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Former Eagle Tra Thomas retires
Former Eagles’ offensive lineman Tra Thomas has retired according to an Associated Press report. Thomas was a stud tackle for the Eagles from 1998-2008, helping protect Donovan McNabb. Thomas made three Pro Bowls during that time.
Bellow is the complete AP report:
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Chargers say 35-year-old left offensive tackle Tra Thomas has retired, leaving the team woefully thin at a crucial position.
Thomas was signed as insurance when it became apparent that Marcus McNeill might stage a prolonged holdout. Thomas, a 12-year veteran, had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
General manager A.J. Smith didn’t return a call seeking comment Saturday.
Even if McNeill ended his holdout, Smith placed him on the roster exempt list on Friday, meaning he’ll be suspended for three games once he signs his contract tender.
McNeill is unhappy that he hasn’t been given a long-term deal. Instead, the Chargers tendered the restricted free agent a one-year deal for $3,168,000.
49ers are the perfect fit for Westbrook
The NFL can be a cruel place for running backs who are at, near or past the age of 30. At an age where most guys are still living out what’s left of their college juices, running backs are told they are too old, too slow and no longer relevant.
This was the reality for Brian Westbrook. Despite nearly a decade of hard work, production and at times excellence with the Philadelphia Eagles, Westbrook, 31, was sent packing after last season. His body worn down by injuries, Westbrook no longer had a place in the Eagles plans — and for a few months there was no place for him anywhere in the league.
Rumors were persistent for the better part of two months that the helpless St. Louis Rams were interested in bringing in the aging back. This was sad news to say the least. The Rams aren’t going anywhere anytime soon and Westbrook only has so much mileage left on his legs and shoulders. If he joined the Rams he would get a job and paycheck, but I doubt any real sense of enjoyment or accomplishment.
Then came news yesterday that Westbrook had signed – not with the Rams, but rather the San Francisco 49ers. He will compete for the backup job which was vacated when 23-year old running back Glen Coffee shockingly announced his retirement last week after just one NFL season. With a hole in their lineup the 49ers reached out and gave the veteran a chance – and it is a chance I believe he will thrive in.
Unlike the Rams, the 49ers figure very much to be in contention this season. They have one of the best coaches in the business and a tough S.O.B in Mike Singletary. Singletary demands that his team run the football and with Frank Gore leading the way that is the obvious direction to go. With the 49ers Westbrook should be more than serviceable. Gore will take the bulk of the carries, attention and glory. Westbrook will be fine with that.
Westbrook didn’t go to San Fran for glory or money – he making just $1.25 million this season – he went for a chance to prove that he can still produce, and do so for a winner.
In his eight seasons with the Eagles Westbrook rushed for 5,995 yards and 37 touchdowns and caught 426 passes for 3,790 yards and 29 TDs. Up until last season every time he touched the ball Eagles fans knew something big could happen. Many times it did. San Fran fans get to experience the same feeling every time Gore touches the ball. Now they can also experience that when he takes a break.
Westbrook won’t be playing in the Pro Bowl and almost certainly won’t sniff 1,000 yards rushing this season, but he doesn’t have to. Instead heshould be able to keep his body fresh, while helping the 49ers ground game get even better.
The Eagles made the right decision by moving on and almost nothing Westbrook will do can change that. The team is featuring youth and Westbrook no longer fit in their plans.
But with the 49ers, Westbrook has the perfect opportunity to show that even at 31, he can help a team win, and maybe even win big.
Are the Eagles suddenly booring?
Many Eagles fans have been excited about the ongoing training camp do to the fact that the team that will take the field on Sundays starting in September will be vastly different than the ones that have proceeded it for the better part of a decade. We don’t know if it will be better, but right now the word “different” also stands for “hope.”
Then there are those who are not so excited about training camp. Without McNabb shooting off his mouth or Sheldon Brown looking for a bigger check, this preseason has been more about actual football and less about drama. To me that’s a good thing, yet some people just need their taste of daily drama.
Philadalphia Inquirer writer John Gonzalez is one of those people. He misses the old Eagles already. Check out his take on the current group compared to that of years ago.
Here is an extended clip from Gonzalez’s piece, which can be read in entirety here.
