A week has gone by since the Philadelphia Eagles officially announced there would be a new starting quarterback in 2010.  Some fans were elated and some were disgusted. 
While I enjoyed Donovan McNabb’s time here and would’ve loved for him to have won a Super Bowl in Philly, it’s time to move on.
It’s a little over a week until the 75th Annual NFL Draft.  All 32 teams are finalizing their strategies in order to land as many players as possible that they desire.
Not every player a team desires is a draft eligible individual.  One team’s failure could be another’s treasure.  Would linebacker Chris Gocong have held so much value if Cleveland (Tom Heckert in particular) didn’t believe he could flourish in a 3-4 defense?  Probably not.
The Eagles have proven, especially these last two off seasons that no player’s job is safe.  It doesn’t matter how beloved you are to the fans or how many Pro Bowl trips you earned.  If the front office believes the team can be competitive without you, Adios!!
In addition to their eleven current draft picks, the Eagles still have a few players on the roster that via trade could a).Give them additional draft picks or b). Help them move up in the draft.
As I said earlier, no player’s job is safe.  If the right offer is put on the table, Kevin Kolb, Trent Cole or even DeSean Jackson could be gone tomorrow.
Having said that, these are five players that could very well be traded during the draft next week. Also included are situations that would have to fall in place for the trade to make sense.
- Michael Vick-QB: Everyone knows of Vick’s desire to be a starting QB.  I doubt a team will give up a 2nd round pick for him, but if Jim Clausen doesn’t land in Buffalo, things will get interesting.
- Stacy Andrews-G/T: Why would the Eagles strongly recommend that Andrews restructure his contract in an uncapped year?  Especially when everyone knew his ACL wasn’t 100%??  I believe it was to make him more marketable for a trade.  If the Eagles draft Mike Iupati, keep your eyes open.
- Victor Abiamiri-DE: Abiamiri’s injuries make this highly unlikely.  But, if a team is willing to accept him as part of a package to move up he’s as good as gone.
- Trevor Laws-DT: Laws has been a huge disappointment for the Eagles.  He was a healthy scratch towards the end of 2009, being replaced on the depth chart by un-drafted rookie Antonio Dixon.  That being said, a team like Indianapolis might think they could get more productivity out of him.
- Omar Gaither-LB: Gaither’s trade value is extremely low right now.  He’s coming back from a season ending injury. Before that he seemed to have trouble holding onto his spot as a starting linebacker. Some team out there (Tampa Bay??) may offer a late round pick for him.
Of course, there are other questions heading into next week.  Are the Eagles truly satisfied with Ellis Hobbs as a starting corner? Would the Eagles be willing to part ways with one of their starting defensive tackles (Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley) if they found a better interior pass rusher in 2010? Is it true that Asante Samuel isn’t buying into defensive coordinator Sean McDermott’s scheme?  If so, what will they do with him?
We shall receive our answers in twelve days.
I hope Vick is gone. I will not be surprised if A Sam is traded for a pick or as a package to move up.
All of this points out what a terrible talent evaluator Reid is. These players, if anyone wants them, will go for far less then what we paid to get them. Factor in that only three of our 1st round draft picks over the last eleven years are still on the team (most aren’t even in the league) and it get’s worse.
Without Donovan to blame, Reid will be exposed soon enough
More Reid bums on the no desire list of blown/ marginal draft choices.
Great points Haran..
A team in need of Defensive Lineman is the Carolina Panthers who lost Peppers,Kameateau,D Lewis and Hollis Thomas abnd really could us a DT or 2 , They don’t have a lot of draft picks or much to offer in return right now except for some fure draft picks..
