Now that the franchise tag has been slapped on DeSean Jackson we can turn our attention back to the linebacker position.
Sheil Kapadia of Philly.com has the layout on possible Eagles free agent middle linebacker targets.
Stephen Tulloch has plenty of experience playing behind the wide-nine and hasn’t signed a new deal yet with the Lions. He considered a much better run stopper than he is a pass cover guy, so he would like be playing on first and second down. The fact that he’s been playing behind the wide-nine for quite a few years is a major plus.
The Redskins old man in the middle London Fletcher is unsigned and not sure he’ll be playing for the Skins again next season. I think he would be the ideal guy for the Birds. Think about the kind of character he has had down there in Washington. The guy has been consistently productive and playing at a Pro Bowl level, despite all the losing.
He would provide immediate playmaking ability and credibility for the Eagles defense. Fletcher would get guys lined up 
correctly and be ready for adjustments during the play and during games. The Pro Bowler’s experience and ability to recognize plays would improve the Birds defense quicker than it would if they added anybody else who is available.
This past year he won the Bart Starr Award, which is given to the NFL player, who best displays outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community.
Of course it depends on whether the Skins sign him or say good-bye.
If they’re able to draft Luke Kuechly, I think he would come in and quickly master the defensive system and the calls because he seems like a sharp young man. It seems that he’s already preparing like a pro. Still he would probably take some time to get used to the pro game, but I believe he has the ability to be a big time player.
tough call between a guy who performed well in the wide 9 system (Tulloch) or the better football player in Fletcher — I go Fletcher and hope it transfers to Juan’s D
Nein Free agents. Fletcher is 85 yrs old.
You gotta go with Tulloch why would they sign Fletcher but a few years ago let go dawkins. The Eagles don’t usually sign old players and there not gonna start now.That means there gonna draft a DT question is will it be the right one right now you gotta go Poe he has too much upside like Pierre Paul did.
the Eagles dont need to spend the $$$ on Tulloch or Fletcher….draft Lavonte David and you have a 3-down LB who can play defense against today’s pass happy offenses….
Come on! Why the pick of our boy Buck getting jacked up?
Like i said in a previous post, I wouldnt be surprised if the birds dont sign a LB or draft one..the past 2 drafts they have practically revamped the entire core and they have all young guys there.. why would they draft another young LB to start in the middle? And bringing in a vet doesnt seem likely either, seeing that so many may be franchised, and will be pricey.. Andy is stubborn and like to try and maximize the talent he has on the team.. he tends to do the opposite of what popular opinion says to do… so its a possibility that he eagles stand pat and not sign or even draft a LB..
Jon hart, wasn’t that the case at cornerback before last year? Andy has brought in a boatload of free agent linebackers in his tenure… I doubt that you are right.
As usual the draft all depends on how FA plays out. D’qwell Jackson just set the MLB market very high when the Browns over paid him at around $8M. He is a bona fide three down player. The Eagles will try to tell Lofton, Tulloch and Hawthorne they are not and therefore not getting $8M. This will turjn them off and they will not be willing to settle for the Eagles $5M offers. So they will end up turning to Dan Conner who is a back up that 1) Carolina will not try to keep, 2) will be given opportunity to start for a playoff contender and 3) be gald just to be making over $1M and starting. This is your guy folks so get used to the idea.
An interesting scenario is that Larry Grant is a restricted FA in SF and they would love to have D Jack to add to V Davis and Crabtree and that running attack. A trade involving D Jack for Grant would certainly benefit both teams but SF will have to throw in a second round pick. The Eagles are not giving them a top twenty WR for a good back up LB straight up. And with SF offering the 62nd pick, they may have to give up another second or third next year since 62 is barely a second round pick.
