Who the Eagles Should Sign (and Avoid) in This Brief 2011 Offseason

136 Days.

That's how many days football fans had to suffer through the NFL lockout. For 136 days, team owners and the NFLPA engaged in what for a long time seemed to be perpetual bickering and disagreement. Between March and June, little to no progress was made between the two sides in terms of authoring a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Going into the month of July, it seemed like the 2011 NFL season would possibly be cancelled. Then, over the past couple of weeks, the two sides emerged from their trenches of greed and stubbornness and made significant, constructive progress in negotiations. Now, fans can finally rejoice. The NFL lockout finally ended on Monday with limited damage to the 2011 season. The only game that has been cancelled is the Hall of Fame game, and that is always a snooze fest anyway. It is now obviously clear that the regular season was never in danger too. The two sides waited until the 11^th hour to strike a deal in order to maximize their own profits in the new CBA. Gordon Gekko once said “greed is good”, and that is a mantra that, unfortunately, the owners and players chose to follow. Nevertheless, most fans will still flock back to the Church of Football this autumn.

The next few days are going to be a little frantic and a little confusing, to be sure. What usually occurs over the course of a few months will happen in the span of a few days. Teams were allowed to start trading players and signing their own free agents on Tuesday, training camps are beginning to open up today, and all unrestricted free agents will be available for signing on Friday. This is going to be a very exciting period of time for NFL fans nationwide. After being starved of real, concrete football news for months, the appetites of millions of footballs fanatics are about to be placated.

 As an Eagles fan, I cannot wait to see what my team does in this brief but crucial offseason. Already, they have been linked to several big-name players. However, at the time this piece was published, they had not made any major moves yet. Several free agents are already off of the table, but there are still quite a few quality players available, whether it be in free agency or on the trading block. Here is a list of players that the Eagles should either take a look at or stay far away from.

1. Ray Edwards, DE, Minnesota Vikings- Take a look  

Ray Edwards should be the Eagles top priority in free agency. The up and coming defensive end is exactly what the birds need on their undersized defensive line. Edwards is a 6’5’’, 268 lb beast that would tower over most of the Eagles other DE’s. For comparison, Trent Cole is 6’3’’, Juqua Parker is 6’2’’, and Brandon Graham is 6’1’’. Edwards would take a lot of pressure off of Trent Cole, who for all intents and purposes has been the Eagles only constantly consistent defensive end. It will probably take a lot of money to sign Edwards, and to be honest his level of play may not end up matching his level of pay. Edwards is good, but not elite. Last season he recorded 8.0 sacks in 2010 and 8.5 in 2009. Solid numbers, but not nearly as good as the numbers put up by Minnesota’s other defensive end, Jared Allen. Still, Edwards is only 26 and hasn’t reached his prime yet, so he has upside. The Eagles could have addressed their DE problem last offseason and signed Julius Peppers, but they didn’t want to invest big bucks in him. This year, the problem cannot be ignored. Brandon Graham is too small to be an every down lineman. Edwards should be signed, even if the Eagles have to overpay him.

2.  Nnamdi Asomugha, CB, Oakland Raiders- Take a look

If not for the rumors of the Eagles getting Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie if/when they trade Kevin Kolb to the Arizona Cardinals, signing Asomugha would be a no-brainer. Asomugha is arguably the most dominant cornerback in the NFL today. His superhuman ability to shutdown any wide receiver is only matched by Darrelle Revis of the New York Jets. The biggest piece of evidence that proves Asomugha’s dominance is the number of interceptions he had last season: 0. That’s right, the best corner in the NFL had no INT’s last season. That’s not because he sucks, it’s because QB’s hardly ever throw the ball in his direction. They are that scared of his abilities. In fact, Asomugha has only had 3 INT’s over the last four seasons. In 2006, his breakout season, he had 8 INT’s, and nobody has thrown the ball his way ever since.

The only two problems with Asomugha are that: 1. He will have to be paid a lot of money, something the Eagles cheap front office hates to do, and 2. He is 30 years old, so he is not a spring chicken. However, if the Eagles managed to have Asomugha and Asante Samuel as their two starting corners, they would be set at that position for 3-5 years, and a significant amount of pressure would be taken off of their two young safeties, Nate Allen and Jaiquawn Jarrett. I’m ok with the Eagles settling on Cromartie through a trade, though. Although he is not a star like Asomugha, he would be a serviceable starting corner, and the team could save money and invest it in other positions of need (besides Joe Banner’s wallet).  

3. Brett Favre, QB, Retired- Stay away (far, far away)

No.

Just…no.

