With all of the talk about who the Philadelphia Eagles should take in the draft and who they’ll be able to get to help right away, I was thinking about some veteran guys who could help and come cheap.
As you may or may not have noticed from the headline, I’m talking about Kevin Mawae and Ted Ginn, Jr.
I know, I know….Ted Ginn, Jr.?! The bust in Miami? Yep, that one. I don’t want him as a WR, he clearly isn’t very good at that. But the guy can still return kicks and the Eagles could use a kick returner. Forget Quintin Demps. Forget Ellis Hobbs, because if he is really playing a more prominent role in the secondary, then I don’t want him risking injury on kick returns. As for Jeremy Maclin, puh-lease. He looked terrified out there and has no business returning kickoffs.
With the Dolphins trading for Brandon Marshall and having decent depth behind him, all the talk is that Ginn is on the trading block. And what is this guy really going to command in a trade? C’mon. A fifth- or sixth-round pick? I’d give up that in a heartbeat for a returner like Ginn. Heck, even throw him in the Wildcat, risk injury, go for it. The Eagles will probably just grab a versatile backup interior offensive lineman with no real upside that late in the draft anyway. So call the Dolphins and see what they want.
And how about Kevin Mawae? You don’t need to trade anything for the 39-year old center because he isn’t under contract with anyone. The latest on Mawae is that the Tennessee Titans have put contract talks with him on hold.
“We’ll figure something out,” Mawae said. “I’m not in a panic or anything like that.”
Ok, fine. Yes, he’s old, I get that. But, the Eagles don’t need him to step in and play for a full season. They just need him to play a little center early in the year until Jamaal Jackson can get back on the field. He clearly doesn’t have the physical skills that he used to, but I can’t imagine that he’d be worse than Nick Cole right now. I don’t even think Cole was awful, but I’d rather have him as the right guard next to Mawae (I’m fairly or unfairly assuming Stacy Andrews is a stiff that won’t get on the field). I think we all agree that the Cole/Jean-Gilles pairing on the right interior of the line was a disaster, right?
So there you go Eagles, two cheap solutions for you. Both will help Kevin Kolb because he needs protection and a little help with field position wouldn’t kill anyone either.
if the birds were going to contend for a superbowl mawae would be a good signing. however, see the team rebuilding. it would more sense to draft the center from fla. or groom a young player for the position. as far ginn jr. we already have guys like that in maclin and jackson. the bigger question to me is having two qbs on the roster if the team will look at a qb like tewbow, mccoy, or clausen. kolb only has a year on his contract and the team may need a backup plan if kolb stinks.
I agree about Mawae. We should be using in house talent or drafting a center. I hate hate hate rental players. I don’t even like them for filling holes mid season (see also #50 from last year). Here is why.
Everytime you grab an old guy- trotter, Mawea, ect you take away an opportunity to see what you have as far as depth. Why have a young guy on the practice squad at all? Yes it may cost you games, but your Andy Friggin (going Nowhere unless I mess on Jeffries lawn) Reid. Take a chance at getting another Akeem Jordan (who is that guy???) No fan knew anything about him until he got a chance to sub in. Draft well and trust your picks. If they don’t work out at least you know for sure who the heck to cut next off season.
I was agreeing with scoot about Mawae.
kolb will get killed with a rookie at center. Cole wasn’t bad at center because he was overmatched…he was bad at center because he wasn’t making the correct calls against the blitz. do you really think a rookie will fare any better?
I totally think we should go get Mawae, partly for the same reason RegalEagle and Scoot think we shouldn’t. No, we’re not a contender this year, but we have 1 year to see what Kolb can do. What if he ends up on IR early cuz Cole or a rook can’t make the right calls vs. the blitz?
If we pick up Mawae or not, we’ll still need to draft the heir apparent to JJ. Cole, much like Regal said, is more servicable as a Guard, either starting or depth.
Sign Mawae and let him start. Jackson starts the year on PUP until he’s ready, and you have Shipley on the roster as a developmental guy, and probably Reynolds on the practice squad. How many center do you want?
I am not a Ted Ginn,Jr fan for he has never been the same since he busted that ankle while returning a TD Kickoff in the BSC Bowl Game a few years back… He has great straight-ahead speed still,
but has problems running precise routes and worse, he has shaky hands and does not appear to take a hit too well. Any additions to the Eagles WR corps needs to be a big-strong WR like a Dez Briscoe from Kansas State (6’3″ 200), M Easley from U Conn (6’3″ 215lbs), M Williams from Syracuse at 6’2″ 205lbs, B White from Mich State at 6’2″ 200lbs, and real sleeper who the Eagles should grab in th e7th Round is a WR named T Hudgins from Elon University, he’s 6’3″ 230 lbs lbs and brokerJerry Rice’s record for most catched in Div II History.. I have seen this fella in person play against my local Universisty (appalalchian State) and he rem,inds me a lot like A Boldin/C Chambers type.. big,strong and great hands.. not going to burn by anyone but the Eagles have D-Jax/Maclin for that.. I think Terrell Hudgins is one of the real diamond’s in the rough in this draft ….
hey andy paulman dont like ginn so u cant sign em lmao
We should get Todd Tompkins, he once threw 2 TD’s in the same game…to himself.
I’d be shocked if the Eagles were interested in Ginn. I would like him as a return guy but it seems that most teams want to get value from their players. Meaning guys that play more than one role rather than having a guy take up a roster spot and he only has one job when you can have a deeper roster filled with versatile guys. Not saying I agree with that, but I think that’s how most teams would prefer it.
Sounds like another Lorenzo Booker fiasco to me…
There will be plenty of WR’s out on the market for a 4th-5th spot or even undrafted free-agents
Good points Scorpio about having players perform more than 1 role on a team (unless your a Pro-Bowl player) and one of the reasons that R Brown and K Curtis were traded and released since they really did nothing else to contribute to the team… 4th/5th WR must contribute on special teams
Pauly, that’s why we resigned Hands…I mean Hank Baskett
Ginn would be playing ST as well as 5th WR. WTF do you think a KR/PR is.
Jon, he doesn’t play on the coverage teams on special teams. Do you see Desean Jackson running down the field making tackles? When you have return men like Jackson who is also your best receiver, Hobbs who is your 2nd CB and Demps who plays on the coverage teams as well, that’s better than brining in a guy to take a roster spot who may only be marginally better than the aforementioned. The point is Ginn is going good as a return man but most teams don’t want a guy who’s just a return man.