The Eagles’ locker room was once stocked with oversized personalities willing to yammer in front of a television camera until the battery lost its charge. If Lito Sheppard wasn’t grumbling about his contract, there was always the possibility Sheldon Brown might pop off and say something of note. They’re gone now. So are Shawn Andrews and Terrell Owens, Freddie Mitchell and Hugh Douglas and others. And though it was time to move on as far as football goes, those of us who enjoy a solid sideshow will miss Donovan McNabb’s often ridiculous one-man Party of Five.
Compared with some of the guys who once served under Andy Reid, the current crop of Eagles is about as entertaining as Michael Strahan’s short-lived show on Fox. Who is going to hold the driveway workout/news conference? Who’s going to catch a locker room beat down courtesy of the team’s ambassador? Who’s going to get his Michael Phelps on or thank his hands for being so great or rock an air guitar at the worst possible moment?
Who’s going to give us something to talk/complain/laugh about?
Maybe most of what happened in the past was detrimental to the team, but it was also entertaining. If the Eagles have any shot of continuing the town’s best Off-Broadway production for a 12th-straight season under Reid, only one man can make it happen – and he’s not talking.
DeSean Jackson has gone into the sort of disciplined communication blackout usually reserved for covert military missions or the morning after a one-night stand. The once outspoken wide receiver hasn’t said much during training camp. On the day he arrived, Jackson said he had nothing to say (how very Meta of him). And on Monday, he told The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane that he’d “talk with y’all closer to the regular season.” It didn’t seem possible, but the preseason just became even more unbearable
So how do you feel. Is this preseason an exciting one for you because of the uncertainty surrounding the changes or is it just a little too bland for your taste?
Full Training Camp now underway
The veterans are all in. Eagles Training Camp has officially begun.
As the Birds usher in a new era with the likes of Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and Sheldon Brown no longer on the roster, this camp has a feel unlike any other in the last decade. For the first time there is a bit of uncertainty as to what to expect from this team. Will the youth movement result in the Eagles taking a step forward or back? Is Kevin Kolb the real deal at QB? What can we expect from the Eagle’s defense in Sean McDermott’s second season?
Over the next few weeks phillysportsblogs.com will examine those questions and many more.
But for today, here is a look at some highlights from last season as football fans get pumped up for their favorite time of year.
Marlin Jackson injured again
Fears felt by Eagles fans the day the team signed Marlin Jackson unfortunately seem justified as Jackson reportedly suffered a serious leg injury today at practice. Bellow is a blog by ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio:
Eagles starting free safety Marlin Jackson appeared to suffer a serious injury to his right leg at practice Tuesday.
Jackson, who has a history of knee injuries, had to be taken off the field in a cart. The Eagles are officially calling Jackson’s injury a right ankle injury.
Jackson, who left the Indianapolis Colts to sign with the Eagles in March, suffered season-ending knee injuries the past two seasons and had surgery on both knees.
He missed the second half of 2008 with a torn ACL in his right knee and tore the ACL in his left knee in 2009.
Not that we expected big things out of Jackson, but he would have provided quality depth in the secondary. This is why teams stay away from players who have a history of serious injuries. I looks like the Eagles may not get anything for the investment made in Jackson.
Writer labels Dawkins as overrated
Pete Prisco picked the wrong guy to pick on. In his article on cbssports.com, Prisco chooses the players he feels is the most overrated and underrated on each NFL team. What he wrote wasn’t so bad about any current Eagle, but rather an Eagle that is still No.1 in the hearts of Philadelphia fans.
Yes, Prisco choose Brian Dawkins as the most overrated player on the Denver Broncos. Of Dawkins he said: “He’s a good player, but he’s not nearly as good as his reputation. No way should he have been in the Pro Bowl.”
As if that wasn’t naïve enough cbssports has gone as far as to put up a poll on its main page about the most overrated players in the NFL and sure enough they chose Dawkins as one of its five choices, joining Brandon Jacobs, Matt Light, Anquan Boldin and John Abraham.
When I read that list I see a lot of winners. Overrated never even comes to mind.
As for what Prisco thought of the Eagles, he had Asante Samuels as the overrated player and Jason Avant as the underrated guy. You get no complaints from me there but by the time I got down to the Eagles picks it was far too late to salvage Prisco’s work of garbage.
So does anyone here think Dawkins has suddenly become an overrated player? He sure didn’t seem overrated when the Cowboys lit up the Dawkins-less Eagles secondary the last two games of the season.
And how about the Eagles picks? Did he get it right?