I also think the Eagles give this year to Stacey Andrews to prove his worth, they have already spent big $$$ on him and will give him this season to see if he can bounce back and play (But I do think they will draft and groom an offensive lineman for the future )
Abriami & Gaither I don’t believe have much vaule as trade material but could help as a throw in to close a deal due to their past injuries
my hand is on my tool – think – you just said that a man that has taken a team to the playoffs 8 out of 11 years is a terrible talent evaluator. Every major media industry ranks the eagles in the top drafting teams over the last 5 years (Lindy’s for example gives the eagles an A). You mention 3 first rd picks out of 11 – did you even bother yourself to see what the league average is over the last 11 years? I don’t think anyone will think Donovan, Corey Simon, Lito Sheppard and Shawn Andrews were a lack of talent evaluation – McDougle – the dude got carjacked and shot (I just accounted for 8 assuming you were using McLin Bunkley and Patterson) – didn’t we go a couple years without picking in the first rd – so should we include Cobb/Abrami (both with team) and DJax/Laws (both still with team) and yes, I realize Kolb is an unknown and Abrami and Laws need to pick it up – but after what we saw from Justice – should we write anyone off before they get to camp? – so – do we include the 2nd rdrs as #1 picks – no – OK, so of the 9 first rd picks – 3 still with team, the 4 mentions (McNabb, Andrews, Simon and Sheppard all went to pro bowls) that’s 7 of 9 – McDougle was just a hard luck story but clearly not in the ‘can’t evaluate talent’ colomn – that leaves Mitchell – and I am sure if you look at every team over the last 11 years, they will all have a Freddie Mitchell, a Jamarcus Russel, a Ryan Leaf and on and on.
Big E – please – I implore you, do 30 seconds of research – go to a book store while your wife is shopping and read some of the draft magazines – pull you head out of you rear – EVERY TEAM HAS MARGINAL DRAFT PICKS – it is an art, not a science – and this team does very well.
Navy, you are obviously correct, reasoned and insightful as always. But isn’t it more fun to cast untruth, blame and look to punish the Eagles? You keep letting facts get in the way of the WIP driven Eagle hate. McDougal is an example, people scream that he is a bust, but he didn’t even get injured, he was WOUNDED, like the Birds could have predicted he was going to get shot.
McDougal had injury problems before he was hurt, but even so … I don’t hold his selection against Reid because common wisdom at the time among draft gurus was that he was a great selection and likely to become a stud in the NFL. Every team picks first round busts (bust-out rate in the NFL 1st round is like 50%), so killing Reid for that is silly.
But where the Eagles DO need to improve in their drafting is in those mid rounds like the 3rd and 4th where you’re supposed to get the bread and butter guys for your team. They do NOT have a very good track record. Check out this parade of stiffs:
2009: No third or fourth round selections
2008: Bryan Smith (3rd), Mike McGlynn (4th), Quintin Demps (4th), Jack Ikegwuonu (4th).
2007: Stewart Bradley (3rd), Tony Hunt (3rd)
2006: Chris Gocong (3rd), Max Jean-Gilles (4th), Jason Avant (4th)
2005: Ryan Moats (3rd), Sean Considine (4th), Todd Herremans (4th)
2004: Matt Ware (3rd), J.R. Reed (4th), Trey Darilek (4th)
2003: Billy McMullen (3rd), Jamal Green (4th)
2002: Brian Westbrook (3rd), Scott Peters (4th)
2001: Derrick Burgess (3rd), Correll Buckhalter (4th)
2000: Gari Scott (4th)
Even by the most generous of estimates that’s a hit rate of about 8 decent players in 22 picks. And only one legitmate star (Westbrook) among the bunch.
That should say “McDougal had injury problems before he was SHOT” not before he was hurt. How did we upgrade the boards and yet lose the “Reply”, “Edit”, and “Delete” features??
Navy enjoyer of seaman; I know love Reid and anyone who dares to question his evalutation or coaching skills is instantly and idiot in your book. You really should go to philadelphiaeagles.com there are plenty of sheep like yourself there and maybe your blood pressure won’t get so elavated.
Many of his playoff appearences were with a team that he inheritted with most of the defensive players (impactful ones anyway) were from Ray Rhodes. Not to mention when our division was seriously in a rebuilding mode. Reid has far more misses then other playoff teams and is certainly behind the Cowboys within our own division. These ARE the facts (By the way, I don’t listen to WIP) and while you love to point out the 8 out of 11 playoff appearances here’s a fact 5 of them were before 2005. I’ll give you 2007 as a decent run (again Reids refusal to address linebacker cost us against the Saints) but it was a miracle that we made it last year and this year we got smoked. Without J.J. this team would be lucky to have gotten half those playoff appearances
As Reid assumes more and more control, this team will continue it’s drift backwards. If he wants all the control, then he should recieve all the critisizm.
