Eagles Blog

A few years back, James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley were a dynamic set of 3-4 OLBs. Harrison is now in Cincy and the Steelers might think about cutting Woodley. Steelers beat writer Ed Bouchette thinks that would be the prudent move.

If #Steelers want to save $ AND cap space, it makes more sense to release Woodley than to keep him. Here’s why

Woodley is due an $8 million salary in 2014, when he will count $13,590,000 on their salary cap, according to overthecap.com. He is signed through the 2016 season with salaries (and cap hits) of $8.5 million ($14.09M) in 2015 and $9 million ($11.99M) in 2016.

So, let’s say they would cut Woodley today. They would save all the salaries they owe him, including the $8 million this year. According to the league’s CBA rules, however, all of the pro-rated bonus money that has been spread out over the next three seasons would count this year.

If they cut Woodley today, he would count $14.17 million on their salary cap this year, nearly a wash for what he will count — $13.59 million — if you keep him. But by cutting him now, he is wiped off their books for 2015 and 2016 and for a team that many say is in salary-cap hell, that’s a significant cap savings — a total of $25.5 million (his salaries) in both real money and cap savings over three seasons with none of it counting after this one.

I was surprised to read that Woodley could be cut. That got me to check out his numbers. Woodley is a declining player. He has only totaled 9 sacks in the last 2 seasons. That’s not good for a 3-4 OLB that plays for the Steelers. Woodley is going to be 30 this year so that works against him as well.

If he does get cut, don’t assume the Eagles will have interest.

Chip Kelly is off to a terrific start as an NFL coach. He went 10-6 and won the NFC East in his first year. So where does Kelly rank among NFL head coaches?

Patrick Daugherty of Rotoworld put together his rankings of the head coaches. Kelly came in 6th.

6. Chip Kelly

Career Record: 10-6 (.625)

With The Eagles Since: 2013

 Kelly has spent exactly one of his 50 years on this earth roaming an NFL sideline. As recently as 2006, he was theNew Hampshire Wildcats’ offensive coordinator. He earned his first head-coaching job at the age of 46. So how could he possibly be so high on this list? Because he has something nearly all his peers lack: Clarity of vision. From what kind of offense he runs to what kind of music he plays at practice, Kelly knows exactly what he wants to do as a football coach. Others might think they know, but others spend nearly as much time scapegoating assistants as they do winning football games. And unlike say, Greg Schiano, Kelly is not only a man with a plan, but a man who treats his players like men. He’s not a dictator, but a leader. Maybe Kelly will wind up the flash in the pan many are still certain he is. But if he does, it will be on his terms, doing things no one else has done before. He’s literally changing the way the game is played. How many coaches, in any era, can say that? In a copycat league, Kelly is himself. It’s a philosophy more should abide by.

Interestingly, coach #7 is Andy Reid. Let’s check out the Top 10.

1. Bill Belichick
2. Pete Carroll
3. Jim Harbaugh
4. Sean Payton
5. John Harbaugh
6. Chip Kelly
7. Andy Reid
8. Bruce Arians
9. Tom Coughlin
10.Mike McCarthy

Interesting choices. I don’t know how you rank Arians ahead of Coughlin and McCarthy. The write-up on Coughlin is well done and interesting.

I wrote about the fall of Joe Banner on Iggles Blitz.

Today a couple of good pieces came out on Banner and the Browns. Mary Kay Cabot wrote an excellent article showing just how dysfunctional things were in Cleveland. The situation ended with owner Jimmy Haslam firing Banner.

The owner and the CEO didn’t see eye-to-eye over a number of candidates, and Haslam came to feel that Banner was the reason some didn’t want to interview for — or accept — his coaching job.

You know things are bad when coaches don’t want to interview because of someone’s presence in the front office.

Tim McManus wrote about Banner from the Eagles perspective.

A couple things strike me here. One is the importance of having the proper power structure up top, and how critical a strong head coach is to the stability of that structure. Recent Eagles history proves that point pretty well. When Andy Reid was in firm command, Banner’s influence could only extend so far. He had plenty of say — even when it came to personnel — but Reid had firm enough footing to maintain authority over the football side of the operation. When Reid found himself on shakier ground, the dynamic shifted. Banner and Howie Roseman fought for the power that was suddenly up for grabs. Now three men were pulling in different directions. Many of the moves during this time ran counter to what we had come to expect under a Reid-led team. He had lost control.

Great stuff from McManus.

Ray Rhodes was not a perfect coach, but he had quite a track record of surrounding himself with smart people. Did you know that Ray has a coaching tree

Jon Gruden – Super Bowl winner
Sean Payton – Super Bowl winner
John Harbaugh – Super Bowl winner
Bill Callahan – got to the Super Bowl
David Shaw – multiple BCS bowls

Several of Rhodes positional assistants became coordinators.

Mike Trgovac
Juan Castillo
Bill Musgrave

That’s an impressive track record for a guy who was the HC in Philly for 4 years.

Rhodes was the head coach in Green Bay for one year, 1999. He hired Jeff Jagodinski to be his TEs coach. Jagodzinski later became the coach at Boston College. He was recently a coordinator for the Bucs.

Ray Farmer was just named the new GM of the Cleveland Browns. Since Rhodes drafted him in 1996, Farmer becomes the first GM of the Ray Rhodes tree.