Joe Gibbs doesn’t understand
Remember when Joe Gibbs was retired from football and just stuck with his racing team?
Yea, those were the good days.
Gibbs threw in his two sense about the Eagles trading Donovan McNabb. Naturally the former Redskins coach can’t understand the move and think the Eagles are fools. Bellow is an except of his conversation with ESPN’s First Take courtesy of our friends at Profootballtalk.com:
“I didn’t quite understand that one,” Gibbs said when asked about the trade in an interview on ESPN First Take. “Because what you’re doing is you’re taking someone in the division and giving them a quarterback.”
Gibbs said that he has first-hand knowledge of McNabb’s abilities from coaching against him, and that the Eagles just gave the Redskins exactly the kind of quarterback they need.
“My problem with Donovan was when we played against them, he hurt us,” Gibbs said. “He’s a big man, he scrambles out of the pocket, he’s hard to get down, and when he gets out of the pocket, he makes big plays down the field.”
Added Gibbs of McNabb in a Redskins uniform, “I think Philly’s going to be holding their breath on this one.”
Well Gibbs, we here at PhillySportsBlogs think you’re old and should have been out of the game years ago. … Speaking of that, take it away Jim Carry.
What will Eagles do?
Now im no GM, nor do I play one on the internet, unless it’s fanatasy sports but I want a few things from my favortie sports team in all the land. I’m not objective when it comes to the draft I am a true blue Eagles fan and my wings sprout this time of year. Just to give you a little back round I was the guy who made 17 trade in 8 weeks in fantasy football. So I am a little insane. A few of the things on my “resonable” wish list are Eric Berry, Maurice Pouncey, Jason Pierre Paul, Earl Thomas, Derrick Morgan, and last but not least Rolando McClain. That’s just my first round. In all seriousness I would love to trade up and get Berry, but I wont get my hopes up because it will cost a lot to move up that far. I am fine with Earl Thomas though. Maurice Pouncey would be a great pick as well. In a draft when Olineman are a little scarce, maybe it’s the direction to go. Unfortunatly Rolando McClain probably wont be pick by the Birds. Seeing how they just traded for Ernie Sims. I am exstatic that the Birds got Sims for a 5th Round pick. I love Jason Pierre Paul. Everyone is saying he played at a small school, but he has a motor and speed like a CB. Also there was the guy the Eagles had play DE from a small school with a crazy motor and he was pretty good. Eh hem Hugh Douglass eh hem. Plus it’s not like South Florida doesn’t play good schools.
Let me just say Tyson Alualu I want you in Philly. This kid looks like a beast. Having watched a ton of Pac-10 games. You know late at night or just when I should have been doing work around the house and I wasn’t. I have seen him play a few times and thought “I wouldn’t want to have to block that guy”. This should be a defense heavy draft, but dont count out Andy’s need for Oline and his love of drafting players who where hurt or have questions but tremendous talent. Maybe Jermaine Gresham, or do they countinue the spin that Cornelius Ingram is just like another draft pick this year. Getting Ernie Sims is like a second first round pick this year. I still think another LB is necessary. As well as CB, S, and DE. Also the Birds need Oline help. We will see what happens tomorow night, and I have a strong feeling that Andy will trade up in the first round maybe twice early and late.
On a seperate note, I am sickened by McNabb’s politicing for TO. Mcnabb let this man and the fued destroy the team for a year. I loved TO and wanted McNabb to go and not him but for Mcnabb to come and make a plea for him angers me to no avail. Maybe they will get him and TO will cry for McNabb, that’s my teammate, that my Quaterback. I know I come across as a angry Philly fan, but this isn’t the norm. This is McNabb playing his cute little games to take shots at the Philadelphia sports nation. Lastly I cant wait to see how the Washington fans react to 3 and 8 when Donny throws it 5 yards and the punt team runs on. Or 3rd and 3 and he throws it at the feet of one the three running backs on Mike Shanahan’s revamped team.
Eagles 2010 schedule released
The NFL has released it’s complete schedule. Here is a glance at the Eagles schedule.
