Heard in the Cheap Seats

UPDATE: Mike Misineli reported today on ESPN radio that Sal Palantonio informed him the Eagles have offered the Cardinals a second round pick in next year’’s draft and a third round pick in this year’’s draft along with Winston Justice for Anquan Boldin.  This begs the question on why the Eagles would even play games with offering a second round pick next year.  Why not just flip flop the offer?  Perhaps if the Eagles are the only team in bidding right now they don”t want to outbid themselves and are playing it cautious.  And the fact that they have offered Justice is just comical.  That is akin to me offering the Cardinals a 1982 Chevy Nova.

Updates will be posted as we hear them.

UPDATE: Accoring to Howard Eskin minutes ago on WIP the Eagles are the only team that has made a formal offer to the Cardinals for Boldin.  He does not have details on what the offer is at this point.

The Arizona Cardinals have reportedly lowered their asking price for Anquan Boldin from a first and a third round pick to a second round pick and future considerations. The Philadelphia Eagles are rumored to be among the teams that have expressed interest in the wide receiver.

With Andy Reid’s propensity for holding on to draft picks, it was clear that the Eagles would not be willing to part with a first and a third round pick for Boldin. But now that the demands have softened, will they change their stance and get a deal done? The Eagles still have the ammunition needed to make a deal for Boldin and have plenty of cash in the vault to pay him once he arrives in Philly.

The Eagles brass was unwilling to part with a second round pick for Tony Gonzalez. Will they take the same stance on Boldin?

The Philadelphia Eagles rumor mill continues to swirl at break neck pace. Just as soon as it looked the Eagles might pull of a trade for future Hall-of-Famer Tony Gonzalez it appears the disgruntled TE has been traded to the Atlanta Falcons for a 2010 second-round pick (according to Jay Glazer).

It has been thought all along that the Eagles would not be willing to pony up a second round pick for the 33-year old TE. Apparently, the Falcons finally bent to the will of the Chiefs and provided the pick Scott Pioli desired.

Gonzo would have looked great in midnight green but the asking price was too steep for the Eagles front office.

The Philadelphia Eagles rumor mill is kicking into overdrive as draft day nears.  First was the Jason Peters trade, than increased speculation around Anquan Boldin, the Sheldon Brown debacle and now the rumor that the Eagles have expressed interest in acquiring the services of Chiefs TE Tony Gonzalez. 

Gonzalez, even at age 33, would be an instant upgrade for the Eagles aerial attack and would significantly bolster the red zone offense.  But more importantly, a move to acquire the future hall-of-fame tight end would be a clear signal by the team’s front office that is officially entering the “win now at all costs” mode.   Gonzalez is still a very productive player but he is also a departure from the Eagles traditional philosophy of building through the draft or bringing in younger free agents. 

The Eagles are said to be willing to give up a third round pick for Gonzalez while the Chiefs have asked for a second-rounder.  If the Eagles are able to land him for the price of a third rounder it has to be considered a solid move and one that would immediately improve this roster.  Things should stay interesting as the draft approached. 

UPDATE: Jay Glazer reports that the deal is done pending a physical and the Eagles gave up the 28th pick, a second day pick in the year’’s draft and a late-round pick in 2010.  If that is the case, it is a reasonable price to pay for a two-time Pro Bowler. 

Quick post, sources at ESPN are reporting that the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills are close to working out a deal for two-time pro bowl left tackle Jason Peters.

Peters has been unhappy with his contract for nearly two years and the situation has snowballed to the point where the team may feel it cannot be resolved.  Peters is a young LT that is still developing at the position but has already been to two pro bowls.

The addition of Peters would give the Eagles a formidable duo at the tackle position with Stacey Andrews manning the other bookend.

The price tag has not been confirmed but early reports had the Bills asking for a first round pick in exchange for Peters.  More details as they come.

UPDATE: Sal Paolantonio is reporting that the Cardinals are seeking a first and a third round pick for Boldin and that the Eagles have shown interest.

