Free Agency (the "this guy signed here" thread)

Simms would've been good for that.

I don't know. It's hard to say - they really like the guys they have. I think Simms would be better, but it should be interesting to see McCown actually throw a pass with us, too. It's a shame, because it's an excellent time to get a young backup. It still is, really.

 

that front office has taken a public beating for that move. but their track record of letting players go is pretty darn good when you take into account what those players have done since leaving the Eagles. but more importantly, Dawkins meant much more to that team than just his ability to play on Sunday. im gonna miss that guy.

 

If Dawkins was getting $20+ million from the Broncos then sure, it would be a wise move to let him walk. But they wanted him to play for a pittance. Given how much salary cap room they have, the Eagles could have easily done something similar and had a guy play out his career with them instead of being known as a cheap franchise with no loyalty.

 

A better veteran backup would not be a bad thing either. Leftwich would not hurt my feelings if he came here.

edit: I know Simms is a veteran I just meant that we would not be ill served by acquiring an older QB to backup and push Jake.

 

good call

 

The Eagles made him a "fair" offer considering his age and what his play can be reasonable projected to be for the next two years, but didn't recognize what he meant to the fans and the locker room in that offer. The offers weren't that far apart, and (per Joe Banner, a total weasal and cockroach, and possibly a flat out liar) the Eagles were negotiable as far as guaranteed years, but the crux of why Dawk didn't take yet another "home town" discount was that he felt disrespected. The bottom line is a guy that is that important to the psyche of the team/fans attraction to the team, you best any offer any team gives him, a la Ray Lewis and Baltimore, especially in a year where they won't even be able to spend all the money under the cap if they wanted to. You don't draw a line and say, that is all this guy is worth, and we won't pay any more. Banner gave an hour long interview on WIP (Philly's WFNZ), and said that the Eagles didn't get a chance to counteroffer. Immediately following it was released by the Dawkins camp that this wasn't the case. More even then losing the heart of the team, a playmaker, and most Eagles fans and Philadelphians favorite athlete, they are adding to their rep of a coldhearted team that only looks at business decisions. That isn't going to help them attract Free Agents and moreso negotiate contracts with other players currently on the roster. Whispers are that Sheldon Brown, the de facto leader on the defense, is not happy, and a holdout this year is entirely possible.

 

That's not remotely close to true unless Dawkins experiences a massive and sudden decline in performance. He played 2008 at a legitimate Pro Bowl level, but he was offered the type of contract you'd extend to a borderline starter or possibly even a top backup.

Denver's offer is for $9 million over two years at minimum, and potentially worth quite a bit more than that. Philadelphia's offer was about $6 million over two years at maximum. That's a huge difference.

 

Shawn Springs is a Patriot

 

Damn. That's a good signing for those fuckers.

 

Where are you getting the 6 from? I keep hearing 7. I could just be trying to buy the offer as somewhat reasonable to justify the idiotic move, but the Eagles offered him what appears to be middle of the pack money for starting safeties according to this... http://content.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/salaries/playersbyposition.aspx?pos=140&order=Salary+desc and I agree, it was an insult considering how important he was to the franchise and locker room. You keep a guy like that around in a flexible cap situation no matter what, a la Ray Lewis in Baltimore. Dawk played the first 1/2 of the year at an avg to below avg level, till Jim Johnson moved him up to closer to line and he played incredibly, at an all-pro level, defensive player of the month in Nov. If you schemed to his strengths, another pro-bowl season certainly wouldn't have been out of the question He's lost a bit in coverage, but was still so good against the run he could be hidden in defensive schemes because of the raised level of play in coverage of Quinton Mikell. What a reasonable offer should've been who knows, but the bottom line is they F ed up big time.