Sun. 12 Green Bay 4:15 PM* FOX
Sun. 19 @ Detroit 1 PM FOX
Sun. 26 @ Jacksonville 4:05 PM FOX
October
Sun. 3 Washington 4:15 PM* FOX
Sun. 10 @ San Francisco 8:20 PM* NBC
Sun. 17 Atlanta 1 PM FOX
Sun. 24 @ Tennessee 1 PM FOX
Sun. 31 Bye Week
November
Sun. 7 Indianapolis 4:15 PM* CBS
Mon. 15 @ Washington 8:30 PM* ESPN
Sun. 21 New York Giants 8:20 PM*+ NBC
Sun. 28 @ Chicago 1 PM+ FOX
December
Thurs. 2 Houston 8:20 PM* NFL Network
Sun. 12 @ Dallas 8:20 PM*+ NBC
Sun. 19 @ NY Giants 8:20 PM*+ NBC
Sun. 26 Minnesota 1 PM+ FOX
January
Sun. 2 Dallas 1 PM+ FOX
The first thing that jumps out as the the Eagles have just six games scheduled for 1 p.m. They also are set for six prime time games, meaning the nation will get to know this time quite well. A couple of those Sunday Night games could change as NBC has a flex schedule over the final seven weeks of the season.
After a tough game against Green Bay in the opener the Eagle shave some winable games, a good sign for a team with a young quarterback in Kevin Kolb getting the nod,
What do you think of the schedule.
Eagles trade for LB Ernie Sims
I remember when Erie Sims was drafted in 2006 thinking that the Detroit Lions had just gotten a big steal. At Florida State Sims was a beast and a tackling machine.
Things didn’t work out quite that well in Detroit where Sims has been up and down while playing on a horrific defense. Sims certainly wasn’t the problem, but he wasn’t part of the solution either.
Maybe a change of scenery can help him reach the potential that so many saw in him in his college career.
The Eagles acquired Sims in a three team deal that saw a fifth-round pick go to Denver Denver, who sent tight end Tony Scheffler to the Detroit Lions.
Sims is a run stopper, plain and simple as we was never called on in blitzing situations. His rookie year he had 124 tackles, with just one-half sack and one pass deflection.
Eagles linebackers have struggled in the passing game for years and I’m not sure this move address that. It does help in the running game, where the core has been most consistent.
All of that considered, this was a good move for Philadelphia as it only gave up a fifth round pick for a talented football player.
This was needed move for the Eagles. Both quality and depth has been needed at the position as the team released Will Witherspoon and traded Chris Gocong. Plus there is little chance Jeremiah Trotter will asked back.
Early indications are that Sims was brought in to start. Looking at the current roster it certainly appears that he will be a favorite.
The Eagles still have a ton of picks and certainly will address the LB position some point in the draft.
I still remember seeing Sims tear up the ACC during his three years with the Seminals. After all, it was only a few years ago
Maybe he can have the same type of impact in the NFC East.
Looking at the best possible scenario
Why the Washington Redskins?
Why trade a Pro Bowl quarterback to a team that plays in the same division?
These types of things just don’t happen.
Actually it has. And Eagles fans can only hope that the result repeats itself.
On April 21, 2002 A Prowl Bowl quarterback was shipped out of his longtime home to a struggling team in the same division. That quarterback was Drew Bledsoe. The reason he was replaced was, of course, Tom Brady.
Brady had become the city’s Golden Boy overnight as he led the team to a Super Bowl after replacing the injured Bledsoe in Week 3 of that season. The Patriots had two valuable quarterbacks and one of them had to go.
People think of this move as a no-brainer because of what Brady has done over the last decade, but it was by no means an easy decision.
In 2001 the Patriots awarded Bledsoe the richest contract in NFL history – 10 years $103 million. In nine seasons with the Patriots, Bledsoe rewrote the team’s record books, setting the franchise’s career passing records with 4,518 attempts, 2,544 completions and 29,657 yards while starting 123 of 124 games. He also had 166 touchdowns. He was the reasons fans showed up to games.
But the team had to make a decision – and there was no way Brady was the one who was going to go.
While happy about the title their team had just won, Patriots fans were apprehensive about sending a quarterback with Bledsoe’s resume to a divisional rival. When the Bills whipped them by 30 points in the season opener, and Bledsoe became an MVP candidate at the seasons midway point, fans really started to wonder if their management had made a terrible mistake.
It didn’t take long for Patriots fans to settle down. Brady led New England to two more Super Bowl wins, while Bledsoe never got the Bills to the playoffs and later fizzled in his final years with the Cowboys. The decision was the right one on every level.
Eagles fans can only hope for similar results.
