link (http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/14200994.htm)
QuoteLurie confident about his team
By Bob Brookover
Inquirer Staff Writer
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - For the first time since the turn of the century, Jeffrey Lurie showed up at the spring NFL owners' meetings as a man with a losing football team.
In one miserable year, Lurie's Eagles went from the top of the NFC to the bottom of the NFC East, so surely this off-season must feel dramatically different than other ones in his recent past.
Not so, Lurie said.
"Whether we're coming off a Super Bowl performance or a Final Four championship-game performance or a 6-10 season, you're never very far from the bottom and you're not very far from the top," Lurie said yesterday after listening to the address of outgoing commissioner Paul Tagliabue at the Hyatt Grand Regency.
In other words, Lurie is confident that the Eagles can go from the bottom back to the top of the NFC East in 2006 even if the team's fan base has been less than thrilled with the free-agent events that have taken place in the last two weeks.
"I think we have the nucleus of a terrific team," Lurie said. "No team is going to suffer the injuries that we had last year and survive. If [Ben] Roethlisberger or Tom Brady went down, you don't have the same results. You have to understand that we had an enormous number of injuries.
"On the other hand, we have to improve this team very much as well. It's the combination of the two. We have a lot of terrific players back. How many Pro Bowlers did we have 12 months ago? I think we led the NFL by far. But you can't rest on that because you might have some descending players."
Yes, the Eagles were devastated by injuries last season. Only four of their projected 11 offensive starters from training camp were still in the lineup by the end of the season, and none of them played quarterback, tailback or wide receiver.
Those missing starters figure to be healthy in 2006, although some of them won't be back in the starting lineup. Terrell Owens, of course, will be the most notable absence. For the first time since Owens' departure to Dallas, the Eagles' owner commented on the star receiver's ill-fated tenure in Philadelphia.
"The regret is that we couldn't maximize his entire talent," Lurie said. "In my estimation, he's the most talented receiver in the NFL, bar none. We were able to maximize that personality and talent for one year, and then we were not able to maximize the personality and team aspect in the second year. It was frustrating."
Now, Owens plays for the Eagles' most bitter division rival and will get at least two chances this season to beat the team that used to employ him. Lurie said it didn't bother him that Owens landed with the Cowboys. Nor did he seem all that concerned that T.O. might dance on the Eagles' midfield logo at Lincoln Financial Field or pull out an imaginary six-shooter to celebrate a touchdown.
"It didn't matter to me who he signed with," Lurie said. "I think it's more exciting for the fans that he signed with Dallas. I'm happy for that. I think it will be a great matchup. We've been playing T.O. since I've been in the league."
But now, it's different.
"It is and it isn't," Lurie said. "He's an excellent wide receiver, and you've got to account for him on every play. We've done that and done it well. We've never, that I can remember, had a game where he was the decisive factor."
The 49ers were 3-1 against the Eagles during Owens' time in San Francisco and he caught 21 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns in the four games. Most of his individual damage, however, came in a lopsided loss to the Eagles in 2002 when he caught 13 passes for 166 yards and two TDs.
Anyway, the Eagles are obviously ready to move beyond the T.O. era/error, and their owner is convinced they can still be an elite team, even though he acknowledges that the rest of the division is vastly improved.
"It has happened because those teams drafted better," Lurie said. "The other teams have had a lot of high draft picks. These other teams are excellent teams. They've been in the top 15 in the draft over and over, and they've capitalized on it. We haven't had that chance, but we will this year.
"As long as we have the best quarterback in the division, I'm looking forward to the season. I feel very strongly that if Donovan [McNabb] is healthy, we have the best quarterback in the division."
Lurie also feels strongly that the Eagles' approach to free agency this off-season has been the right one. While the Cowboys and taterskins have made headlines with additions such as Owens, kicker Mike Vanderjagt (Dallas), and wide receiver Antwaan Randle El (Washington), the Eagles have made far less noise with additions such as defensive end Darren Howard and linebacker Shawn Barber.
The owner said the Eagles' personnel decisions are not based on saving money. He finds it absurd that the team is sometimes portrayed as cheap.
"It's crazy," Lurie said. "Every team spends the same amount of money. If you total up the cash spent, we're always in the top level in the league. Whether you spend it in March or you spend in November, you are spending the exact same dollars.