Trade all of them on your list. They all stink anyway. What are we going to get for them anyway 5th and 6th round picks?
I have a little tool, you made a funny! You probably chuckled to yourself as you wrote it. Feel free to question anything you like, just have some sort of opinion based in fact – I didn’t include Peters in that list of 1st rd picks – but out of 10 1st rdrs, 5 have gome to the pro bowl – you comment (and it was a stupid comment) was that Ried is a bad evaluator of talent because only 3 of 11 1st rdrs were on the team – its an idiotic comment – so I don’t think your an idiot for being critical of Reid, I think your an idiot becuase you posted a stupid comment without even taking 30 seconds to evaluate the commet to see if was coorect. And yes, I understand mistakes, the whol eonly 9 1st rd picks cause they traded out, I get that. And as I look at your comments I gues Ried came here with Lito, Mike Lewis and Sheldon Brown – OK, you want to give credit to Ray RHodes and JJ – fine. No Ried doesn’t have more misses (I assume you are still talking about the draft), and things change every year so if we haven’t played how do you know we are behind? Should we just mail it in – send a sorry – your better we can’t make it? You must be Reggio reborn… Please learn the difference between a fact (a fact is the Eagles were 11-5 last year, a fact is they have been to the playoffs 8 of the last 11 years) an OPINION, the cowboys are ahead, Ried has more misses, it was a miracle we made it last year (though we actually had a better record then the home team if you are discussing the cardinals and the Chargers that year made it at 8-8). Again, research and learn difference between fact and opinion
Navy, I’m not seeing the five Pro Bowlers from our first round picks that you are. Who am I missing?
I’ve got Andrews (who flaked OUT … you can’t really blame Reid for this pick going bad), Lito (who just got old and left, but certainly contributed to the success of this team while he was here), Corey Simon (another lazy-ass you can’t blame Reid for … he was a great pick and a great player for a number of years while with the Eagles), and McNabb. Did Bunkley or someone else go that I’m not thinking of?
Although, Reid has only made 9 first round selections not 10, so the percentage is about the same anyway. Their first round picks have been unlucky to some degree, but not bad from a talent evaluation standpoint.
Sheldon
Sheldon wasn’t a first but he was better than a-lot of other guys taken in the first.
IAN – first off, thank you – your post, where you form an opinion that the eagles need to do better in the 3rd and fourth rds, with actual data – boy – if we could have hit on another one of those picks, especially on D, we would be in better shape going into this draft no doubt (maybe have a better LB or Safety position though I always felt bad for JR Ried – I liked him both as a returner and a safety –
Anyway – to answer your question – Ried has actually drafted 9 times in the first rd, out of those, Lito, Simon, Andrews and McNabb went to the Pro Bowl – the 10th was a question about trading last years other#1 to Buffalo for Jason Peters, who then went to the pro bowl – so 4/9 or 5/10. Yes, I know post season comments say Peters shouldn’t have gone – but he did. And I was responding to comments about Ried’s talent evaluations in the first rd.
I like your comments about the 3rd and 4rth rd.
Navy; Originally I was going to respond with a very terse and sarcastic comment. I have reconsidered as I have no interest in getting into a pissing contest with you. Clearly you are or have served in the Navy and since I respect that above even football I will instead thank you for your service.
That being said, I have a fulltime job and doing hours of researchto see how we stack up (although I think Paulman did a great job in his post of showing how often we do miss) is not an option. All I can do is see how we stack up at the moment, and the future. At this moment it doesn’t look too good and it doesn’t look like that will be changing anytime soon especially with Reid at the helm.
A difference of opinion is what this site is about and why I come to it. If this was only Reids third year here it would be different, but we have all seen the ending to this movie and the director keeps telling us he won’t change the script, some of us see a problem with this.
So name calling is not necessarry and the fact is that only 3 1st rounders are still on this team, that seems low to me and even if it’s the middle of the pact I hope that’s not what we aspire to that’s all
I think a big difference this years Draft is the inclusion on recently hired Draft Consultant P Savage.