In the seemingly never-ending saga that is Anquan Boldin—the Cardinals have finally made a public statement that they will listen to offers for the disgruntled WR. Up until this point, everything else was just conjecture.

Of course, the Cardinals maintain that their ultimate goal is to sign Boldin to a long-term deal if at all possible. But with the draft approaching, it seems that the Cardinals are coming to the realization that this situation has spiraled out of control. With a deep WR corps and a high-powered offense, Arizona would be foolish not to listen to offers for Boldin.

You can bet that the Philadelphia Eagles will, or already have, made a call. What ransom Boldin is able to fetch remains to be seen. The benchmark many are using as a judge is the Roy Williams to the Cowboys trade. But the Cowboys so steeply overpaid for the services of Williams that the trade should be considered an outlier and not the barometer. Williams was not worth nearly what he fetched on the trade market or what he was handed in his new contract and the Cardinals should not expect to get that in return.

The league knows Jerry Jones has a propensity to overpay for a player he covets and the rest of the NFL won’t be pulled into that charade. The only way Boldin commands that type of price tag is if his availability sparks a bidding war between two division rivals—say the Giants and Eagles. Both teams seem to covet a top-flight WR and would disdain the idea of their bitter rivals landing the prize first. This seems unlikely as Andy Reid and the rest of his cohorts loathe the idea of a bidding war. The Eagles almost never overpay for a player and hoard draft picks like water in the middle of Death Valley. They simply will not mortgage the future for a shot at landing Anquan Boldin. Not to appease the fans, Donovan McNabb or anyone else. They stick to their stance and rarely budge.

That doesn’t mean the Eagles won’t entertain the idea of landing Boldin—quite the contrary. I think it is highly likely that the Eagles make a play for the WR. Instead, I think the Eagles have already determined a price they are willing to pay and will not alter that stance—not even if the Giants swoop in with a better offer.

The Eagles have the chips to make a deal. The questions is: do they want Boldin and at what price?

As always, a WR might be available via trade and the Eagles are immediately rumored to be interested.  Such is the case this morning as the rumors are flying that the Eagles are interested in acquiring the services of Chad Ocho Cinco (still doesn’t feel right to write that).  

But read the report from ESPN’s Michael Smith closely. He never says that a source tells him that the Eagles are interested or have placed a call to the Bengals front office.  Instead, he merely speculates that the Eagles “could be in the picture” based on the fact that they have two first round picks and a “perceived” need for a stud WR.

Could the Eagles be interested?  Sure.  But simply because Michael Smith speculated out loud that the Eagles might be interested in Ocho Cinco does not mean a deal is imminent.

To me, the more interesting rumor was the continued speculation that the Eagles are going after Jason Peters.  Smith reports that the Eagles and Bills have had “serious discussions” regarding Peters and those talks could heat up as the draft approaches.  We explored here last month whether a move to acquire Peters would be worth the bounty the Eagles would have to pay.  We would need to see how the deal plays out, but considering the speculation, I would shy away from overpaying for Jason Peters given the questions marks and baggage he carries.

The rumor mill is sure to heat up as the draft approaches and names like Chad Ocho Cinco and Jason Peters will not go away anytime soon.  The Eagles certainly have the ammunition to get a deal done, but it remains to be seen where they will focus their attention.  If I were a betting man I would say their attention won”t be focused on Ocho Cinco.     

A little over two weeks ago I wrote a post imploring Eagles fans to stop with the talk that the Eagles should entertain the possibility of trading Donovan McNabb for Jay Cutler.  I was certain that my opinion was part of the silent majority and the talking heads of Philadelphia sports were merely representative of the vocal minority.  Boy was I wrong.

The comments that ensued on that post called me an idiot, asinine, 100% incorrect and stupid.  As you can tell, my readers always agree with my opinion.  And when word came that Cutler was indeed on the block, the comments were reinvigorated.  Again, the majority of those comments were in favor of taking a chance on Cutler.  It never ceases to amaze me the vigor with which some Philadelphia fans want to run McNabb out of town.  At every apparent opportunity, the mob is lined up ready to run the guy out of the town.

