Takeo Spikes Lands in Philly.

Today the Philadelphia Eagles formally announced the signing of Takeo Spikes, and Kelly Holcomb, that will be the only time I mention Kelly in this, at the Nova Care Complex late this afternoon. As expected Spikes had nothing but good things to say about the Eagles, and that he is beyond excited to be in Philly. This will be the first time in his ten year career he will have an opportunity to be playing for a playoff caliber team. When asked about how he is feeling these days, Spikes said this is the best he's felt since before his season ending injury in 2005. As you can see in the picture, Spikes will be rocking number 51 this season, so no more jokes about Matt McCoy being route 51, he currently does not have a number, and the Eagles are thinking about keeping it that way. When asked how he was able to get the number 51 from McCoy, Spikes said he challenged McCoy to an arm wrestling match. When McCoy accepted the challenge and extended his arm to start the match, Spikes bitch slapped him and told him that he was taking his number and his spot at LB. McCoy fell to the ground, like he did all last season, and said that sounds like a good plan to him. Spikes then proceeded to look for, and I quote, "that sissy with the bow tie who plays a banjo." I have no idea who he could be talking about. This guy is friggin nuts. You can watch the press conference here. Unfortunately there is no video of the "bitch slap" Spikes laid on Matt McCoy.

State of the Franchise: The Philadelphia Eagles Offseason Update.

When the Free Agency period started in the beginning of March, their wasn't much joy within the Eagles fan base. When the Eagles let Jeff Garcia, Michael Lewis, Rod Hood, and "the great" Donte Stallworth go, some fans were pissed and had doubt about how the team was being run. Some wanted Jeff Garcia to stay and compete for a starting job with Donovan McNabb, yea okay. Garcia did a great job as back up but come on, he's 36, and last time I checked, he didn't lead us to a win vs. the Saints in the playoffs. I say that cause that's what critics of McNabb would say. They would say he didn't step and lead his team past the Saints. Don't get me wrong Garcia did a great job rallying the troops through the season, but he also got a $5M contract from the Bucs. McNabb has a salary of $5.5M this season. $10M on two QB's, not gonna happen. We know why Michael Lewis is gone, so I won't really delve to deep into that. His job was lost during week 6 in New Orleans when he let Joe Horn get past him for that 48 yd TD. Lewis was biting on the play-action fake all game. Enter Sean Considine, who is not much better by the way. Rod Hood, not a big loss. He didn't want to be an Eagle anyway. The Eagles actually offered Hood a better contract in the middle of last season, then he received from the Cardinals this season. He was a good nickel cover corner, but he wasn't the best tackler. Joseph Addai put Hood on his back or broke his ankles on several occasions in the Colts game and he missed tackles on a regualr basis all season. He's replaceable. Enter William James, and hopefully Brandon Meriweather. Now for Donte Stallworth. How will we ever deal without him playing 10-12 games a season. You would think that Stallworth was one of the top 20 WR's in the league, which he's not, with the money he was asking for. Now did Stallworth do a good job last season, yea, when he was on the field, he was okay. He had 2-3 good games, besides that he wasn't that great. Would I have liked to see the Eagles re-sign him, sure, but in turn the Eagles would have had to give up their 3rd round pick for this years upcoming draft. In the long run, that pick could turn out to be more valuable than Stallworth. WR's are not going to make or break this team.

