Eagles News: Carson Wentz is “the best quarterback in the division by far and it’s not even close”

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

KYLE BRANDT: “The best quarterback in the division by far is back and it’s not even close. If [Dak Prescott] was as good as [Carson Wentz], he’d be paid already. And, guys, there’s a lot of talk right now about the Cowboys. They’ve got a lot of hype. They’ve got a lot of good players. And I feel like Carson Wentz is like my favorite GIF (gesturing): ‘Mmmmm, I don’t know.’ You notice something right now? This roster he’s walking into that Howie Roseman put together? I have to give a recommendation. There’s this Twitter account right now called ‘Keanu Reeves walking to music.’ That’s what it’s called. It’s blowing up. All it is is Keanu Reeves walking into a room with different songs. It is laugh out loud funny. Wentz walking into practice right now and looking around — not only feeling good, feeling about himself, looking at [DeSean Jackson] here, and [Alshon Jeffery] here, and all these running backs, and not seeing Nick Foles behind him is the Keanu Reeves walking — go check it out. Best quarterback in the division by far. Feeling great.

Eagles Practice Notes: Dallas Goedert, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and Sidney Jones among standout players - BGN
The Philadelphia Eagles held their final 2019 OTA practice open to reporters on Wednesday and I was there to soak it all in. Keep in mind that these are all non-contact drills at this point. Players aren’t allowed to wear pads yet. There’s only so much to be gleaned from guys running around in shorts, but here’s what I noticed.

At the Podium: BLG on OTAs & Doug’s Day with the Press - BGN Radio
It’s a special edition of At the Podium as Brandon Lee Gowton drops by to join Michael Kist and give updates from OTAs on Wednesday! After that, we have a fresh Doug Pederson press conference for you from June 3rd! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Car$on Wentz - Iggles Blitz
You can argue that Wentz won’t play at his 2017 level on a regular basis, but I think he can. Last year was odd. The run game struggled. The OL was banged up for part of the year. The receiving corps wasn’t completely healthy. Wentz couldn’t overcome that while dealing with his own injuries. 2019 will be a huge year for Wentz and the Eagles. He is healthy. His blockers are healthy. His receivers are healthy. His primary RB is healthy. Wentz has more weapons than ever and he’s now got 40 NFL starts under his belt. Experience is critical for QBs. You can bet Wentz learned a thing or two last year. Wentz is a very driven person. He will do whatever it takes to succeed. Wentz is coming off a disappointing season and also had to deal with some criticism. Rather than running from this as many pro athletes would, Wentz has embraced the challenge. He has admitted he needs to be better on and off the field. He’s changed some of his workout to try to help his durability. This is a guy you want to pay big money to. Some players get the money and let up. Wentz is more driven than ever.

Eagles making a big bet on Carson Wentz -- and it’s the right one - ESPN
With the money for Wentz now allocated, the Eagles know precisely what type of budget they’re working with as they build their roster for the long term. They also know Wentz isn’t the type of player with whom you play games. If you’re committed, commit, and avoid any negative feelings that could stem from a long, drawn-out process. Yes, there is a chance this could all go wrong in a pretty big way. Wentz might prove to be injury-prone, and the Eagles could end up holding the bag -- and a hefty one at that. The upside is they get him locked in at what will soon look like a discount, leaving them extra coin to spend on bolstering their supporting cast. It’s a big bet, but the Eagles believe Wentz is the type of person and player to make bets on -- they always have.

With franchise-record deal, Eagles are counting on Carson Wentz to address his flaws and realize his upside - The Athletic
They could’ve waited to extend Wentz, which would have been perfectly reasonable. He’s suffered season-ending injuries in each of the past two seasons. The Eagles could have let 2019 play out and then signed him long-term next offseason. The downside would’ve been that the price for quarterbacks is only going to go up, so in all likelihood, the Eagles would have ended up paying more. And the upside of waiting probably isn’t as great as some might think. Even if Wentz were to suffer another injury or not play great, he was still going to command a lot of money. He’s a 26-year-old quarterback with MVP potential. Those guys don’t take discounts. They get paid. There would have been an unpredictability associated with waiting. If teams like the Cowboys and Rams paid Dak Prescott and Jared Goff, respectively, huge deals before the Eagles signed Wentz, his price could have gone up more than anticipated. And if the Eagles waited and Wentz played great in 2019, he would have been in position to become the highest-paid player in the NFL.

New deal for Carson Wentz is a win-win-win all around - PE.com
It’s also a win for the fans of the Philadelphia Eagles, who know that Wentz is the guy for now and for the future. The Eagles, ever creative in their approach to roster building and salary-cap navigation, have put together a contract for Wentz that, while lucrative, isn’t in any way hamstringing the football operations for 2019. Howie Roseman has said many times that the salary cap would not preclude the team from adding key pieces, and the evidence in this offseason is convincing: The Eagles were aggressive in free agency, highlighted by the signing of defensive tackle Malik Jackson. Roseman engineered trades to acquire wide receiver DeSean Jackson and then running back Jordan Howard. The team moved up in the draft from No. 25 overall to No. 22 in the first round to select a player the team believes will be the left tackle of the future, Andre Dillard. Are those the moves of a team retreating in the face of a burdensome contract for the quarterback? No way.