Personally as I have said, I would like the Eagles to address SAM in FA instead of MLB because they can get a better SAM than they will a MLB. For about the same money as a second rate MLB that they will end up with, they could get a top end SAM like Lawson or Spencer. Juan wants a SAM that can cover TEs. I understand Spencer despite being a piss poor pass rusher as a 34 OLB can cover TEs like a glove and he plays the run well. The Eagles will have to be willing to shell out a little bit (ironically to get a guy they should have drafted themsleves) because he and his agent are going to think that he is a 34 OLB and not a SAM. They need to be convinced by the market he is not a good 34 OLB and therefore not going to get that money they think is out there, but the Eagles will have to be willing to pay very high on the SAM scale to get them to settle with the idea. Then you have a LB that can do some blitzing too. Now Bellichick may think he can turn this guy into something in his desperation for pass rushers but I can’t see anybody else shelling out big for him. Lawson is a two down run stuffing beast and he would be my second choice.
Hope Desean JAckson noticed London Fletcher and what a true professional plays like – even if in the last year of a contract –
that said – depends on the direction – if you bring in Tulloch – then drafting another LB drops to 3rd round – focus on OLB (I like the dude from South Carolina but looks like a bunch of decent OLBs to compete) – If you bring in Fletcher – 1st or 2nd round and a guy that has to be able to play MLB – and still should draft another OLB to compete.
Jbird – some solid points about the SAM – if you pick up a SAM in FA – then need to draft top flight MLB that can handle setting and running the D – leads you to Kuelchy –
navy…yeah I broke it down yesterday and basically came to the conclusion that Kuechly gives you the most impact as a rookie. A DT or WR will not start here so it kind of wastes the pick for next year. The Eagles prefer rookies not to play too much. That way they can low ball them on their next contract by telling them they didn’t do anything their first year and not much in the second either. They can then point to only two productive years out of four and get a discount by extending them after the third year. That backfired with Shady because B West got hurt and he got major snaps right away. Same with Desean. If they drafted a DT, they will play Jenkins because he is really good and Patterson out of loyalty and sympathy for his brain condition. It will not matter if the rookie is better than Patterson because AR always goes with “his guys.” Like the way he wouldn’t play Michael Lewis over Bishop or Q Mikell over Considine. Same way he won’t bring in a good safety through the draft or FA because he is going to go with Jarrett if it kills him whether he can play or not because G dam it he was a second round pick and therefore HAS to be the guy.
navy… I have to disagree with you about the OLB. As I have stated, SAM is actually your biggest weakness. We can’t go third round on SAM. Has to be a second. Robinson or Wagner look like good ones to me. They will be gone by third round.
There is this misconception that you simply move Chaney out to SAM. Um, for those of you that weren’t watching, he pretty much sucked at SAM and was much better at MIKE. It starts with the fact that he does not want to play SAM and despite his lip service was obviously sulking about the switch. So you won’t get the effort at SAM to start with. And second, despite his speed he can’t cover for shit. I guess that’s part of the reason the fastest LB at the combine was a seventh round pick. BECAUSE HE CAN’T COVER!! So what does it matter if the speed doesn’t show up on the field in terms of execution??
Some other MLB’s to keep a track of…
As reported the NY Jets are willing to trade Bart Scott
The PAnthers may release Jon Beason for Salary Cap reasons and the fact that’s he’s been hurt 3 of the last 4 seasons.. same wil OLB Thomas Dovis
The Saints are reportedly considering release MLB J Vilma in a Salary Cap move for they have 4-5 big time Free-agents and need th Cap Space as no to lose them.. (Brees,COltson,Meachem,etc,etc)
I think we will see a lot more quality players over the next couple of weeks be released.. The Steelers started this week with WR Hines Ward, DE Aaron Smith, LB James Farrior and you will see other teams do the same
Redksins will porbably part with TE Cooley, CB D Hall, WR Gaffney and D Stallworth
The Giants probably with RB B Jacobs, DE O Umenyuri, OL D Diehl, OL S ANdrews
The Cowboys with RB F Jones, LB Brady JAmes, CB T Newmann
The Eagles Jamall Jackson, Winston Justice, M Fokou
I’ve said the fiery Fletcher would be a nice edition to a tackle sensitive group since I heard he would be a free agent this coming off season. He’s clearly his best as a 4-3 MLB, but his small size and age again demands some support in the way of some pretty beefy LB back-up which fundamentally leads away from drafting Kuechly and towards drafting Hightower or Upshaw.