So after 2 weeks of the Eagles doing nothing, some fans, a lot of fans, were hitting the panic button. WIP's phone lines were full of fans sick of Joe Banner being so cheap, and hoping Andy Reid would just quit. It was very annoying. Think I'm kidding, take a stroll over to the IgglePhans message board to get a feel for how some fans feel about the Eagles front office these days. Some fans just do not get how a team is run with salary cap and what not. The Eagles were not in a position to start signing over rated free agents. This was not a good free agent class. Why spend big money, that you don't have, to sign players that are just not worth it, and that don't fit into some of your systems. Then March 15th, two weeks into free agency, the Eagles strike, landing FA WR Kevin Curtis. Kevin Curtis was regarded as one of the best free agent WR's this off season. Some had him ahead of Stallworth. They are very much alike. Almost the same size, Curtis could be faster, he has good hands, and most imporantly, is not a injury risk. Still with that signing, fans were still not buying it. Some were. A lot were and still are pissed at the Eagles for what happened with Stallworth. Then after the dust settled some interesting things started to leak out about the Stallworth situation. It turns out Stallworth's agent, none other than Drew Rosenhaus, pretty much gave the Eagles the shaft. After Rosenhaus tried to get the Eagles to sign Stallworth to a 1yr deal for $5M, he went back to Stallworth and told him the Eagles offer was $2M and no more. When in turn, the Eagles were willing to pay $3.6M-$4M. So while the Eagles were waiting for Rosenhaus to get back to them, he never did. In the end, the Eagles should be happy that happened, cause they ended up with a pretty good wide out in Curtis and saved themselves the trouble of giving up this years 3rd round pick. Next the Eagles front office tried to do some damage control by hitting the airwaves on local radio stations 610 WIP and Sports Talk 950. First came Joe Banner on the Howard Eskin show. He did a nice job of trying to explain the Eagles position for this off-season and next off-season. He did have the tough task of actually fielding calls from pissed off irate Eagles fans. At one point he actually told a fan, who said he was wasting money on tickets and didn't really care for the Eagles any more, to stop coming to games if you don't care. Pretty ballsy. Of course most fans took it as, I don't care if you stop coming, we'll fill your seat with someone else. What he was saying was, if you feel like your not getting your money's worth out of your Eagles tickets and you don't like being at games, don't come. Yea I'm trying a little to help Joe Banner out here, not many people in this town do. Next stop, Tom Heckert hit the Jody Mac Show to talk about free agency, Chris Gocong, the draft, and many other things. If you want the details of that interview click here. The Eagles attempt to do damage control for the lack of off-season moves kind of worked. The signing of Curtis sure helped but fans still, were not happy. The only thing that would make fans happy would be the Eagles getting a top tier LB. Al Wilson, Lance Briggs, and Takeo Spikes were all on the trading block and fans would love any of the above to improve a weak LB crew. Next they signed DT Monte Reagor, umm, what? This was foreshadowing for what was about to take place the following week, yesterday, and the Eagles gave fans what they wanted, a really good LB, that makes everyone feel a little bit better about going into next season. As you know they traded DT Darwin Walker, with Reagor there to take his spot, and a 2008 7th round pick, which is fine cause they will have at least one compensatory pick to replace that one, and in return the Eagles got pro bowl linebacker Takeo Spikes and back-up QB Kelly Holcomb. Round of applause. They deserve it. As much as people started to panic in the first couple weeks of the off-season, they Eagles have done a fine job. Now we have the draft to look forward to, and hopefully the Eagles address some key needs.

Players Added

Bethal Johnson, WR/KR
Kevin Curtis, WR
Monte Reagor, DT
Takeo Spikes, LB
Kelly Holcomb, QB

Players Re-signed

Quintin Mikell, S
Juqua Thomas, DE
Correll Buckhalter, RB
William James, CB

Players Lost

Jeff Garcia, QB
Rod Hood, CB
Michael Lewis, S
Donte Stallworth, WR
Darwin Walker, DT

Gillick: Freddy Garcia could be traded.

Pat Gillick was a guest on the Howard Eskin show on Friday and talked about a lot things.

The interview started with hot topic of the Phillies bullpen. Gillick said that they have been working the whole off-season trying to aquire bullpen help from numerous teams. He said that the market for bullpen help was not good right now, and that there were only about 2-3 teams that have excess bullpen help, and he was hoping that in the coming months that one of those teams would try and move some pitchers.

He said as it stands right now, they are going to have to rely on someone to step up from the bullpen that they have right now. Who does he think could emerge in the bullpen? Joe Bisenius or Zack Segovia.

When asked if the Phillies were at a point were they had to make a move, Gillick said it was highly unlikely that the Phillies would be making any trades at this point. He said its not from lack of effort, but that fact that the teams with extra bullpen help want to wait till the season starts and see how things turn out with injuries and such. He said the same goes for the Phillies with starters. They feel they need to keep Lieber for now in case a starter goes down.

But on the flipside of that, Gillick also made a comment that Freddy Garcia could possibly be traded somewhere down the line, and that "they can't rule out anything" when its come to trading one their starting pitchers. He said that if the right proposel came along they would not hold back on trading Lieber or Garcia. The whole interview was pretty much pitching talk as to be expected. One other note, when asked what would happen if Pat Burrell did not perform well protecting Ryan Howard at the 5th spot, Gillick said a change would be made.

The Stallworth Debacle: He said, She said.

Its been roughly two weeks since Donte Stallworth signed with the Patriots and he was on the Howard Eskin Show on Thursday to clear the air, well kind of. The interview started with Eskin giving some softball questions, but then he went into what happened with Drew Rosenhaus. The interview started with Stallworth stating that he never wanted to leave Philly and that he loved it here. He also said that reports that he felt "unwanted", which were reported in the Daily News, were false. He felt like the Eagles always wanted him but in the end the two couldn't come to terms in a contract that both would be happy with. As far as his signing with New England he said he kind of looks forward to living in Foxboro away from all the city hype. When talking about the contract situation, Stallworth said there were teams that wanted to sign him for a one year deal, and teams that wanted to sign him to a multi-year deal. He claims via Rosenhaus, that the Eagles only wanted him to sign a one year deal, which is basically what he got from NE. A one year deal with ridiculous incentives for next season which Stallworth will never see. He said he wanted an option in his contract that could be picked up after next season, and claims the Eagles never offered that to him. The only way Stallworth would have signed a one year deal was if it was for $5M, which no team was willing to pay. When Eskin started to imply that Rosenhaus was lying to Stallworth about what the Eagles would have been willing to do, Stallworth said that Rosenhaus talked with the Eagles and they weren't going to change their offer, which is false, but okay Donte. In the end Stallworth said hes had Drew as his agent for two years and he trusts him and would take his word over the Eagles FO any day. The last topic they talked about was the leak of the fact that he is in the substance abuse program with the NFL. Stallworth said he thinks someone leaked it on purpose with the intent to hurt his stock in the free agent market. He went on to say that it could have been any body and that he doesn't put it past anybody, including the Eagles.