The stories are not exactly the same. Brady won a title prompting the need to make a move, while Kolb simply won a pair of games. But much of the story is similar. For a decade Bledsoe was the Patriots; For a decade McNabb was the Eagles. Most people believed that while getting older Bledsoe still had plenty left in the tank; People feel the way about McNabb. The thought of Patriots fans seeing Bledsoe in a Bills uniform twice a year was hard to swallow; McNabb wearing a Redskins jersey makes people around here sick.
All fans can do right now is hope that management made the right decision here.
And hope that somehow, someway, the Kolb-McNabb decision turns out like the Brady-Bledsoe choice did.
That’s not too much to ask is it?
Did Reid get best value for McNabb?
Andy Reid has never been one to put on an entertaining press conference – ever.
So it should come to no surprise that Reid gave few details in his post -Donovan McNabb trade press conference. One thing that jumped out Sunday night was his refusal to answer a question which is sure to be discussed in Philly from now until the two teams meet next season.
The question: Was the offer from the Redskins (Second round pick this year, No. 37, and a third or fourth next year) the best on the table?
Reid sidestepped the question twice, answering that he did what was best for the Philadelphia and that he felt that Washington was a great fit for McNabb.
Later on CSN he repeated that he wanted to do what is best for Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles.
So was there a better offer from a team like the Raiders that wouldn’t have made McNabb happy? Did Reid turn down a better offer from Buffalo because McNabb didn’t want to be there? Did Reid’s personal relationship with McNabb have an impact on his business decision?
In a perfect world both McNabb and the Eagles could get got the best possible deal out of this. This isn’t a perfect world, though.
This is a question that will be debated often. It’s one of about 100 questions that have popped up since the deal went down.
For the first time since 1999 the Eagles will have a leader under center not wearing No. 5
The post-McNabb era has officially begun.
Donovan McNabb traded to Redskins
This time it’s not an April’s Fools joke.
According to espn.com, the Eagles have reached a deal to trade quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Redskins. That’s right, he’s staying in the NFC East.
Bellow is an excerpt:
The Philadelphia Eagles have reached agreement on a blockbuster intra-division trade that will send perennial Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins according to multiple sources close to the situation.
The two sides still must finalize language, but McNabb is now headed to Washington. Sources said the deal involved the Redskins’ second-round pick in the 2010 draft and either a third- or fourth-round pick next year, depending on several factors.
The move means the Redskins now have a new starting quarterback and the Eagles have a new one as well in Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick is now in line as the team’s backup.
Read the whole story here:
The timing of the news is surreal as we are just hours away from the Phillies opening up their 2010 season. Boy is the city is going to be buzzing. Philly Sports Blogs will have much more reaction to McNabb going to a divisional rival once the story is officaly confirmed.
For now?
Wow. Just wow.
Raiders closing in on McNabb
It looks like the Donovan McNabb era in Philadelphia will truly be coming to an end.
ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the Raiders have emerged as the front runner for the quarterback and have all of the ingredients for the trade in place.
You can read the entire article here.
After reading this report there is only one thought in mind: Only the Raiders.
Oakland appears willing to deal away its second round pick (No. 39 overall) for McNabb even if he does not sign a contract extension before the deal is completed. This means they would be giving away a top pick for a one-year rental. Does anyone believe the Raiders will contend next year even with McNabb? Of course not. They are several years away from contention, but with Al Davis running the ship this news is not all that surprising.
If these reports do turn out to be true I would have to laud the Eagles for making the move. Knowing that the team does not intend on bringing McNabb back after next year, the ability to get a high second round pick in a stocked draft this season is a good bargain.
The only losers in this deal would be Oakland.
And that’s something Raiders fans are quite used to now.
A weekend free of McNabb trade rumors
Good news fans, you can watch the NCAA Tournament with ease today not having to worry if you’re going to miss anything in the Donovan McNabb rumor train.
At least that’s what our friends over at Profootballtalk.com are thinking.
The rate of Donovan McNabb news should slow down for a few days. We promise.
That’s because Eagles leadership is heading out on vacation this weekend. Andy Reid is in Utah and team president Joe Banner is headed to Florida.
The pace of rumors was set to ease up anyway. We’ve still got nearly a month to go before the draft, and there is little reason to think anything will happen until we get closer to April 22.
So for two day we should be free of any Raiders, Bills or Vikings news. But does anyone really belive nothing will pop up this weekend? I don’t.
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