I do believe that Savage’s eye for talent and his expertise of following the Southeastern Football Conference (SEC) which many believe the best the strongest NCAA Football Conference year in and year out and is going to pay some dividends. I would not be suprised to see the 1/2 of the 10-11 players chosen buy the Eagles, that would have went to SEC Schools which is not a bad thing, so expect players from Alabama,LSU,Florida,Georgia,Tennessee,Auburn,Arkansas,Vanderbilt,Mississippi Schools,South Carolina and Kentucky
I also think that if draft is dominated by many of Savages choices, that this is another sign on AR
having less and less influence in Front Office matters and will be concentrating more on the Coaching,staffing and game planning areas of running the team and the “new” FO team of Roseman,Savage,etc,etc will focus more on the Roster management,contracts,drafting and scouting,free-agency,etc,etc (which again is probably not a bad thing moving forward)
Navy Eagle has been at sea too long. Maybe a shark bit off his tool, thus the frustration with Eagles REALITY AS OPPOSED TO FAMTASY
dude – seriously – then don’t post. If you don’t have the time, or the knowledge to post stuff, then don’t throw out nonsense – everyone has a full time job – and while yes I was in the Navy – the Navy stands for the college – you know Army-Navy – I played for the Navy side. You can respond any way you like, I’m a big boy. The point is it doesn’t take hours of research – next time your wife or girlfriend drag you into a store – go read Lindy’s Draft preview while she shops for whatever the heck it is chicks shop for that takes longer then 30 seconds. They will give you a real quick snap shot of everything you need. You can dislike AR – go for it. He’s a big boy too – but you are now the 2nd or 3rd person who claims no time to do ‘research’ yet seems to not like being told that what he is writing is not based in fact but in that persons perception. And I think Paulman rocks – he is my hero on this site – I don’t always agree with him, but you know he knows a lot about the game, the team and he has his opinions. Re-read your first paragraph in your response to me – had that paragraph not been in there – we would have probably had a decent discussion – and my first comment to you was because I think you title, name -whatever – is stupid and that of a 3 year old. I would LOVe to have Spadaro’s job. Who do I have to kill? That guy has thebest gig in the world and people don’t like him becuase he is an employee of the eagles and focuses on the positive side of things – hell, I focus on the positive side of things! But fair deal – no more name calling
BIG E – wassup. No – too old to go to sea, that’s a young man’s game – once they closed the base in the Phillipines it was all down hill – question for you – your top 4 draft picks (you can go with positions if you don’t know names)
Overall, I find the Eagles drafting under AR to be sub-standard. I think there have been just a few too many “reach” selections, a few too many “hard luck” picks (makes you wonder if they’re doing all their due dilligence properly), and overall just not enough home grown talent remaining on the roster over a reasonable short period of time.
It’s amazing … there is not a single, solitary player on this team who was drafted by the Eagles prior to 2005. The longest tenured player who was drafted by the Eagles is Mike Patterson.
No one mentioned the fact that the reason why most of our players such as Buck, Burgess, Lito, Sheldon, Etc are gone is because of money… Who makes majority of the Financial Decisions in the front office? Not Andy, Wasn’t Donovan, It was Joe Banner. You cant expect all of the picks to pan out but for the most part the birds have done a reasonable job.. 1st round picks don’t determine whether u will win super bowls, Overall talent does and coaching ability.. Some of the best coaches and asst around the league have come from this staff.. I am not a fan of the birds FO, but I dont think they have done a bad job.. When it comes down to it, Play calling is the reason why we havent won the big game… By the way, I joined the site because I believe I know my football and I am tired of reading useless comments by haters that have no football knowledge.. I bleed green and as for the mature minded guys on here, u know who u are, I got your back…..
None of the guys you mentioned are likely to have trade value as they all have limited playing time under their belts. If Vick was going to go he would likely have already got traded.
Asante Samuel is the most likely candidate to get walking papers from the Birds through trade:
Is a Bad Tackler? (Check)
Is NOT a team guy? (Check…regularly blows off voluntary OTAs)
Is “Old”? (Check…The dude’s 29 and the Eagles will feel used if they have issue him a cane.)