So who would you believe, Eagles FO or Drew Rosenhaus? Next question!

Down goes FEDORUK!!

Not much to say here. Just a good video of the Flyers Todd Fedoruk getting knocked out cold.

Tom Heckert: Chris Gocong to play LB and DE next season.

Eagles GM Tom Heckert was on the Jody Mac show today and had a lot of interesting things to say about the Eagles. He talked about the Safety position, Jeremy Bloom and the kick return situation for next season, Free Agency, Salary Cap, the Draft, and most importantly Chris Gocong.

• The interview started off with Heckert saying that they feel good about the DE position as stands right now. He said they have a solid 4 guys at that position and that Chris Gocong could play there next season, I will get to Gocong at the end of this.

• They also feel good about the Safety situation. They feel if they needed to , they could start Mikell if Consandine or Dawkins was to get injured. I hope they don't feel strong enough not to take a S with their first round pick.

• He talked about the kick return situation for the Eagles and said, Jeremy Bloom and Bethel Johnson will be returning kicks next season, and if they had to, they would put Kevin Curtis back there cause he has experience returning kicks.

• He went on to talk about the salary cap and free agency. He said they feel good about how they've done so far, but that they are still actively looking at free agents. When asked about cap space, Heckert said they would be able to move bonuses around to free up cap room if they had to, and that they would do that if a player comes along that they would like to make a deal with.

• As for the draft Heckert said Compensatory drafts picks will be announced at next weeks NFL team meetings, and they are not expecting any picks for this season. Free agents signed this off-season will count in next years picks. As for the draft class, he said he felt that DE's, S's, and CB's were the strongest positions in the draft this year. That says a lot about which direction they are headed.

• As for Chris Gocong. They are feeling very confident in him right now. He said he feels Gocong will play both the LB and DE position throughout the season. They feel he will be a strong LB this season, but if not he will play DE. He went on to say Gocong is up to 265, and has been working really hard since week 8 of last season. He's been hitting the weight room a lot and is prepared for this season.

So, I'm still not completely sold on Gocong, but I'm feeling a little more optimistic.

The Bourn Identity.

As spring training starts to wind down we have a good idea of what the Phillie's roster is going to look like. One guy that is sure to be in the dugout sometime this year, whether it be opening day or during the summer sometime is Michael Bourn. The 5-11 speedster from Texas actually got some playing time last season but didn't turn any heads. So far this spring training, its the exact opposite. Everybody is excited about what Bourn has been doing in Clearwater. Bourn has been working hard this spring. After being called up to the Phillie's from AAA last season, Bourn, known as being very fast, was caught stealing 3 times. This spring he has Davey Lopez helping him with his base running, and so far, it looks like its working. He's tied for 1st in runs scored, has the most triples this spring and has 5 steals thus far. Bourn is on the verge of being placed into the Phillie's outfield within the year and could eventually work his way into the lead off spot. The Phillie's feel confident enough in Bourn, that Aaron Rowand is still on the trading block.

So who is Michael Bourn? After high school, he was drafted by the Houston Astro's with the 577th pick in 2000 draft. Rather than starting his pro career straight out of high school, Bourn decided to continue his education while playing ball at the University of Houston. It turned out to be a good choice for him. He played for the Cougars for 3 seasons. During his freshman year he started all but one game. He ended the 2001 season with a .303 batting average, a .431 OBP and led the team with 35 steals and 50 walks. In 2002, Bourn started all 65 games for the Cougars. He led the team in runs with 65 and in steals for the second straight season with 32. Bourn was known as a consistent offensive threat who always found ways to get on base, and when he did, he wreaked havoc on opponents. In 2003, the Philadelphia Phillie's drafted Bourn in the fourth round with 115th pick. The Phil's gave him a $299,000 signing bonus and Bourn accepted.