"If you look over the free-agent lists from this year and last year, there are reasons that players are out there. There are some good players out there, but you have to make a decision about things as an organization. Arizona acquired a very good running back in [Edgerrin James], but at his age, it may or may not work out.
"We tend to prioritize on re-signing our best young players and the draft. What free agency provides is a foray to take a player that another team has decided not to re-sign, and occasionally we do that. We've done it with T.O. and Jevon Kearse. We did it with Jon Runyan. We've surely done it, but it's not the way to win your division or your conference. The most effective way to do that is clearly the draft."
Arizona acquired a very good running back in [Edgerrin James], but at his age, it may or may not work out.
what the hell does this mean exactly
It means that Edgerrin might have gotten a pile of money just to prove that his legs aren't as fresh as they used to be and that not even one of the better RB's in the NFL can run behind one of the worst run-blocking lines in the league.
if lurie says everything's okay, i believe him.
whew.
What about that confused you? The whole proper English thing get in the way of comprehension again?
or it might work out and turn arizona into the most dynamic offense since the forward pass
again whats the point
Quote from: ice grillin you on March 28, 2006, 10:28:09 AM
again whats the point
The point is that even the most slam-dunk free agents are not a sure thing to succeed on their new teams.
The point is that even the most slam-dunk free agents are not a sure thing to succeed on their new teams.
yeah and matt schobel and jabar gaffney might turn into probowlers...yippie
we all know there arent any guarantees in pro sports...thanks jeffy
It's funny that you claimed to really like the Schobel signing, but now you use it to make your bitchy point.
i do like it a lot...for what it is...a back up TE...
The most effective way to do that is clearly the draft.
Does he realize that drafting players is not really a strong point for them? :boom
Quote from: PublicEnemy_81 on March 28, 2006, 11:08:59 AM
The most effective way to do that is clearly the draft.
Does he realize that drafting players is not really a strong point for them? :boom
i beg to differ. other than troy vincent, terrell owens, hugh douglas...every other eagles pro bowler has been drafted or initially signed as a UDFA as an eagle.
drafting is a strong point. yes they have had their share of misfires in the draft, but the hits are pretty good.
in seven years of drafting reid has 2002 and mcnabb as his successes
don't forget tapeh...i'm expecting big things from him this season.
Quote from: ice grillin you on March 28, 2006, 11:57:57 AM
in seven years of drafting reid has 2002 and mcnabb as his successes
so now Burgess is a failure eh?
failure in that he isnt on the team
if you cant keep your picks then how good a pick were they in the first place
or does he get credit for drafting an injury prone player and credit for not signing him cause he was injury prone
does he get a pass for mcdougle as well?
Quote from: MURP on March 28, 2006, 12:12:43 PM
Quote from: ice grillin you on March 28, 2006, 11:57:57 AM
in seven years of drafting reid has 2002 and mcnabb as his successes
so now Burgess is a failure eh?
considering he's not on the team, and didn't do much for us when he was, yes i would consider that a failure
This thread makes me want to chopstick my eyes out.
Quote from: ice grillin you on March 28, 2006, 12:17:27 PM
failure in that he isnt on the team
if you cant keep your picks then how good a pick were they in the first place
So no coach gets any credit for drafting a player who goes to another team in FA. ha.
A.J. Feeley isn't on the team anymore either, so despite being a 5th round pick traded for a 2nd... FAILURE.
John Welbourn was a solid starter despite being a 4th rounder, but he's gone now... so FAILURE.
L.J. not mentioned by IGY... hence, FAILURE.
And we all know that the 2005 draft looks like absolute crap right now.
Quote from: ice grillin you on March 28, 2006, 11:57:57 AM
in seven years of drafting reid has 2002 and mcnabb as his successes
Mike Patterson
Reggie Brown
Trent Cole
J.R. Reed
Shawn Andrews
L.J. Smith
Lito Sheppard
Michael Lewis
Sheldon Brown
Brian Westbrook
Raheem Brock
Derrick Burgess
Tony Stewart
Corey Simon
Todd Pinkston
Donovan McNabb
Doug Brzezinski
John Welbourn
are all solid to major contributors on the eagles or elsewhere. and considering where some of them were picked, it's not as bad as you'd like to convince yourself it is.