Well, sorry folks, but Jay Cutler has been traded to the Chicago Bears for Kyle Orton and two first-round picks.  He’s going to a team with a solid defense and no wide receivers to speak of on the roster.  He will regret his trade demands by week 4.  Write it down: Jay Cutler does not even approach his 2008 numbers.

There was never really a doubt, but for those that held out hope…can we stop now?  Donovan McNabb is our quarterback.  Let’s move on.

There has been some chatter over the last couple of days that Buffalo Bills left tackle Jason Peters could be available via a trade if the Bills cannot work out a contract.  Of course, because the Eagles currently do not have a LT on the roster (not counting Todd Heramanns or possibly Shawn Andrews) they have been rumored as one of the teams that could get involved in the bidding. 

Granted, much of this is speculation at the moment, but it bears some closer consideration as to whether or not Peters would actually be an upgrade over the Birds current options. 

Jason Peters is an undeniable talent.  At 6’4”, 340 pounds, he certainly does not lack the size to play the position.  In 2007, Peters dominated opposing defensive ends and catapulted himself to elite status at the position.  In his eyes, this earned him the right to be paid as one of the top left tackled in the game.  But the Bills would not oblige.  After a lengthy holdout, Peters returned to action but never quite displayed the same level of dominance as he had in 2007.  In fact, Peters was so shoddy in 2008 that he led the league in sacks allowed with 11.5.  That is a startling number that would make even Winston Justice cringe.  Despite those meager stats, Peters still earned a Pro Bowl invite largely on reputation only.

Of course, you do have to take that 11.5 number with a grain of salt.  For starters, sacks allowed is a rather arbitrary measure of an OLs production.  The guy in the booth responsible for stat keeping has the sole discretion on where to place blame.  Not to start conspiracy theories, but wouldn’t the Bills stand to benefit from deflating Peters’ stats to gain an edge at the negotiating table?  And even if that is not the case, the stat also hinges greatly on the play of the quarterback.  A quarterback like Peyton Manning that gets rid of the ball quickly can make any offensive lineman look good.  But when you are hesitant to make decisions like Trent Edwards, he often leave your linemen out to dry.  But no matter how you spin the story, it is fairly obvious to even the most casual observer that Jason Peters was not at his best in 2008. 

If you are the Eagles, would you be so eager to fork over the number of picks and pile of cash it would take to bring Peters to Philadelphia?  It depends.  If you believe that you are getting the 2007 version of the massive lineman, it just may be worth the steep price.  Acquiring a productive Peters would create one of the biggest and most feared offensive lines in the game.  With a line like that, Andy Reid just may stick to the running game.

On the flip side, if you get anything back remotely resembling the 2008 version of Peters it would not be worth the king’s ransom required to get a deal done.  The Eagles have two viable internal options to move to left tackle in Shawn Andrews and Todd Herremans.  Let us not forget that both Andrews and Herremans played tackle in college and have apparently been itching to play it in the NFL.  Surely both of these options could match the play of Jason Peters cica 2008.  In addition, the Eagles would have to strongly way the apparent “attidue factor.”  This team has a long history of run-ins with players that wanted to rework deals before it expired.  In most cases, those clashes do not end well for the player.  Who is to say the three years down the road, Peters isn’t going to look around and call for another deal? 

The chatter has largely been that Jason Peters would be a huge upgrade for the Birds and a move they need to make if the price is right.  I’m not so sure.  There are just too many risks in the equation that outweigh the potential return.  If I were Andy Reid and his cohorts, I would take my chances with the guys already sitting in the locker room.

Jay Cutler:

The talking heads of the Philadelphia sports world have been tossing around the idea of the Eagles pursuing disgruntled Broncos QB Jay Cutler.  As a result, there have been more than a few Eagles fans that have followed with that line of thinking.  I have one word for you. STOP.

Jay Cutler has not proved anything in the NFL yet.  Sure, he is a talented 26-year old quarterback that has been to the Pro Bowl.  And yes, he threw for an other worldly 4,526 passing yards this past season.  But he is also a quarterback that threw 18 interceptions last season and has never won a playoff contest.  The only thing that Cutler has over McNabb is the fact that he is 6 years younger than him.  So for all of the fans calling for a trade I ask: do you really want to pay the steep price it would cost to get a QB that will not improve this team?  Didn”t think so. 