Bourn's career with the Phil's started out with the Batavia Muckdogs in the NY-Penn. League. His batting average in 125 at bats was, well, just average at .280. His slugging % was at very low point also, at a measly .296. He really was not known for being a power hitter and only had one extra base hit in the 35 games he appeared in. He did have a knack for getting on base though. He had a OBP of .404 and posted 23 walks, and 23 steals. In 2004 though, a different Bourn showed up. Playing for the Lakewood Blue Claws single A Atlantic South league, he showed a difference at the plate. Bourn was giving himself a new identity. Somehow he got some power. Who knows how. Whether he started hitting the weight room or had some coaching help with his swing, he was finding a way to get more than the average single. Their was a difference at the plate. In his 413 at bats, he hit .317, with a slugging % of .429. He went from .296 to .429 in less than a year. That is a nice improvement and showed that he was willing to work hard to play better. He ended the 2004 season with 20 doubles, 14 triples, and 5 home runs. He went form having 1 extra base hit to 39 in one season. To help his cause he was posting a good SO to BB ratio, having struck out 88 times and walked 85 times. And as usual to Bourn, he was tearing up the base path with 57 steals. All in all, Bourn ended up leading the SAL in triples, walks, steals and OBP.

In 2005 the Phillie's decided they saw enough good things in Bourn that he was sent straight to the Reading Phillie's skipping Clearwater all together. Playing against tougher competition Bourn continued to show promise but struggled at times. In 135 games he batted .268 with 80 runs, 44 RBI and 38 stolen bases, and was named to the Eastern League All Star team. In 2006, Bourn would do a lot of shuffling within the Phillie's system. He started the year off with Reading Phillie's then in March was sent to AAA with the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Phillie's. Then in September, Bourn got the call that he would be joining the the Phillie's in Philadelphia. He was not a major a factor, and was only able to muster up one hit in eight at bats.

So here we are, about mid-March with opening day rapidly approaching. Michael Bourn is having a very successful spring at this point. He is getting on base at a consistent basis. He's stealing bases and scoring runs every chance he gets while being coached up by base running guru Davel Lopes and starting shortstop Jimmy Rollins. When discussing Bourn's speed Rollins had this to say, "He's much faster than I'll ever be. Some guys are fast, and other guys fly. He flies. He's talented. There's no doubt about that." Thats high praise coming from the guy who leads the Phil's in stolen bases year in, and year out. Bourn has been getting plenty of chances to learn while on the job. When asked how he was taking the advice he's receiving from coach's and player's, Bourn responded with a smile, "I have a heavy load, but it's all about learning. No matter how much of a veteran you are, you've always got something to work on. I want to keep getting better." So this season Michael Bourn will be coming a long way from his 2003 identity of the speedster with no power to the 2007 identity of, starting outfielder who can get on base and score at will. When will this identity come to fruition, time will tell.

The Best Draft Picks in the Andy Reid Era.

I have to say after looking at the drafts from 99-06, it was harder to narrow the best draft picks then the worst draft picks. I had a hard time picking 5 bad picks. Could of I put Na Brown or some other 5th round draft pick on the worst list, sure. But making those draft picks into really good NFL players is not easy. The Eagles have been able to do that on a few occasions. The best picks include 3 players that are already solid Pro Bowl caliber players and 2 that are on their way to being very good NFL players and look like they have a great future with the franchise.

Top 5 Best Picks

5) Trent Cole, Cincinnati, DE, 5th Round(191st Overall): The fifth was hard to choose. You have guys like Sheldon Brown, Corey Simon, and Derrick Burgess. You could make a case for any of those guys to be in this spot, but I went with Trent Cole. It is still a little early to gauge how good Trent Cole will be, but as of right now, he is looking like he could be the Eagles future starting DE. Is there anyone who doesn't think he should be starting over Darren Howard. Cole had 5 sacks his rookie year and 8 sacks last year. He had 8 sacks basically splitting time with 3 guys. Not bad. Right now, I can say that for 191st pick in the draft, Cole is pretty good. The Eagles have locked up Cole up for pretty much the rest of his career barring a trade of some kind.



4) Lito Sheppard, Florida, DB, 1st Round(26th Overall): Remember 3 or 4 years ago when the Eagles decided to let Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent go at the same time. What the hell were they thinking? That they had Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown to replace them. Well, they were right. The Eagles DB's didn't flinch. Out of the two I'd have to go with Lito as the better. He's a solid DB. He made it to the Pro Bowl in 2004 and would have made his second trip to Hawaii had he not gotten injured in the Playoffs.



3) Shawn Andrews, Arkansas, G, 1st Round(16th Overall): The 2004 Draft. I remember it like it was yesterday. The Eagles had traded up to the 16th pick. They were finally were going do it. Draft a RB or LB in the first round. Sitting there were, DJ Williams and Steven Jackson. Which one do I like better? I like both so much, which would I like to be Eagle more. Then with the 16th pick, the Philadelphia Eagles select: Shawn Andrews, G, Arkansas. Shawn Andrews, who the hell? Well in hindsight, it turned out to be a good pick. Would Jackson or Williams be great for the Birds, sure, but we have a offensive lineman that could be one the best in the NFL in the near future. Made the All-Pro team this past season. His first season as a starter.Great Pick.


2) Donovan McNabb, Syracuse, 1st Round(2nd Overall): I really don't think I have to go into great detail on why McNabb was a great pick. Looking back, the 1999 draft had some stars in the rough, but also had a lot of land mines that the Eagles could have easily tripped over. Um, Ricky Williams, Akili Smith, and David Boston to name a few. Overall the Eagles made the right decision and I don't think there would be much argument that Donovan is in the top 3 players to come out of that draft class.


