 - 43% (starter w/ slop), 54% (starter w/Collins), 47% (starter w/ Collins), 73% (slot w/ Gannon).

If you want to go that direction, why not just bring Stallworth back?

by Andrew on Jan 10, 2008 8:59 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

In the likely event Stallworth is released
They will both be options. I wouldn't be all that dissapointed with either. Although I'd still like to see something done at TE.

by JasonB on Jan 10, 2008 9:25 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

porter
porter's health is better than stallworth's. and what i was suggesting is that maybe his bad stats in oakland (where he's unmotivated like moss was) will change to all-pro stats in philly (like moss).

of course porter and moss are two totally different receivers and compared to moss porter is pedestrian. still, his stats have to get a "raider handicap" when we look at them.

by crickles on Jan 10, 2008 12:56 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Porter
Porter was just average in 2004 and 2005 when the Raiders had a much better situation than the fiasco of the past two years.

by Andrew on Jan 10, 2008 3:16 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Welcome to the SB Nation blog about Philadelphia Eagles.
Start posting about the Eagles »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Cryto_small
What does it take to win a championship?
Dscn0101_small
The 2010 Draft
Kitty_small
Great site for OL and DB stats (defensive back, not douche bag)
Charlie_green_man_small
1st Half Report Cards
Celek_small
BGN Demographics

Recent FanPosts

Pc270011_small
Stuff my wife doesn't care about...
Small
10 games in....playoff picture
Small
#5 = Class Act
Small
4th Quarter Comebacks
Small
My first half assessment of the Eagles Bears game
Eagles_giants_06_002_small
It's Hunting Season in Chicago: Eagles vs. Bears Week 11 Game Preview
Djackson-1280x800-players_small
Westbrook to miss at least 2-3 weeks
Small
What record do you think the Eagles finish with ?
Small
Eagles reshuffle LB's again going into the Bears game
Westy2_small
Mcnabb and Reid hold a closed door meeting.

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

Latest NFL Headlines from SB Nation

SPONSORS