The 2010 Point and Laugh at the Eagles thread

[The BIGSTUD]

Not you, Reese. I'm too lazy to quote these days.

[PhillyGirl]

GOLD STANDARD!

Samuel: Entire Eagles Organization Must Improve
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Posted: 1:39 a.m.

By Andy Schwartz
CSNPhilly.com

Maybe Asante Samuel is inheriting a role from Sheldon Brown.

When the Eagles traded Brown to Cleveland on Friday, they not only lost a tough, durable cornerback but also one of their more outspoken players.

Samuel, on the other hand, rarely made himself available to reporters.

Maybe that's about to change. Or maybe the three-time Pro Bowl corner just had to get something off his chest.

Over the last few days Samuel and CSN's Derrick Gunn have been exchanging text messages – and the one Gunn received at 12:40 a.m. Sunday was quite compelling:

And I quote "The whole team needs to improve from the front office, to the head coach to the players". And when that happens, things will be better.

The Eagles haven't improved much this offseason. At least not yet. But they've set themselves up to do so. They've parted with several veterans (Brian Westbrook, et al), shedded salary, added depth (Marlin Jackson, Alex Hall, Darryl Tapp) and collected draft picks (they have 10).

Maybe Samuel's next text will come after the draft.

[Rome]

So now the Philly media has slunk to the depths of publishing private texts between players and its members?

Awesome.

Oh, and 12:40 AM?  No chance Asante was out partying with Munson when he texted that, is there?

[reese125]

safe to say Samuel just deleted Gunns ass from his phone for diming him out like that

[BobbyT]

Could have wrote the article without adding his name

One less contact-check

[PhillyPhanInDC]

So a CB, a linebacker, and a safety should all be drafted in a few days. No doubt they'll come away with a guard/tackle project or two, an end, a TE, an undersized fourth round backer, a RB and a punter. Good times.

CB, LB and S are obviously very high on the needs list but I would OL as well. No way they should use a pick on a TE. Backup TEs are what the undrafted rookie market was made for.

I made those comments in jest. Everyone now sees the glaring needs on this team, so my assumption is they will go in the exact opposite direction.


I saw this "article" on BleedingGreenNation and thought it was pretty good, and put the whole thing in perspective:

Did the Eagles get fair value for Sheldon Brown?
by JasonB on Apr 3, 2010 10:45 AM EDT in News


A interesting discussion on what Sheldon Brown's value is has popped up in the trade thread, but since that's hundreds of comments long and about a lot of stuff... I figured it would be worth singling out the discussion on value.

First, what is the value of Sheldon Brown in trade to the rest of the league? There has been one other notable trade of a corner this offseason, the Chargers sending Antonio Cromartie to the Jets for a 3rd round pick. Cromartie is coming off a down year, but he's still 25 years old. He's got rare size for a corner, sub 4.4 speed, is a former pro bowler, and led the NFL in picks in 2007. His game isn't without warts as he's probably a sub Asante level tackler... but it's still probably fair to call him one of the most promising young corners in the league. He was also in the last year of his contract.

So, if a 25 year old former pro bowler was worth a 3rd round pick... what is Sheldon Brown worth? Well, he's 31 years old and coming off a very solid season where he started off very well but struggled late thanks to injuries. Brown is a great tackler, but is probably best described as an average cover corner. If you could point to his biggest weakness, it's that he gets beat deep. He's an ironman who never misses games and is generally a very consistent presence. An above average player by most measures.He's never made a pro bowl, but turned down an alternate invite this year. Brown has been disgruntled about his contract for the past couple seasons and requested a trade last offseason.

I don't think anyone can say that in terms of trade value, Sheldon Brown is worth more than Antonio Cromartie. The youth alone makes Cromartie more valueable in terms of a trade, but his size and superior "glamour stats (INTS)" certainly help as well. If the base value here is Cromartie at a 3rd round value, then that would make Sheldon's value at least a notch below. When you consider that a trade for Brown is also probably contingent on a big new contract... that might push his value down a bit as well.

The one issue with this trade that makes it tough to evaluate is that Brown wasn't the only part of the trade and the Eagles didn't get a single pick in return. Chris Gocong was part of the package and they got two picks and player in return. However, even if the return for Sheldon was only the 4th round pick... it's still probably a fair market value deal. In all likelihood a little more of the total value came in return for Sheldon because Gocong may not even have been worth a 5 alone... but again it's hard to say. Cavorting Eagle summarized a few of the reports about what was traded for what in this fanpost.