Has bad mouthed the team? (Check)
While I wouldn’t have agreed with the idea of trading Samuel a couple of weeks ago, I mean look at the rest of the team as of today. Since this is definitely a rebuilding year it makes no sense to keep Samuel.
I think our biggest need in this years draft has gone from a tie between DE/S to CB, and if we don’t do something drastic and soon we’re gonna get killed by passing teams.
O line-safety-linebacker-defensive line
Big E – I agree. nice to know people understand it starts and ends with the line – Steve Young was a terrible QB – until he got traded to the 49ers.
WellWellWell says:
“I think our biggest need in this years draft has gone from a tie between DE/S to CB, and if we don‚Äôt do something drastic and soon we‚Äôre gonna get killed by passing teams.”
I agree with that and it sort of irks me, because that’s only the case since Andy traded away one of our starting corners for a bag of Fritos.
Ian – agreed. And that’s where we really need to blame Sheldon (in my book). That guy put his ego and need for excess millions ahead of the team (not like he’s the first, I know), but I hold it against him. Same with Lito. Same with (I’ll get killed for this, but I don’t care), Dawkins.
Schiller I guess Asante Samuels came to the Eagles for a pay cut and just to moan about tackling. If the eagles can release players because they are due big sining bonuses or comp, then the players can play the same game. You didn’t bad mouth Asante when he came here. Your double minded boy!
Jason Peters has a $13.7M contract and he is returning from a disappointing season but still earned his 3rd consecutive pro bowl which could make him attractive. I don’t think any team wants to pay him $13.7M.
Asante Samuel has a $9M contract and Reid recently criticized his 2009 season. His contract is a big nut that other teams probably wouldn’t want to pay.
Michael Vick has a $3.75M partially guaranteed contract and has been available for trade since the day after he arrived. Reid will be dangling Vick until somebody offers him anything reasonable. Reid will continue running 15-20 wildcat plays per game until the trade deadline.
Ellis Hobbs signed a one-year tender for $2.621M, paying him as a starter despite being a backup, and has logged enough starts to make him tradeable.
Juqua Parker has a $2.6M contract and has logged plenty of starts and enough sacks to make him tradeable as a respectable veteran.
Nick Cole signed a one-year tender for $1.759M, paying him as a starter despite being a backup, and has logged enough starts to make him tradeable.
Omar Gaither signed a one-year tender for $1.176M, paying him as a starter despite being a backup, and has logged enough starts to make him tradeable.
Good points all around P.E.F.
I think the problem with trading any of these players (outside of Vick & Sammuel)
is that the Eagles are a little thin at the positions these players play …
If a Peters and or Cole are traded, who plays LT,or C (since J Jackson probably won’t be ready until October or so) and waht happens if Stacey Andrews is not the answer at RG.. Herremans can probably slide to LT in a pinch, but then who would replace him… too many unknowns along the O/Line as of right now
Hobbs is a versatile player who excels in the return game and is a decent nickle back (he’s not really a starter material though, but will most likely start for the short-term this season until they get someone drafted and groomed for 2011 season.. his big issues is his health from neck injury whuich would probably scare aware many potential suitors (especially at the salary level)
Parker and Gaither are solid NFL vets who again packaged with some draft picks to maybe move up
could be a potential trade material…
Lots of team would be interested in N Cole for his versatility to play both C/G positions
Ha big e. You got me! You caught me being an eagles fan. You exposed the fact that I want good players on my favorite team. Scandalous!
Well, if nothing changes it looks like we’ll be playing Defense with our Offense again and just try and out-score teams this year. Who cares if we give up 28 points, as long as we score 30 we’re good! A W is a W after all!
This opnion brought to you by sarcasm, it’s fun for the whole family!
You mean do exactly what for the most part, both teams that played in the super bowl did last year – I mean if the #25 and #18 ranked Ds can take a team to the super bowl – you may not be that sarcastic –
Navy, I see your point..it’s just not Eagles football is all. The Colts and Saints air it out all over the place. We Eagles faithful want to beat opponents to a pulp and win 10-3.
10-3.. We have the Phillies to do that….