It must be cool for Rhodes to sit back and see his former players and coaches impacting the NFL the way that they have.

There are a record 98 underclassmen in the upcoming draft. 85 of them will go to the Scouting Combine, another record. Will the Eagles be interested?

History says yes.

PE.com hack Dan Klausner wrote up a good piece on the subject.

With 85 underclassmen invited to the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine, it should be noted that the Eagles have selected eight such players in their 49 total picks over the last five years – tight end Zach Ertz and defensive linemen Joe Kruger (2013); defensive end Fletcher Cox, guard Brandon Washington and running back Bryce Brown (2012); running back Dion Lewis (2011); wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and running back LeSean McCoy (2009). As you can see, the results for the Eagles when selecting underclassmen have been overwhelmingly positive.

Expect the Eagles to pick a Junior or two this May.

Chase Stuart did an interesting study for Football Perspective. He decided to find the tallest receiving corps in NFL history. The 2013 Bears came in 3rd all time. That’s impressive.

Unless you look at Harold Carmichael.

The former Eagles star receiver was on the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th highest receiving corps of all time. Being 6-8 has its advantages.

Carmichael had a terrific career. Maybe one day he’ll get into the Hall of Fame.

Former Eagles Derek Landri and Mike Kafka are on the move.

Kafka just signed with the Bucs. He’ll be competing for a backup spot. Landri was just cut by the Bucs.

Ugh.

Not a good sign for Landri. He is a high-motor, 1-gap DT and that should be ideal for Lovie Smith’s defense. Landri will turn 31 in September and might be facing the end of his career. I’d love to see him get one more chance. Landri can be an effective role player in the right system. He was terrific for the Eagles in 2011, but hasn’t been much of a factor in the last 2 years.

If you want to reflect on the good ol’ days with Landri, here is a fun post from the past.

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Every year Jimmy Bama and I see Hank Fraley in Mobile, AL at the Senior Bowl. He’s been down there hunting for a job. Looks like he finally got one.

Hank Fraley hired as Vikings assistan t line coach: Former NFL lineman hired http://t.co/zJsRI8aDaC @footballpost #NFL

— Aaron Wilson (@RavensInsider) February 10, 2014

Congrats, Hank.

Where do the Eagles stand?

Eagles Have 10th Most Salary Cap Space Heading Into 2014 NFL Offseason http://t.co/ghfTTnL3O7

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) February 4, 2014

A look at this table from Over The Cap shows the Eagles have an estimated $20,085,737 cap space heading into this NFL offseason. That number is slightly higher at EaglesCap.com, but still in the same ball park at $20,528,365. Either way, this number is the 10th highest in the NFL. The Eagles are one of four 2013 playoff teams with the most cap space. This number can (and likely will) change before NFL free agency starts on March 11, 2014.

That number will go up as the Eagles cut players and/or get them to take pay-cuts. It will go down if they are able to re-sign players. But that is a good amount of money to work with. The Eagles can be as aggressive as they want.

Everyone is looking forward to free agency and the draft, hoping to see the Eagles make some important additions. But where does the roster rank as of right now?

Evan Silva of Rotoworld ranked all 32 teams as-is and placed the Eagles 11th. Here are his main concern areas.

11. Philadelphia Eagles

S: Defense, defense, defense. The Eagles could use talent injections at all three levels, with safety as the most glaring deficiency. Strong safety Nate Allen‘s rookie deal is up, and free safety Pat Chung is fully expected to be released. Fifth-round pick Earl Wolff failed to distinguish himself in his first NFL season. Philadelphia may very well open next season with two new safety starters.

DT: Fletcher Cox and Cedric Thornton are a formidable duo on the ends, but first-year DC Billy Davis was forced to rely too heavily on undersized rookie Bennie Logan at nose tackle in 2013. Logan can shoot gaps, but gets pushed around against the run. The Eagles turned to Logan because $11 million pickup Isaac Sopoaga flopped on the nose. Sopoaga was traded to New England in October.

WR: With Riley Cooper and Jeremy Maclin‘s contracts expiring, overpaid slot man Jason Avant is left as Philly’s current No. 2 receiver behind DeSean Jackson. Maclin has hinted he’d be willing to accept less money to stay with the Eagles, which would smoothly shore up this hole. Cooper also seems unlikely to break the bank. It’s not inconceivable that Philadelphia could bring back both.

CB: Offseason free agent addition Cary Williams predictably finished toward the latter end of Pro Football Focus’ 2013 cornerback ratings, while bookend LCB Bradley Fletcher was better, but not great. Brandon Boykin is entrenched as Philly’s long-term slot corner, but the outside positions are far from settled. Adding an early- to mid-round draft pick to compete for snaps would make sense.

Interesting stuff. I don’t fully agree about Bennie Logan. There were certainly times that he did get pushed around, but Silva is ignoring 2 key things. The team will have Logan get bigger. That’s been part of their plan for him since drafting him. Also, he was new to playing NT. Logan out-played Sopoaga. He showed real promise. He does need to get better at anchoring and taking on double teams.

Logan showed enough potential that I don’t think the Eagles will see NT as an area of need. They’ll see it as a spot that can be upgraded if they want. There is a need for depth.