Quote from: rjs246 on March 28, 2006, 12:18:40 PM
This thread makes me want to chopstick my eyes out.
pretentious nerd.
I can't understand why IGY considers McNabb a success, when he clearly believes Culpepper is better.
if all the eagles live on is 2002...i have to wonder, what nfl team does draft well?
QuoteSQUAWK IS CHEAP
By PAUL DOMOWITCH
pdomo@aol.com
ORLANDO, Fla. - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and so too, apparently, are NFL offseason remodeling projects.
Two-and-a-half weeks into the free-agency signing period, the Eagles feel pretty good about what they've accomplished so far.
They added a proven pass-rushing end (Darren Howard) to help turn up the heat on opposing quarterbacks. They upgraded themselves at weakside linebacker (Shawn Barber). They added a pretty good wide receiver (Jabar Gaffney) who managed to catch 55 passes last year playing for the Houston Texans, a team that gave up 68 sacks and finished 30th in the league in passing. They added another pass-catching option at tight end (Matt Schobel), and re-signed right tackle Jon Runyan. And they went out and bought a much better quarterback insurance policy (Jeff Garcia) than they had last year with Who's On First (Mike McMahon) and What's On Second (Koy Detmer).
But that's not the tune that is being played by some of the local sports-talk gabbers. And that's not the tune that is being played by many angry e-mail-writing fans, who are convinced that this organization cares much more about maximizing profits than winning Super Bowls.
The Eagles don't want to give Eric Moulds a $5 million-a-year contract, so they must be cheap. They don't want to open their vault to LaVar Arrington, so they must be cheap. They let Pro Bowl center LeCharles Bentley slip away from them and sign with Cleveland, so they must be cheap. They are $10 trillion under the salary cap, so they definitely must be cheap.
Owner Jeff Lurie and club president Joe Banner have been hearing this cheapskate talk for a long time. Even when the team was winning four straight division titles and earning four straight trips to the NFC Championship Game, people were accusing them of being penny pinchers. Now that they're coming off a 6-10 season, it's much easier to pile on.
But Banner says there's one tiny, little problem with the criticism: It's not really true.
He points out that, in the 7 years since Andy Reid was hired as head coach, the Eagles are second in the NFL in cash spent on players. The only team that's spent more during that period, according to Banner, is the Washington taterskins.
He also points out that, while you may not be crazy about the free agents they've signed this month, the Eagles are "among the highest spenders of [salary] cap dollars in the NFL this year.
"People can say whatever they want or make it whatever they want," Banner said. "But the reality is we've been in the market for players that we felt were in a position to improve our team. And we'll continue to be in that position.
"We've added a significant number of players [this offseason]. Good players who have the ability to fit in, contribute to what we do and help us win.
"You can't be cheap if you're spending the second-largest amount of money in the league. The Phillies aren't doing that. The Flyers aren't doing that. Nobody in Philadelphia is doing that. Because we've come up with some good ideas on how to manage our cap, we're [being called] cheap. That's ludicrous."
The sky-is-falling perception is that the rest of the NFC East is running away from the Eagles. The Cowboys signed wide receiver Terrell Owens, kicker Mike Vanderjagt and offensive tackle Jason Fabini. The Giants have reconstructed their secondary, bringing in cornerbacks Sam Madison and R.W. McQuarters and safety Will Demps. taterskins owner Dan Snyder has just completed his annual dump-and-sign spending spree, making millionaires of wide receivers Antwaan Randle El and Brandon Lloyd, safety Adam Archuleta and defensive end Andre Carter.
"Some of the things you hear people say just defy reality," Banner said. "I spoke to someone recently and they were raving about all of the Cowboys' moves. Well, they lost two starting linebackers [Scott Fujita and Dat Nguyen], a starting defensive tackle [La'Roi Glover], a starting left guard [Larry Allen], and a starting wide receiver [Keyshawn Johnson] and they added T.O. We'll see how the season goes. But as far as comparing offseasons [between the Eagles and Cowboys], it's not even close.
