Well…
Feb 29, 2008 Eagles Rumors
It’s official. He’s signed, and the official numbers are going to be close to $10 million per season. That leaves these questions:
- What to do with Lito and Sheldon? Does Lito get traded? Sheldon moved to safety?
- How do Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard react to the Eagles declaring their position needed improvement?
- Does Westbrook ask for more money?
Look, there’s a real reason to be excited here. Sheppard and Samuel on the corners would be formidable, and they are both big-play guys. If you declared finding a way to create more turnovers your #1 off-season priority, it would be difficult to argue this wasn’t the best move you could make.
In terms of the emotions involved, it would be nice if these guys would be professionals and realize they are all rich, but that might not happen. It would be nice if the real veterans — guys like Dawkins and Tra Thomas, could get on the horn with anyone who might feel their toes have been stepped on. We’ll see. This is Philly, remember.
Finally, kudos to GCobb’s and Blast Magazine’s Micah Warren for “breaking” this story. His source was legit.
Tags: Asante Samuel Signing
Samuel Update
Feb 29, 2008 Eagles Rumors
If this is true (and I’m still skeptical), how I feel about the situation will depend entirely on how much money he’s getting. If it’s the $30 million guaranteed he’s looking for, I won’t understand it.
That’s what I wrote this morning as rumors were swirling that the Eagles were going to sign him. Now the deal appears imminent, and we actually have some numbers from a MSM source (John Clayton) — 5 years, $47 million.
How much of that money is guaranteed remains to be seen, but this less than half of what he was rumored to be demanding only a week ago! Again, we’ll see what part of this contract is “for real”, but I’ve gone from puzzled and disappointed to being a bit excited. I’m quite curious to see what the plans are for the rest of the secondary and what the players think about those plans.
Tags: Asante Samuel, NFL Free Agency '08, Philadelphia Eagles
Cardinals Free Agency
Feb 29, 2008 Eagles Rumors
The Arizona Cardinals have entered the start of free agency with the shackles of the Larry Fitzgerald contract still tightly on them. According to Kent Somers, they are no closer to a deal than they were a week ago.
With every passing hour, it gets harder to retain Calvin Pace, who is visiting other teams. And it is harder to make any other improvements, either (like, say an Alan Faneca).
This has got to get resolved quickly or it will just be another frustrating and damaging episode for a franchise that has a long history of them.
The Cardinals front office must be frustrated, and surely the sharks are lurking. You know the Eagles have called.
Wedding Planning. Kill Me.
Feb 29, 2008 Me
Last weekend the future Mrs. BFH dragged me with her to Syracuse to perform a variety of tasks related to our upcoming wedding. Like any warm blooded male, I was not looking forward to that day, and it didn’t disappoint.
The first task was to taste-test at a couple of bakeries that could potentially do our wedding cake. We met her parents.
It was a complete disaster. The first bakery was a complete dump (the website looked nice though!). The guy was smoking cigarettes while he baked. This did not put her in the proper mood.
The second (and what turned out to be last) bakery we went to wouldn’t even let us test that day, despite telling us to come on Saturday. At that point the future Mrs. BFH was in as foul a mood as I could imagine. She and her mother just sat down and found a couple of photo books of wedding cakes to try and salvage something of this disaster. It was the only thing they could do. I just sort of stood there for 20 minutes, getting (more) frustrated.
Then, inexplicably, I blurted out “I want our wedding cake to be shaped like Donovan McNabb.”
Hilarity ensued. I couldn’t stop chuckling and smiling, she couldn’t stop yelling at me. Weddings make females (more) insane. Anyway, I guess I post this story because we’re going to give this whole thing another shot this weekend. Yippee.
Tags: Weddings
Asante Samuel… For Real?
Feb 29, 2008 Eagles Rumors
It’s all over the Eagles blogosphere. GCobb’s Micah Warren (original story in Blast Magazine) is reporting that Asante Samuel will sign with the Eagles. He is in for an official visit today. If this is true (and I’m still skeptical), how I feel about the situation will depend entirely on how much money he’s getting. If it’s the $30 million guaranteed he’s looking for, I won’t understand it.
If the Eagles do in fact announce the deal, they have three options as I see it with Lito:
- Try and find a good return in trade, even though they now have less leverage.
- Move Brown to safety and keep Sheppard/Samuel as the corners
- Keep all three around for the best nickel package in the NFL and injury insurance.
Keep in mind the Eagles safeties don’t always fit into the traditional FS/SS mold. They move around a lot, especially in passing situations, and with the versatility of Brown and Dawkins back there it could really be interesting. You have to be smart and tackle exceptionally well as a safety in Jim Johnson’s schemes, and Brown fits that mold perfectly (Sean Considine, see you never). We’ll see.
Secondly, the Cowboys managed to work out a deal with Flozell Adams. This is disappointing. I was looking forward to the team getting worse, and this goes a long to towards keeping that from happening. Dammit.