1) Brian Westbrook, Villanova, 3rd round(91st Overall): Going into the 2002 draft, if someone told you Brian Westbrook was going to be in the top ten best RB's in the league, you would have said they were crazy. Well, they weren't. The Eagles had high hopes for Westbrook and so far so good. He has had an injury here or there, but he is the key to the Eagles offense as it stands today. 91st overall, best pick Andy Reid has ever made. RB's taken before Westbrook: William Green, TJ Duckett, Clinton Portis, DeShaun Foster, Maurice Morris, and Ladell Betts. Clinton Portis is the only one worth mentioning in the same breath as Westbrook.

The Worst Draft Picks in the Andy Reid Era.

So what were the worst picks that Andy Reid has ever made since coming to the Eagles in 1999. He has made some interestingly bad choices and some very good choices over the past 7 seasons. For obvious reasons I'm not going to include last years draft picks in this list cause its just to early to tell how Bunkley and Justice will turn out. The Eagles best draft by far has to be the 2002 draft. In this draft they were able to get their 2 current starting corners Lito Sheppard & Sheldon Brown (probably in the top ten of CB duos in the league), Michael Lewis (who up til last year was a excellent safety for the Birds), Brian Westbrook (no need to say much there), and in the 7th round they picked up Raheem Brock out of Temple (who never did much for the Eagles, but was the starting DE for the Colts last season). Their worst draft could be 2005 were they had 11 picks and managed to only hit on maybe 3 players. Time will only tell for the 2005 draft picks. Some of those players are still developing, McCoy, Patterson, Considine. Yes I did cringe when I wrote McCoy as still developing, but in the Eagles eyes, he still is competing for a starting spot at LB. Now the 2000 draft was pretty bad but I really think the 2001 draft takes the crown for the worst. Freddie Mitchell, Quinton Caver, Derrick Burgess, Correll Buckhalter, AJ Feeley, and Tony Stewart. Now Burgess is a good find. But some how they managed to let him go and now hes a top ten DE. Buckhalter has been injured almost his whole career. AJ Feeley is an okay pick. Actually the biggest thing Feeley's done to help the Eagles is when he was traded to Miami for a 2nd round pick, which turned out to be Reggie Brown. That's not so bad. Its how they used their first two picks that gets me. First, the peoples champ himself Freddie Mitchell. I have one good thing to about FredEx. 4th and 26th. That's it. Oh yea, they could have picked Chad Johnson. That always stings a little. With their second round pick, Quinton Caver. Terrible. The Eagles have to be one of the worst teams when it comes to scouting LB's and WR's. They need to hand that job over to someone else. With that here's who I believe were the worst picks by the Eagles in the Reid era(99-05). Now I'm not really gonna harp on 3rd to 7th round picks cause those are some hard picks to choose, but mostly 1st and 2nd round picks that they missed on.

Top 5 Worst Picks



5) Barry Gardner, Northwestern, LB, 2nd round(35th Overall): I have a hard time putting BG here cause I actually met him and had the opportunity to play basketball with him a couple of times. Very nice guy, not the best linebacker. He had some good games here and there, but never was an impact on defense. Was always second fiddle to Trotter. Was not worth the 35th pick in the draft.










4) Matt McCoy, San Diego St., LB, 2nd round(63rd Overall): I know I said, give the 2005 draft picks time to develop, but if you watched any of the Colts game last season, I think you would agree, you've seen enough. Route 51 was consistently on his back the entire game. And really it wasn't just that game. He plays out of position and can't shed a block to save his life. I'm sorry, bust.











3) Quinton Caver, Arkansas, LB, 2nd Round(55th Overall): Played like 15 games for the Birds. Big, strong, fast, and had the football IQ of a 9 year old. Never made the adjustment coming out of college. Never made any kind of impact on defense. Lifetime special teams player. That's what you look for in your 2nd round draft pick. Yes some how I managed to find a picture of Caver.












2) Freddie Mitchell, UCLA, WR, 1st Round(25th Overall): Ah yes the peoples champ. Yup the nick name given to him by none other than, himself. His top skills, charisma and personality, about 8th & 9th on the list of skills needed to be a great football player. Remember the days he would catch a 3 yard pass on 3rd and 8, then slap that belt on. Man he sure loved himself. Now Freddie had some good hands. But his attitude, and lack of speed are what killed him in the end. He always thought he was going to be an elite WR. He could talk the best game in town, but rarely backed it up. One time, he managed to step up to the plate, and yes I'll say it again. 4th and 26th. It deserves to be in bold every time its written.