Either way, the Eagles did get fair market value in return for Sheldon Brown. It's very unlikely that a better deal was out there. That said, the ability to get fair market value for a player isn't the only factor that makes a player worth trading.

Was Sheldon worth keeping around anyway? That partly depends on whether they thought he'd become a bigger problem this year. Last year he complained about his contract and requested a trade, but still went to training camp and didn't make a big issue of it during the season. Would he have been satisfied to do the same for another year?

On the other side though, it's not as if the Eagles secondary is full of talent and Brown can easily be replaced. Unlike when Brown & Sheppard were waiting in the wings when Bobby Taylor & Troy Vincent were sent packing, there really is no heir apparent ready to step in for Sheldon. Joselio Hanson & Ellis Hobbs are both guys with starting experience, but they aren't going to excite anyone. There's kids like Dimitri Patterson or maybe even Macho Harris(who was a corner in college) but neither were top picks or blue chip talent. So if the Eagles do draft a young corner with a pick this year, he won't have the benefit of sitting behind a good veteran for a year. He could very well be asked to start from day one.

Letting Sheldon go is in some ways like letting Dawkins go. If the team thinks that it was their to leave that's fine... but typically the team has a guy lined up to take the place of the veteran and in these two instances they don't seem to have done that.

As with a lot of these moves, I think it's important that we wait to see the other shoe drop. If August rolls around and the Eagles tell us how great Joselio Hanson is and how he's our starter... I'll be pretty disappointed. However, if they swung a trade for a corner or drafted a top guy, well then maybe trading away Sheldon wasn't so bad.

A lot of people panicked when the Eagles let Tra Thomas walk. When the other shoe dropped on that move, Jason Peters was your new LT. Of course, people panicked when Dawkins left and the other shoe still hasn't dropped on that one...

[PhillyPhreak54]

Interesting choice of words by Samuel there.

Reid just came out and said Asante needed to play better a few days ago.

Coming on the heels of the Dallas debacle where it was said he refused to play certain coverages now the HC and player are sniping at each other.

[Sgt PSN]

yay, mo drama fo yo mama. 

[MDS]

So now the Philly media has slunk to the depths of publishing private texts between players and its members?

Awesome.

Oh, and 12:40 AM?  No chance Asante was out partying with Munson when he texted that, is there?

its reporting, old man. its 2010, people text. its a very informal, easier way of communicating and a solid way to get info.

samuel gave him the okay to use that on the record, so thats why you saw the quote. im sure he said other stuff that gunn didnt use because it was off the record.

thats what happens. hi. when your down taping all in the family to your beta max ill explain more.

[Rome]

lololol @ reporting "texts" as actual journalism.

jesus christ - if that's the way you operate then no wonder you're stuck at the ass end of the world in texico.

[Sgt PSN]

Texting has been used by the media for years now.

[MDS]

like you know anything about reporting, journalism or the industry.

it is A way to go about getting info. it is not the tradition way, but there isnt a news outlet that doesnt accept a direct text message from a source as pertinent info. its the same as talking over the phone. players like doing it more than talking. so why not adapt to that?

oh wait. theres a 60 year old dude in florida who is scared of change who sees the word text and immediately thinks of 13 year old girls talking about boys they like. omg!

[Munson]

Let's not miss the important part here, which is where Asante and I were hanging out last night.

[General_Failure]

like you know anything about reporting, journalism or the industry.

I chortled.

[Rome]

like you know anything about reporting, journalism or the industry.

it is A way to go about getting info. it is not the tradition way, but there isnt a news outlet that doesnt accept a direct text message from a source as pertinent info. its the same as talking over the phone. players like doing it more than talking. so why not adapt to that?

oh wait. theres a 60 year old dude in florida who is scared of change who sees the word text and immediately thinks of 13 year old girls talking about boys they like. omg!

i know enough about the industry to know for certain that a semi-literate douche such as yourself doesn't belong in it.

and obviously i'm not scared of anything that relates to technology.  if i were then i certainly wouldn't be posting on an internet message board, now would i?

but keep amusing everyone here with your rants about middle america and old people.  in fact, try writing a column about it for the tijuana gazette or whatever bastion of journalism you end up working for after you get shtein-canned in matamoros.