Tags: Asante Samuel, Dallas Cowboys, Flozell Adams, NFL Free Agency '08, Philadelphia Eagles
Free Agency Midnight Madness
Feb 28, 2008 Eagles Rumors
Since thinking about the San Francisco Giants gives me a migraine, I’m going to continue to focus on the Eagles even though they don’t play a meaningful game for another seven months. OK? OK.
We’ll finally get some action to supplant all the speculation of the last month as free agency begins tonight. Don’t be surprised if one or two players sign in the first couple of hours — somehow hashing out a deal with their new team in such a brief period (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
As to the Eagles, I doubt you’ll see much from them in the first couple of days. They like to let the landscape unfold before they start writing checks.
(P.S. — This morning Buster Olney declared the Giants as his candidate for worst team in the majors — despite having a “top 10 pitching staff”. That’s how awful this lineup is.)
Tags: NFL Free Agency '08, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco Giants
Cardinals vs. Fitzgerald Press War?
Feb 27, 2008 Eagles Rumors
When an organization and a player are negotiating behind closed doors it is often difficult to get a handle on how the negotiations are faring. Unless someone is a bonehead, both sides tend to downplay disagreements and give a positive spin on the situation.
But when things head south, you often see the battle for public opinion fought through proxies — the press corps.
That brings me to a new article written by Pete Prisco of CBS Sports. In it, he fawns over what he sees as the Cardinals new free-spending ways. He never criticizes them for getting in the Fitzgerald mess in the first place. Nor does he mention that Fitzgerald has all the leverage in this case, and that the union is often working behind the scenes pushing the player to get every penny.
What he does say, is this:
The Cardinals have offered Fitzgerald $25 million in guaranteed money, but he wants more than the $32.5 million in guarantees that Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson got last year. But that guaranteed money was paid on a six-year deal. Parker wants more on a four-year deal. Offering $25 million on four years is not being cheap. How about more like being unrealistic on the part of the player?
Is Fitzgerald worth that money? Of course he isn’t. But who is? In the current NFL climate, where journeymen free agents will get paid, Fitzgerald deserves a new deal — just not the outrageous numbers he’s seeking.
He is young and popular and the Cardinals want to keep him, but at the same time they would love to keep their team together — and maybe make it better.
The receiver’s greed won’t let that happen.
He’s not done, though. He goes on to talk about how Fitzgerald is selfishly keeping the team from improving and not allowing them to re-sign valuable players like Calvin Pace. Finally…
One thing’s for certain about these talks: The Cardinals aren’t being cheap. That’s the old Cardinals. The new Cardinals have the revenue to give out lucrative contracts, and in this case they are more than willing to do so.
What I’m trying to say here is that it’s difficult to imagine a more one-sided article. Maybe this is just another internet blowhard’s opinion piece, but it could also be a journalist whose opinion being helped along by someone in the Cardinals organization.
Hmm…
Feb 27, 2008 Eagles Rumors
While the Internet was exploding with talk of a Randy Moss to the Cowboys rumor, the Patriots pretty quietly released a big member of their defense — Roosevelt Colvin. Colvin is a playmaker who spent the end of the season on the injured list.
The Patriots were due to pay him over $7 million, which they clearly felt was too much. Although that may be true, keep in mind this is a team with an aging linebacker group — Colvin is younger than Vrabel, Bruschi, and Seau.
So the move is a curious one. It will give the Patriots $5 million extra in cap space — perhaps a step towards signing you know who.
Tags: New England Patriots
Neither Rain, Sleet nor Snow…
Feb 26, 2008 MLB
I’m about to jet from the office a bit early today. Despite the ongoing blizzard my fantasy baseball league is still holding our “Winter Meeting” tonight. This is basically an excuse to get drunk on a Tuesday at a fine local establishment.
Oh, we’ll talk about our rule proposals for the year and bash each other a bit, too. As I’ve said before, it’s almost March. And I LOVE March.
See you tomorrow.
Tags: Fantasy Baseball
Moss to Cowboys Rumor
Feb 26, 2008 Eagles Rumors
It’s everywhere this morning. Fox Sports, ESPN, Fanhouse, and every website related to the two teams.
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So maybe it’s time to chime in, albeit only briefly. As an Eagles fan, I welcome this. The Cowboys seem to be willing to let their Pro-Bowl Left Tackle walk. And that makes sense, because the NFC East is totally lacking pass rushing defensive ends.
Right.
Look, we all know Jerry Jones loves his face on the television. And having Moss and TO on the same team would certainly accomplish that. But it’s not winning them a Super Bowl.
Didn’t they just sign Patrick Crayton to a pretty decent deal? Does he become the best paid third wide receiver in the NFL? What about the fact that Marion Barber must be paid?
As much as I’d love it to happen, Jones would be crazy to do this.
Tags: Dallas Cowboys, Flozell Adams, Randy Moss