1) Jerome McDougle, Miami, DE, 1st Round(15th Overall): Where to start with McDougle. Well first things first, I really can't believe he is still on the Eagles at this point. I understand second chances, and the guy had some unfortunate things (getting shot right before training camp was about to be begin) happen to him. But enough is enough. This is a sport/business, and it is time to cut your losses with this guy. How long is upside going to carry you on the roster. With the Eagles, about 4 years. Every year its, McDougle is going to have a chance to start this year, next thing you know hes buried on the injury report or on the inactive list. Time for the permanent inactive list for Jerome.

There are some honorable mentions. Corey Simon, Todd Pinkston, Bobbie Williams, Matt Ware. Bobbie Williams? Exactly, a 2nd round pick wasted away. Simon and Pinkston could be debatable depending on who you talk to.

Best draft picks in the Andy Reid Era tomorrow.

Eagles never had chance to sign Stallworth.

I know its over and in the past, but now that the dust has settled. Howard Eskin said on his radio show today that the Eagles never had a chance to give a counter offer to any of the offers Stallworth recieved. He is reporting that Drew Rosenhaus never let the Eagles get a chance to make a offer to Donte Stallworth. According to Eskin, Rosenhaus contacted the Eagles the first week of free agency asking for $5M next season and a signing bonus in the area of $12M(according to Daily News). The Eagles told him to see what he could get else where, come back and they will see if they could match it. The Eagles were willing to pay, according to Eskin, at least the $3.6M and would have paid a max of $4M. Heres were it gets interesting. Again, this is coming from Eskin, who has contacts within the league and Eagles front office. After the Eagles turned down Rosenhaus' offer of $5M, Rosenhaus reported back to Stallworth that the Eagles had offered $2M, which was not true, and that was going to be it. Meanwhile the Eagles were expecting to here back from Rosenhaus after Stallworth visited with Miami but never got a call. I just found it really interesting and I'm wondering how Stallworth feels about that. Of course he is in a good situation right now in NE, for this season, but you trust your agent to be up front and honest with you. In the meantime you have Rosenhaus behind his back making decisions for him. I do believe the Eagles should have tryed harder this past week to reach out a little more. But for all we know, they did but Rosenhaus could have been c*ck blocking them the whole time.

76ers Draft "Very Early" Preview

Everyone knows by now that the upcoming NBA draft in June, could be one of most defining moments in 76ers history. They have three first round draft picks and have to make good choices for the future to start looking brighter. As of right now, the Sixers are playing very well. So well that they are playing themselves right out of the Greg Oden and Kevin Durant sweepstakes. I'm still up in the air with how I really feel about that. On one hand its great seeing Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller, and the rest of this young team playing so well. Playing like a real "team" for the first time, in a long time. On the other hand both Durant and Oden would look damn good in a Sixers uniform. So assuming that they do not get the First or Second pick, there are still a lot of very good players to help build around the already existing talent that they have. With that heres a quick look at some players that Sixers are thought to be looking at courtsey of NBAdraft.net. Click players name to see preview.



Brandon Wright, UNC, PF




Julian Wright, KAN, SF




Marcus Williams, ARI, PG




Joakim Noah, FLA, PF


Hasheem Thabeet, UCONN, C


Tyler Hansbrough, UNC, PF


Spencer Hawes,WASH., C

Eagles Draft Preview

Eagles needs this year are very broad. They need talent in many areas for immediate and future help. They need a Safety badly. Dawk is getting old quick and Considine is average at best. As usual Linebacker is a glaring concern. Trotter is to old to do all the things he does. If he has some good talent around him it will hide his weakness', and on the other hand its time to look for his replacement. I'm fine going into next season with Gaither but there is a gaping hole on the other side. And theres not a salesman in the world that can sell Chris Gocong as a starter. Then theres the need at RB, DE, DT, QB, amongst other postions. So with that, here is a list of players who I would love to see wearing green next season. I'm going to go with my top 5 and then finish the list with the rest of the players I like.

1) Laron Landry, LSU, S, 6-2, 205:

Yea its wishful thinking, but this guy is an animal. Hes big, fast, and has all the tools to be the next big safety in the NFL. This guy will be way gone by the time the Eagles are on the clock but seeing this guy next to Dawkins next season would put a smile on my face. To compliment his great abilities, Landry is a born leader. He was a 4 year starter at LSU, and has the ability to be the QB on defense. Someone who is vocal and will demand that his teammates work as hard as he does. Heres a quick look at Landry. You can find more on YouTube.


2) Brandon Meriweather, MIA, S, 6-0, 192:

Meriweather is an all around good safety with the upside to be as good as Ed Reed. Yes, Ed Reed. Meriweather is bar none the best cover safety in the draft. He is exactly what the Eagles need, and theres a very good chance he will be avalible to the Eagles. Even if he didn't start at Safety he has the skills to play the nickel. He has some character issues, stomping people in the Fla. International Brawl. Besides that incident, I'm fine with him. We are talking about Brian Dawkins replacement here. He can hit and cover. Theres no video avalible for Meriweather.