Eagles never wavered: Carson Wentz was always their guy - NBCSP
“When you draw it up, it’s exactly what you want,” Eagles owner Jeff Lurie said about Wentz at the annual NFL owners meetings in March. “Highly competitive, very type-A personality, demanding, very smart, obsessed with winning and winning big, respected by everybody. You can’t really draw it up much better. And we’re lucky to have him.”

What does Carson Wentz deal mean for Jared Goff? - PFT
Only McVay and maybe a handful of others know the truth on this, but there’s a chance that McVay has realized a hard cap resides over what Goff can be expected to do when legacies are on the line. That would cause any coach to wonder whether there’s another quarterback out there who has a higher ceiling when the time comes to secure trophies. Although Rams fans have every reason to rally around their current starting quarterback, Rams fans ultimately should want what’s best for the team. It could be that McVay decides, given what Tollner will want on a second deal for Goff, that the team’s best interests reside elsewhere.

Halapoulivaati Vaitai spending the spring learning a new position - Inquirer
“They asked me if I would do some guard stuff and I said, ‘Sure,’ ’’ Vaitai said Wednesday after the Eagles’ final OTA before next week’s mandatory minicamp. “I’m down. I’m not opposed to it. I’m trying to help the organization win. We’re trying to have as many weapons as possible.’’ [..] “I just have to remind myself that I’m not at tackle anymore. Inside is a lot more aggressive. They’re on you quicker. So you have to punch faster. You have to have your hands ready. You don’t want them low like at tackle. You want to have them high and you’ll be OK. It’s good. It helps me with my overall skills.”

Top NFL players by jersey number: Ranking 1-99 for the league’s 100th season - CBS Sports
91 | Fletcher Cox. Aaron Donald gets most of the hype at DT, but Cox has done nothing but disrupt for years now. His stats aren’t always as gaudy, but it’d be a tremendous oversight to list the Eagles star outside of the top two or three interior players in the game.

The latest rumors from the Jets general manager search - Gang Green Nation
There have been a few developments over the last few days on the Jets general manager search. Apparently all four candidates impressed the Jets enough to earn second interviews. While Joe Douglas has been the favorite throughout the process, Scott Fitterer of the Seahawks has emerged as a potential spoiler.

Taking Stock of the Five Teams Stuck in NFL No-Man’s-Land - The Ringer
What’s worse than finishing near the bottom of the standings? Losing and having no plan to right the ship. The Lions, Bengals, Bucs, Giants, and Redskins all fall into that category—so what should we make of their respective team-building approaches this offseason?

Who’s Calling the Shots? How the Patriots Are Handling Major Coaching Turnover - MMQB
From Stephen G (@Stephen26497576): Without considering current salaries of players, give me your take on the top 10 picks of a league-wide fantasy draft where all players are available. Interested to see % are QBs. ... Fun question, Stephen. Instead of doing a top 10, let’s give you four categories The no-doubters: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs; Carson Wentz, Eagles; Andrew Luck, Colts; Aaron Rodgers, Packers; Russell Wilson, Seahawks.

Vox Media employees walk off the job in day-long effort to win new union contract - Washington Post
Journalists at digital-news upstart Vox Media walked off the job for the day on Thursday in a bid to secure a new collective-bargaining agreement with the company. The labor action was one of the most aggressive moves yet taken by a newly unionized digital-news company. Vox — which includes the real estate site Curbed, the food site Eater, the sports site SB Nation and Vox.com itself — is one of a number of digital-media operations whose workforces have voted to unionize in recent years. Despite organizing last year under the Writers Guild of America East (WGA), however, Vox’s employees have not yet secured an agreement with management. Thursday was the final scheduled day of bargaining, which began in April of last year. In a show of resolve, some 300 employees stayed out of Vox’s offices on Thursday, including its headquarters in Washington.

John Stolnis Upped To News Manager At Westwood One News - All Access
Executive Editor JOHN STOLNIS has been upped to News Manager at WESTWOOD ONE NEWS. STOLNIS has been with WESTWOOD ONE for 15 years and has produced nationally syndicated talk shows including JIM BOHANNON, FRED THOMPSON and DOUGLAS URBANSKI’s programs; he also moonlights as a writer and “THE FELSKE FILES” podcast host for SB NATION’s THE GOOD PHIGHT PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES site and BLEEDING GREEN NATION/”BGN RADIO” PHILADELPHIA EAGLES site and podcast. STOLNIS reports to WESTWOOD ONE NEWS VP KEVIN DELANY.

The 5 best beefs to circle on the 2019 NFL schedule - SB Nation
Of course Jalen Ramsey and Baker Mayfield are two of the players with a score to settle in 2019.

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