jb – good stuff – not up to snuff to make pro/con recommendations on LBs coming out of college – we have had a problem at SAm since Emmons left – so agree M and S are the priorities – I just really like watching London Fletcher play –
lONDON fLETCHER IS THE gM’S CHOICE.
bUT i STILL DRAFT A YOUNG MLB FOR THE FUTURE
The entire LB core needs to be broomed. Their starters are special teamers, & their backups are practice squad, at best. They need to sign MLB Lofton, now that Atl has Franchised Grimes. If not Hawthorne would be my second choice. Although I like Fletcher, & think he still is good, he is small & old, & we need good LB’s for the long term, not one year band-aids. Tulloch is the popular choice because of the wide 9, but he wouldn’t be my ideal choice. If they go that route, they need to draft a stud DT with their #1 (Brockers, Poe, Still), then get David & Wagner with their 2 second rounders, or one of the 2 & Vinny Curry with their other.
Speaking of skins players. Laron Landry would be a nice third Safety that could probably help the D stop the run. Hopefully his high density platelet procedure resolved his Achilles issue and that would be even better.
Schiller– We certainly needed a new and improved group of CBs after that horrid group with Dimitri Patterson as our starter, i dont even think hes in the nfl anymore.. but the difference between the CBs and the LBs on the eagles is that the birds drafted a entirely new group of LBs in the past 2 drafts. They were revamped already, yes they struggled last yr but like i mentioned, they may reason that the group struggled early but improved late, and adding a veteran may stunt this young groups growth, (chaney, matthews, rolle).. I can see them not signing or drafting a LB at all.. will they? Maybe but again i would not be shocked if they didnt..
Butch, i can see the eagles maybe looking at 1 veteran safety to come in and complete that safety group. They really only have 1 quality safety and thats Nate Allen (I expect a huge year from him, he was aggressive coming down the stretch last year).. so i expect another one to be brought in to be the SS to play along side nate allen.. it could be Laron Landry, or it could be someone else in FA..
Sign CURTIS LOFTON (fits the Eagles profile – young, on the upswing, and fits our system). Draft a DT in round 1. My bet is we draft Vick’s replacement -probably TANNENHILL .
Lofton was one of the worst MLB’s in the NFL giving up TDs up the middle per Pro Football Focus…..he gave up 7 TDS up the gut last year and is overrated!
The Eagles will sign DT Jason Jones and draft Keuchly at #15.
To JH,
Dmitri Paterson was the back-up for Sheldon Brown as CB for the Browns last Season and will compete again as the back-up/nickel back for 2012…
Dmitri PAterson had 28 Tackles and 12 Passes-Defended last Season per Espn with no INT’s.
To put this in persepctive for you and others
2012 Stats for Eagles CB’s
Amso – 40 Tackles 3 INt’s and 5 Passes-Defended
Samuel – 34 Tackles 3 Int’s and 10 Passes-Defended
DCR – 28 Tackles 1 Sack, 0 Int’s and 6 Passes-Defended
The local media & many fans overhyping Eagles Players continues.. The Reality is that this Eagles Seconday is soft on tackling, poor in the Red-Zone and are not Ball Hawks…but keep drinking the Eagles Kool-Aid and this is a position of real strength on the Team..
***Report***
The Seahawks, Cowboys and Giants all have strong interest in acquiring Mario Williams.. This isnt good news for the Eagles, they do not want this guy in the NFC east. he can single handedly take over an entire game by causing havok on defense.. The Eagles would be wise to look into sign this guy.. they can easily create space for him.. there also not short of any money. I say sign the man.. Imagine if either the giants or cowboys got him? Ugh, Jason pierre paul, Tuck, Osi (if he comes back) and Super mario? Not a good look for the birds.. Then if the Cowboys get him, Darmarcus Ware on one side who commands a double each down, then Super mario on the other who too commands a double.. Not what the Eagles want… they need to put a bid in for the guy to prevent him from going to a division rival..