Every time there appears to be an opening to run McNabb out of town too many Eagles fans jump on the bandwagon.  Oh how soon they forget 3-13.

Matt Jones:

It’’s kind of strange that I constantly hammer home the idea that the Eagles are not barren at the WR position yet I continue to post about WRs on the market.  Here goes a few more thoughts on the position.

The Jaguars today released troubled WR Matt Jones.  At 6”6″ and 219 pounds, Jones is exactly the type of receiver that could help the Eagles overcome their red zone woes.  But is he worth the trouble?  As a player, Jones seemed to blossom last year, hauling in 65 grabs for 761 yards in only 12 games.  Expand that out over 16 games and you are looking at about 86 receptions for close to 1110 yards.  Not bad huh?

Jones is a very talented WR that can”t seem to keep himself out of trouble.  He is exactly the type of player the Eagles tend to shy away from.  But with 2010 possibly being an uncapped year, they could sign Jones for short money on a one-year deal.  He may just be worth the risk. 

Leonard Weaver:

Rumor has it that the Philadelphia Eagles may be out of the running for the services of Leonard Weaver.  I called for the Eagles to evaluate Weaver a month ago, so I clearly think he would make for a solid addition to this club.  However, from what I have read, it sounds like Weaver expects to make feature-back type money.  The Eagles are not going to, and should not, spend that kind of money on a FB.  There are some solid players available in the draft that could fill this need.  Or the Eagles could continue to go with a tandem of Dan Klecko and Kyle Ekel.  I know that is not a popular sentiment, but remember that toward the end of the season, the Eagles converted 74% of their third and short situations.  That was dramatic improvement.  Was it an aberration?  Possibly.  I am not advoicating that the Eagles use this tandem, but only that the situation is not so dire they need to out and spend big money.  Instead, I”d like to see the Eagles add a body via the draft for competition if Weaver won”t sign at a reasonable price.

What do you think about the Eagles moves leading up to the NFL draft?  Is the team done for the time being or is there something brewing?

In case you haven”t heard by now, the rumor mill is churning with the notion that the Cardinals are actively shopping Anquan Boldin.  Of course, Eagles fans are salivating at the prospects of adding Boldin to their wide receiving corps. 

 I wrote here yesterday that I am skeptical the Eagles will be able to land the coveted Cardinals receiver.  If this news is true, it removes one major barrier to getting a done deal and I would soften my stance a bit.  But for a minute, let’’s allow ourselves to dream and suppose that Boldin is there for the taking.  How much would you be willing to pay for his services?  It’’s a reasonable question, as the other most likely suitor appears to be the New York Giants.  The Eagles will likely have to overpay to get Boldin in midnight Green and keep him out of the grasp of a division foe.

So what will it take?  The Eagles have two first round picks and are sitting on a boatload of cash.  This means they can manufacture a package that gets Boldin to Philadelphia AND the new deal he craves.  The Giants on the other hand do not have the same number or quality of picks in their arsenal and are working against some cap constraints.  The Eagles are in the stronger negotiating position by far.  But again I ask, how much would you pay for Boldin?

By any measure, Anquan Boldin is a better player than Roy Williams.  The Dallas Cowboys gave up a 1^st, 3^rd and 6^th round pick to bring him to Dallas.  Granted, at the time, most experts felt the Cowboy overpaid.  So using that as a benchmark; would you give up the same package? 

I would.  If the Eagles gave up that package, they still have enough picks to get quality players at TE, RB and OT. IF the Eagles get involved in the talks for Anquan Boldin, they need to carefully consider how it impacts other areas of need this team faces.  I have said many times that WR is NOT this team’’s biggest need—despite the common refrain from most of the fan base,  If getting Boldin impacts the Eagles ability to address other, more pressing areas of need they should not pull the trigger.

 What do you think?  What kind of package would you give up to get Boldin?