3) Brian Leonard, RUT, RB/FB, 6-1, 240:

Heres the thunder that the Eagles need in there offense. Leonard played RB and FB in college and excelled at both postions. He was a huge part of Rutgers success in the last couple of years. He could be the best pass catching RB in the draft. He would fit nicely in Andy Reid's west coast offense. You could line him and Westbrook in the backfield and shift either out or hand off to either. He also can double as a FB. he is a Hybrid running back who should be very high on the Eagles board and could be their second round pick.


4) Rufus Alexander, OKL, OLB, 6-1, 228:

Alexander is very good against the outside run and can shed blocks nicely. Some compare him to Lance Briggs from Chicago. He can hit, is very athletic, and is above average in coverage. He would be a nice fit in Dhani Jones' old spot.


5) Robert Meachem, TEN, WR, 6-3, 210:

Is an all round good wide out. Clocked a 4.32 in the 40 at the combine. Is a very smart player who can read coverage and adjust to such. He is made for the west coast offense, and would contribute from day one. Could be a big time NFL WR in 2 years.

Best of the Rest:

QB's

Kevin Kolb, Houston
Jordan Palmer, UTEP
Jared Zabransky, Boise St.

RB's

Antonio Pittman, Ohio St.
Chris Henry, Arizona
Tony Hunt, Penn. St.
Dwayne Wright, Fresno St.

WR's

David Bowe, LSU
David Ball, New Hampshire
Jason Hill, Washington St.
Steve Smith, USC
Anthony Gonzalez, Ohio St.

TE's

Greg Olsen, Miami

DB's

Chris Houston, Arkansas
Aaron Ross, Texas
Aaron Rouse, Virgina Tech.
Marcus McCauley, Fresno St.
Reggie Nelson, Flordia
Michael Griffin, Texas

LB's

Justin Durant, Hampton
David Harris, Michigan
H.B. Blades, Pitt.
Stewart Bradley, Nebraska

Joe Crede or Josh Fields could be in Phils future.

There are trade rumors flying around left and right with the Phillies. All pretty much are about CF Aaron Rowand and SP Jon Lieber. Right now Jon Lieber is doing a nice job of raising his stock for a trade that could come sooner than later. Coming out of Chicago are rumors that the White Sox want Aaron Rowand back on the team bad. But the Phils are not going to part with Rowand for nothing. In comes Lieber. The Phils have been trying to move him for weeks with no takers. Now that he is playing well, the White Sox are thinking a Rowand/Lieber could be the deal the Phils would be able to work with. In return the Phils would want at least Joe Crede or Josh Fields. I know who Joe Crede is, a very good third baseman, but I didn't really know much about Josh Fields. So I started to read some articles and scouting reports on Josh Fields. I really like what I've read about this guy. He is on the cusp of being a starter at 3rd base with the ability to play outfield if need be. Either Crede or Fields would be a great addition, but in different ways. On one hand you have Crede, who is a solid third baseman with 7 years experience in the league, coming off the best year of his career. On the other hand, you have a young player in Fields who could be the third baseman of the future. Fields was drafted by the White Sox in 2004 and has quickly made his way up to the majors. So right now the Phils should put some serious thought in to dealing Lieber/Rowand to the White Sox quick. The Sox are so in love with Rowand they might part with Fields or Crede. If they get Fields, he could play 3rd or take over right fielder after Shane Victorano gets shifted to centerfield. In the next 2 years he could be the missing link that would make the Phils infield the best in the league.

BREAKING NEWS: Burrell to start wearing a Blind Fold.

No this is not a joke. It should be, but its not. Phillies management have asked Pat Burrell to try wearing contact lenses. No, I'm not kidding. When asked how they were working out for him "They don't do anything for me." , "They make everything blurry. They're irritating, and it takes about three hours to get them in." Three hours to put contacts in?! I mean, was he trying to put them in with his feet. You know its bad when your Manager has to resort to the excuse that, "Maybe he just can't see the ball." "I've never had any problems seeing in my entire life." Hmm. I actually don't blame the team, the way Pat hacks away at the plate he kind of does look like a blind man trying to chop wood. Rumor has it next week they are going to have Pat Burrell try batting with a blind fold. Hey at this point its worth a shot.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/baseball/16874400.htm

Iguodala is leading the Sixers in the right direction.

With all the talk about the Sixers draft and the 7 game win streak there on, its time to give props where props are due. Andre Iguodala is playing like a star right now. How long it will last? Who knows, but its time enjoy it while its here. He had a great behind the back dunk that made #1 on Sportscenter's top plays. It was a hell of a play all around. Inguodala is on a tear averaging 25 pts, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists a game during this run the Sixers are on. The team itself looks like they are starting to gel a little bit, while the Nuggets fall apart, but that's another topic on its own. But right now, I just want to focus on how much Iguodala keeps stepping up and shows in his stats and in the win column. In November he averaged 18.9 PPG, 5 APG, and 5 RPG. Almost halfway through March he averaging 26 PPG, 6 APG, and 8 RPG. He has had a steady increase every month of the season. And at this point he is playing just as good as any superstar in the NBA. Here are his GAME LOGS for the season.

