The Philadelphia Eagles Offseason - Part 3 - Randy Moss to join Cowboys ?, Asante Samuels to ink deal with the Saints, Kearse to be cut.

Well this Friday the free agency signing period will begin, and the Eagles should be big players. The rumor mill has been going strong the last couple of weeks. The talk about Lito Sheppard being traded, Jevon Kearse being cut (which will become reality soon), and the Eagles being very interested in Randy Moss & Asante Samuel. The latest report on Moss is from AOLsports. They are reporting he will signing a long term deal with the Patriots. But FoxSports is reporting the opposite. They are reporting that talks with Pats have stalled and a deal with the Cowboys could happen on Friday. Chris Mortenson reported two weeks ago that the Eagles would be willing to throw Moss a 4 year, $40M deeal if he hits the market. If the Eagles let Moss go to Cowboys without trying to get him, that will be infurating. The news on Asante Samuel is that the frontrunners to land his service are the Saints, Bucs, and the Jets. Rumors coming from the NFL scouting combine say that the Saints and Samuels have a deal ready. It is said that the deal will be worth $10M per year if not $11M. Now the Eagles have been negiotions with Jevon Kearse for him to take a pay cut this season. When asked about Kearse, his agent Drew Roshendouche had this to say: “Yeah, we expect Jevon to be released,” Rosenhaus said. “I expect Jevon to be a free agent. We tried to work out a contract restructure with the Eagles. We thought he had a wonderful career there, they’re a great organization. We weren’t able to do it.” You thought he would have a wonderful career here? So did we but that thought ended about two years ago. In his four years here, Kearse has had a grand total of 22 sacks, and 72 tackles. Kearse signed a 8yr/$62.6M deal in 2004. If that isn't the biggest waste of money I've ever seen. So far they have paid him roughly $30M of that money. Including a $12M signing bonus. Kearse has base salary of $6.5M this year, but his cap value is $8.5M. Second highest next to Donovan McNabb. What a turd. The best was when he showed up to mini-camp last June weighing 230lbs. He's 6-4. He's the same size as Dwayne Wade. Thats what you want at the DE position. The Eagles and their puppet Howard Eskin are always saying that championships are won on the offensive and defensive lines, which I agree with. But do you really trust Andy Reid and the front office to make good choices a that position. I will give them props for their work at the DT position but they have had a rough time at the DE position. Trent Cole, great job, other then that they have signed and drafted crap at the DE position. And there is no help in sight. The free agency market for DE's is very thin. They should really give Victor Abiami a chance, they really don't have any other choice. I would think about taking a shot the Bengals Justin Smith but he probalaly will get over paid elsewhere. And if they draft a DE, which they will do early, you won't see him play for another 2 years. The whole system is screwed up. With all this in mind, lets take a look at the defensive side of the ball, and see where the Eagles might go.

Cornerbacks - So Lito Sheppard is not happy with his current contract, whats new. The Eagles have been doing this for 9 years. Lock up young players early with contracts that pay with a huge signing bonus, mediocre salary in the middle, then heavy at the end knowing that the player will never see the last two years of that deal, unless they are in the top 5 at their position. It's the players fault for signing those things. So with that the Eagles are weak at the CB position. They have two solid starters, and that is it. Hanson and James are both free agents and only Hanson is expected to be back. The Eagles need a solid nickel back to challenge both Sheldon and Lito for their position's. As I said earlier the Eagles are thought to be in the mix for Asante Samuel but that may not happen.

Targets: There are three guys I think they will be targeting. Drayton Florence, Domonique Foxworth, and newly released Fernando Bryant. I really think will end up with one if not two of these guys. They most likely will take a CB in either round 1 or 2 of this years draft.

Safeties - Its no secret the the Eagles safeties are weak. I love Brian Dawkins as pretty much everyone else does but he is on the downside of his career. He was hurt all through training camp and played poorly at times last season. Then you have Sean Considine. Played okay at best, but then got injured. Quintin Mikell is a back-up at best. They need a playmakers at both positions.

Targets: There is a young guy who could be availible on Friday that I like a lot. Atari Bigby. This guy is a hard hitting, aggressive strong safety who has nose for finding the football. Good in coverage. This is the guy besides the obivious Moss, Samuel, that I want the most. Things will have to the Eagles way in the next two days to get this guy. He is ERFA. If he is not resigned by the Packers by Friday he will hit the market as a UFA. Now if they can't get him they will get Gibril Wilson from the Giants. Word is that the Eagles are very high on getting Wilson. I do like Wilson also, but would rather go Bigby. Wilson has alot if the same qualities as Bigby but will most likely get a bigger contract. So if they get one of those guys to start right away that puts more depth at the FS spot. Consindine was drafted to play that position and Mikell can play well there. They have to draft a FS for the future this year though.

Linebackers - This is a position where they finally have some depth. Spikes, Gaither, and Gocong make a decent starting core. With the emergence of Stewart Bradley at the end of last season they look to be solid here. No immediate needs in free agency or the draft.

Defensive Tackle - Same as the LB position. The Eagles have some depth here, could use another guy though. Bunkley and Patterson make up one of the top ten DT tandems in the league. Most likely there won't be a major signing at this position. Our old friend Sam Rayburn could be a possibility.

Defensive End - Huge need for a DE. Trent Cole is as solid as they come but after that its a crap shoot. Jevon "the Turd" Kearse will be gone. There is a chance that Darren Howard could be released but that seems unlikely. His contract is big but they need the depth. The thought now is that he will be a Nickel package DT. They need address the DE position during free agency and in the draft. They most likely will use a 1st or 2nd round pick on a DE. But again, I'm not confident they can pick the right guys. They are just bad at picking this position.

Targets: The top DE out there is Justin Smith. They will have to over pay to get this guy if they want him. The Titans Travis LaBoy or Antwan Odom could be options. Both are young guys that have shown flashes that they could be good DE's in the NFL. Other then that, I honestly don't know.

As it stands right now the Eagles are in good shape going into free agency, money wise. They are 8th in cap space being $31.3M under the cap. Below are the top ten teams with the most cap space going into this seasons free agency period.

1) Jacksonville Jaguars, $46.27M
2) Tennessee Titans, $42.73M
3) Buffalo Bills, $39.61M
4) Minnesota Vikings, $35.49M

5) New Orleans Saints, $35.25M
6) Tampa Bay Buccaneers, $33.41M

7) San Francisco 49ers, $3.274M
8) Philadelphia Eagles, $31.34
9) Cincinnati Bengals, $31.21

10) Oakland Raiders, $30.59