According to Howard Eskin of 610 WIP in Philadelphia, the Eagles have expressed some interest in trying to coax Brett Favre out of retirement. Eskin’s report states that if/when Kevin Kolb is traded to the Arizona Cardinals, the Eagles would like to bring in Brett Favre to be Michael Vick’s backup for the 2011 season. Apparently, the Eagles are unimpressed with the current crop of free agent quarterbacks available on the open market, so Andy Reid may be interested in giving his old apprentice one more job in the NFL (Reid was the Green Bay Packers QB coach from 1997-1999). This would be a dumb, asinine, and shameless signing on so many different levels. Firstly, I believe that the only reason the Eagles may be interested in acquiring Favre is for the attention-grabbing headlines that would go along with Favre being here. Brining in Favre as a backup would be a major distraction for a young, up and coming team. I believe that the Eagles think that Brett Favre would put the city’s attention back on them and off of the Phillies. It’s a shameless publicity stunt, and it wouldn’t be the first time the Eagles have done something like this. Some examples include:

 -Benching McNabb in a lost cause game against the Ravens just weeks after the Phillies won the World Series in 2008. Speculation regarding McNabb’s future with the team replaced Phillies Mania in the media.

- Signing controversial QB Michael Vick soon after he completed in two year prison sentence for dog fighting. Vick wasn’t exactly needed, but the Eagles signed him anyway. Now the whole world was talking about the Eagles, while the Phillies were just marching towards their second NL Pennant in two years.

- Persistently denying for months that Donovan McNabb would be traded before the 2010 season, then trading him to the Washington Redskins on the eve of the Phillies’ 2010 season opener. The next day, it was all McNabb talk while the Phillies new star Roy Halladay made his debut for the team.

Yeah, it’s a conspiracy theory, and it’s out there, but if this Favre thing happens, I’ll wear my tinfoil hat proudly. The Eagles only want a media circus to put them back in the spotlight, and Favre will give them just that.

Secondly, there are better options for a #2 QB out there, at least there were yesterday. The Eagles could’ve gone after somebody like Matt Hasslebeck, who is familiar with a West Coast offensive system. But he was signed by the Titans this morning, so they can’t do that. The same goes for Tarvaris Jackson, who has a playing style similar to Vick’s. He was signed by the Seahawks yesterday, so they can’t do that either. I think the best option now would be Tyler Thigpen…oh, the Bills signed him. Sigh… the Eagles have killed themselves here. They should pick up Vince Young. Vick could mentor him, and he could develop into a solid player here in Philly. It’s a risk, but no way in hell should Favre be an Eagle. No, no, no.

4. Nick Barnett, LB, Green Bay Packers- Take a look

Barnett, a solid inside linebacker for the Green Bay Packers, is expected to be released later today. The Eagles could be a nice landing spot for the veteran tackling machine now that Stewart Bradley won’t be re-signed by the team (a bad move, in my opinion). The Eagles’ young linebacker corps could use the leadership that Barnett brings to the table and his talent isn’t too bad either. Injuries limited him to just four games last year, but when he is healthy he is good for 100+ tackles and a couple of sacks. Barnett, who is 30, could be the Eagles starting MLB for a couple of seasons while Jamar Chaney develops into a more reliable starter. Plus, he probably can be had for a reasonable price.

5. Jason Babin, DE, Tennessee Titans- Stay Away

Jason Babin was a big surprise in the NFL last season. After being a below average, journeyman player for his entire career (which included a stint with the Eagles in 2009), Babin broke out in a big way last season. He recorded 12.5 sacks (6^th in the NFL) appeared in all 16 regular season games, and earned a spot on the NFC’s Pro Bowl team. Now that he is a free agent, he is expected to earn a long term deal with big money, but it shouldn’t come from the Eagles. Although Babin is familiar with the Eagles’ system, he wasn’t very productive in it when he was here. During his one season with the Eagles, he appeared in 12 games and only recorded 2.5 sacks. Most of the time, he was relegated to a role on Special Teams. Plus, Babin is 31 years old. The Eagles are trying to get younger, and Babin is only getting older. Investing an 8-figure salary in a 31 year old, one year wonder is a bad idea. Signing a DE like Ray Edwards or Cullen Jenkins is a much better idea. They have better resumes and are younger.

6. Plaxico Burress, WR, Free Agent- Take a look

Although wide receiver isn’t a major need for the Eagles right now, Burress would be an interesting acquisition. Unlike most of the Eagles current receivers, Burress is tall, standing at 6’5’’. One of the Eagles biggest problems on offense last year was the fact that they struggled in the red zone. That is because DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin are undersized, and cannot run routes over the middle of the field effectively. Burress, on the other hand, has proven to be a great red zone target throughout the course of his career. Although he is 33 and is just getting out of prison, he can probably be had for a 1 year contract at a minimum salary. It would be worth the investment if he has about 40-55 catches and 7-10 TDs. He could potentially give the Eagles a big boost inside of the 20 yard line.

7. Jonathan Joseph, CB, Cincinnati Bengals- Stay Away

Jonathan Joseph, who is coming off of a so-so season last year, is a decent CB. His 2009 statistics prove that: 6 INTs, 20 passes defended, 58 tackles. However, he is coming off of a less than stellar year, and he will probably ask for more money than he is really worth. If I were the Eagles, I wouldn’t have Joseph near the top of my wish list. I’d be too concerned that he would play like Lito Sheppard did towards the end of his days in Philadelphia: soft, slow, and uninspired. Guys like Asomugha, Rodgers-Cromartie, and Carlos Rogers are better options here.