"The Cowboys have had some good drafts and have some young, emerging players and it's reasonable to expect they're going to be very good. But if you just rated their additions and subtractions in free agency, you'd conclude that they lost a lot of guys.''
Lurie tore a page out of George Bush's playbook and blamed the media for the perception that his team is cheap.
"It's up to the media to educate the fans clearly and precisely on the economics of the NFL," Lurie said during a lunch break at the league meetings at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress resort. "The facts are that, in the end, every team spends [about the same amount of money each year]. It's just a matter of whether you spend it in March [on free agents] or spend it in November [on signing players to extensions]. Are you going to distribute that $90 million or $100 million or $110 million to three or four free agents in March or are you going to [distribute] it throughout your roster and by re-signing your young players?''
The Eagles have repeatedly made it clear that they prefer to build through the draft, rather than hanging out at the free-agency trough like Snyder. It hasn't earned them nearly as many March headlines as the taterskins, but it has allowed them to stay in yearly playoff contention and out of salary-cap hell, and re-sign more of their players to second and third contracts than any other team in the league.
"Free agency is a tool, and you've got to utilize every single tool to succeed in this game," Lurie said. "But by far, the best tool is the draft.
"If there's an opportunity to get a player who becomes available, an excellent player who could have an impact, we have the ammunition to [sign him]. Will that happen? I don't know.
"If you look at the free agency list for this year or last year, there's a reason a lot of those players are out there. You have to make the best decision for your organization. Arizona acquired a very good running back [Edgerrin James]. It may or may not work out. Everybody has to make those calculations. That's why the better you draft, the better you will do.''
Mike Patterson - too soon to tell
Reggie Brown - to soon to tell
Trent Cole - to soon to tell
J.R. Reed - not a succes
Shawn Andrews - to soon to tell - so far a failure- weight was a huge concern with him and as of now its come to bite them
L.J. Smith - talented but certainly not a success right now- solid pick
Lito Sheppard - 2002
Michael Lewis - 2002
Sheldon Brown - 2002
Brian Westbrook -2002 was a GREAT draft
Raheem Brock - utter failure
Derrick Burgess - failure
Tony Stewart - hahaha
Corey Simon - forgot about him - success
Todd Pinkston - lol
Donovan McNabb - already mentioned
Doug Brzezinski - bleh
John Welbourn - solid
other than the secondary westbrook and of course mcnabb where are the big time players they have drafted
DE?
LB?
WR?
OL?
DL?
im not saying they are the worst in the league but drafting is 100% absolutely NOT a strong point of this FO...and lurie should not be talking up draft as a way they have or will build their team
now lets argue each individual player at length until our eyeballs shoot through the back of our skulls.
ok...first up, Tony Stewart
im just really really happy that burgess turned out to be a great pick
stewart was a late pick who has been a good blocking TE.
Stewart fumbled the game away in OT vs. Iowa while at PSU. He can choke on it.
my favorite year was when we signed all of our rookies except that bum raheem brock. seriously, who can't sign a 7th round draft pick. granted, 2002 was a great draft for us but still, a 7th rounder. that still makes me angry.
seriously, who can't sign a 7th round draft pick.
gold standard baby.....gold standard
Quote from: phattymatty on March 28, 2006, 01:03:18 PM
my favorite year was when we signed all of our rookies except that bum raheem brock. seriously, who can't sign a 7th round draft pick. granted, 2002 was a great draft for us but still, a 7th rounder. that still makes me angry.
sheldon brown wanted a larger bonus i believe. which he was given. and it took too much from the rookie cap, and there wasnt enough room under the rookie cap to make a minimum offer so they had no choice but to not sign him.
not laying blame on either side...but that's pretty much what happened
So, they couldn't use cash over cap to sign Brock?
I just don't understand why they didn't use the golden goose in that situation. Seems like a perfect scenario for it. Hacks.
i'm speachless
Maybe Eddie George really is the big back we need.
we could ask Darwin Walker
Anyone heard of his whereabouts?
I think he's injured.
he should try jamming chopsticks into his thigh
...or dancing in the streets of Miami, despite a police officer telling him to stop.
It's not that they don't spend money that pisses me off. It's how they spend it.
For one, they are always left with 10 million in cap space going into a season, and two, they don't value certain positions and simply won't give big deals to those positions.