So right now Iguodala and the Sixers are putting up a huge fight right now. Not just against the teams they play night in and night out. But they have to deal with the fact that a good percentage of fans want them to fail to help in the draft. Right now their backs are against a wall and they are playing like it night in and night out.

Wanna see something that will make you sick?

Its Pat Burrell's contract. Pat is due to make $13M plus bonuses. Bonus? Don't worry he won't see a penny of this bonus. When I was reading this over, I found it comical that the Phillies put in a MVP bonus for Burrell. Man, Ed Wade sure did have high hopes for Pat the Bat. MVP BONUS: $100,000 for 1st place, $75,000 for 2nd, $50,000 for 3rd. How much do get for 1243628917th place. Oh...nothing...damn.


Pat Burrell, Left Field
6 years/$50M (2003-08)

$1.5M signing bonus ($1M up front, $0.25M 1/04, $0.25M 1/05)
03:$1M, 04:$4M, 05:$7M, 06:$9.5M, 07:$13M, 08:$14M
$0.1M for 1st place in MVP vote, $75,000 for 2nd, $50,000 for 3rd
full no-trade clause

avoided arbitration 1/03
5 years/$8M (1998-2002)
$3.15M signing bonus
98:$0.75M, 99:$0.75M, 00:$0.8M, 01:$1.275M, 02:$1.275M
drafted 1998 (1-1)
agent: Greg Genske (formerly Jeff Moorad)
ML service: 6.131

Shane Victorino is due to make $410,000 this year.

Eagles "Please Don't" Draft Preview

At this moment, alot of Eagles fans are not happy with how management is doing this off season. There biggest signing as of now is a kick return specialist. Me personally, I'm fine with what has happened so far. Jeff Garcia, thanks for the memories, but he is now getting paid almost starter money in Tampa. He was good in the Eagles system but bottom line, Donovan is the starter. Stallworth, bye bye. Thanks for those couple of good games here and there but the money you want, your not worth it. Donte has never had near 1,000 yards in a season, never had more than 9 td's in a season, and most importantly has never played a whole season. Does he stretch the field and make some big plays, yes, but for the money you can get better. Enter Kevin Curtis. I'm hoping they sign Curtis. He wants to be a starter big time. Curtis and Stallworth are pretty much the same minus the hamstring problems and "other" baggage Stallworth has. Now I do think they should be trying to do little more then they have. If they at least acted like they were trying to pursue some good free agents, but lost out cause another team over paid, fans would not be so pissed. But honestly this has been one of the weakest free agent classes in a long time. Teams are throwing money around at okay players. Look at the 49ers, Nate Clements, $80 million. Clements is good, but hes not that good. So with that the fans in this town are pissed, and they think the draft will be no different. Me, I have hope for this years draft. There is plenty of talent in areas the Eagles desperatly need help in. I'm going to run down a list of players I would love to see in green and players I hope to god they don't chose. So with that I'm gonna start with who I do not like and why.


Please Do not Draft the Following:

Troy Smith,OSU, QB, 6-0, 210
Do I really need to state the obivious. Troy is to small to be a QB in the NFL,hello Arena League. He's listed in most places at 6-0 but came in just shy at the combine. Some mock drafts have Troy Smith going to the Eagles in the 2nd round. If that happens all hope is lost.

Paul Posluszny, PSU, OLB, 6-1, 237
Paul Posluszny's stock is rising cause of his recent performance at the combine. He really was a beast during college. After getting injured during his junior season he had a nice comeback season but I'm just not buying that he is going to be that great of a player in the NFL. When I saw him do the drills at the combine and just reading about him, I just get the feeling hes going to be a bust. I have flashbacks of Mamula, Arrington, amongst others who had great combines, were killer players in college but just never produced in the NFL. Plus I really think some team will be dumb enough to take him in the the middle of the first round, see NY Giants.

Dwayne Jarrett, USC, 6-5, 215

see Mike Williams. Don't know who Mike Williams is, stop reading this.

Sidney Rice, SCU, 6-4, 210

see Ashley Lelie. Has bust written all over him.

Any player(Except Brandon Meriwether) from the following colleges:

Florda St., Miami University(Except Brandon Meriwether), and Flordia. I just have a problem with those programs when it comes to the Eagles drafting from them. I feel like everytime someone picks a Jonathan Vilma or a Ed Reed, the Eagles pick a Jerome McDougle or a Brodrick Bunkley. I know its early but as of right now Bunkley is a bust. Time will tell and I think he can grow but will he. The knock on him coming out of college was that he was not a hard worker until his senior season. Sounds right, try really hard have a great season, get drafted early, get paid, and thats that.

In the first three rounds, no DT's, no DE's, and no Offensive Linemen.

Do I need to go into specifics here. Every year they waste valuable picks on players with some upside.