but with both gone - samuel only option left??
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sport...er_Samuel.html
INDIANAPOLIS - The Eagles weren't taking requests, but Donovan McNabb blogged one anyway.
Shortly after the team completed its 8-8 season that was good for last place in the ultra-competitive NFC East, the Eagles' franchise quarterback used his personal blog to plead for more "playmakers in all three phases of the game."
Running back Brian Westbrook, offensive tackle Jon Runyan, and veteran safety Brian Dawkins have since supported the idea.
The Eagles will get their first real chance to satisfy those wishes when the free-agent bidding begins Friday at 12:01 a.m. Coach Andy Reid and the rest of the Eagles' decision-makers also are strongly in favor of upgrading the talent level through free agency.
The problem is that it's much easier said than done.
"There are certain positions where you only have one good guy that hasn't been tagged," Eagles president Joe Banner said, referring to the franchise tag that teams use to make it nearly impossible to sign one of their players.
"I think you're going to see a very aggressive rush those first few days. I think the first day or two are going to be crazy," Banner said as the team continued to map out its free-agent plan here at the NFL Scouting Combine.
That first day or two also will be cutthroat, because the days when only a handful of teams could afford to pursue the most prized free agents are in the past. With the salary cap expanding to $116 million this season, just about every team in the league can afford to get into a bidding war.
The most valuable free agent that has been linked to the Eagles in recent weeks is Asante Samuel, but it's not a slam dunk that the team will make a serious bid for the New England Patriots' Pro Bowl cornerback.
According to a league source, the Eagles' sights had been set on Seattle cornerback Marcus Trufant before the Seahawks placed the franchise tag on him Thursday. Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha also was tagged, leaving Samuel as the only truly elite cornerback on the open market.
If the Eagles decide to seriously bid for Samuel's services, they will have to pay a heavy price because he is expected to sign for more money than any other defensive player in NFL history.
Is Samuel worth that much or do the Eagles believe they can succeed with veterans Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown returning? It's a complicated question.
Sheppard has missed 14 games the last three seasons because of injuries, and there's some thought he might be less than thrilled with his contract, which has four years remaining.
A league source indicated that Brown also feels underappreciated after defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said last season that he had to compete with Will James to keep his starting job.
Another issue is that the Eagles' cornerback tandem combined for just five interceptions last season. Twenty-two players had that many by themselves.
Given Brian Dawkins' advanced age and injury problems last season, the Eagles may have been in the market for help at safety, but the free-agent market is even thinner at that position than it is at cornerback. Dallas' Ken Hamlin was the best available safety, but the Cowboys used their franchise tag on him late last week. The best available player at the position now is the New York Giants' Gibril Wilson, who had a career-high four interceptions last season.
Reid made the point that quarterback pressure from the defensive line and linebackers helps any secondary, so it's possible the Eagles could turn their attention in that direction.
Again, the problem is that the premier pass rushers - Kansas City's Jared Allen and Baltimore's Terrell Suggs - never made it to the open market. The best of the rest is Cincinnati's Justin Smith, and it wouldn't be shocking if the Eagles made a run at him. Smith had only two sacks last season but averaged almost seven per season in his first six years.
Jacksonville's Bobby McCray is another possibility at defensive end. His sack total dropped from 10 in 2006 to three in 2007, but he's only 26. Tennessee's Antwan Odom and Travis LaBoy also are interesting names. Odom had a career-high eight sacks last season, and LaBoy had a career-high six sacks and four forced fumbles.
The Eagles have a history of acquiring defensive ends from the Titans, with Juqua Thomas and the soon-to-be-released Jevon Kearse having joined the team from Tennessee.
When McNabb made his plea for help last month, it's safe to assume he was hoping the Eagles would add playmakers to the wide-receiver corps. That, of course, is an annual staple on the wish list of Eagles fans.
It's not out of the question that the Eagles will pursue a wide receiver in free agency, but it doesn't seem likely that they will go after one of the elite ones. New England's Randy Moss tops the list of free agents, but few people believe he will sign with any team other than the Patriots.
That doesn't mean there aren't interesting options at receiver. The Patriots have made it known they will not pick up the option of former Eagle Donté Stallworth, which means he will be on the free-agent market for the second consecutive season. It seems unlikely, however, that he would return to Philadelphia for a couple of reasons.
Stallworth said during the Super Bowl that he loved playing in Philadelphian, but he felt as if the Eagles had their opportunity to sign him to a long-term deal last off-season. The Eagles also feel better about the combination of Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown than their fan base does.
The one free agent who could fit perfectly with the Eagles is Houston's Andre' Davis, who is both a speed receiver and a quality kick returner. In addition to catching 33 passes for 583 yards and three touchdowns last season, Davis returned three kickoffs for touchdowns and averaged 30.3 yards per return. The Eagles obviously need to improve in the return game.
It's unlikely that the Eagles will try to add a running back, tight end (the team tagged L.J. Smith) or offensive lineman. Pittsburgh guard Alan Faneca is considered the best offensive lineman, but he is 31, and the Eagles already have two starting tackles older than 30.
By this time next week, we'll know the Eagles' free-agent plan and we might even know whether it was a successful one.
"My own opinion is, there's going to be a very, very short market this year," Banner said. "It's not to say there aren't any opportunities out there, but I think you're going to see the market accelerated . . . The second tier of free agency, where maybe that kicked in two weeks into free agency in the past, maybe you're going to see it kicking in three to five days into free agency."
Let the spending begin.
EAGLES really wanted Trufant or Nmadi
EAGLES really wanted Trufant or Nmadi
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