Adjusting My “Perfect Off-Season”

At the end of last week I posted what I thought a perfect off-season would be.  Well, after a strong start thanks to nailing the signing of Stacy Andrews, my perfect off-season was pretty much shot to hell once the Eagles let Dawkins test the waters and Housh’s agent lied to the Eagles about how much money they were asking for.  It’s ok though because I’m ready to adjust my strategy on the fly.

First off, the offensive line still needs to be addresses with the way NFC East teams are improving their defensive lines.  Washington nabbed Albert Hayneswerth and the Giants, who already had a sick line, added Rocky Bernard AND Chris Canty.  That defensive line in New York is going to be scary good.  It looks like we’ll also need to add a safety via free agency with Dawkins departing.  With all of the defensive improvements within the division, the Eagles are going to have to counteract by improving the offense.

With all that said, here are some free agents still available which should be getting strong consideration from the Eagles FO at this point.

• Derrick Ward (RB) - It doesn’t seem like there is a big market for Ward right now.  He’s visited a couple of teams and hasn’t signed anywhere so he obviously isn’t getting the kind of offers he wants.  If he leaves Tampa without signing a contract, the Eagles need to at least open up talks with Ward.
• Marvel Smith (OT) - Smith, like Stacy Andrews, is coming off of an injury riddled 2008 season, but unlike Andrews he has played at a Pro Bowl level before.  He’ll be 31 when the season starts though.  There’s not a lot of options out there along the offensive line so the Eagles might be forced to take another injury risk player.  In a perfect world, an offensive line of Stacy Andrews, Shawn Andrews, Jamal Jackson, Todd Herremans, and Marvel Smith would look pretty good on paper.  The problem is that offensive line is full of major question marks.
• Khalif Barnes (OT) - Barnes is intriguing as he is only 26 and has started 57 games for the Jaguars over the past four seasons.
• Michael Boulware (FS) - Boulware isn’t a great safety by any means, but he could be a stop gap for the Eagles until Demps is ready to start.

There isn’t really a whole lot left out there in terms of impact free agents.  Ray Lewis still hasn’t signed anywhere, but the odds of Lewis signing in Philly are probably non existent.  With all of the cap space and draft picks the Eagles have, there is no reason for them to stand pat and be conservative.  With the PR disaster they allowed to happen with Dawkins leaving combined with the fact that the Giants and Redskins both significantly improved their defenses, the Eagles need to make a bold move to improve offensively.  Andy Reid should start by picking up the phone and finding out what it would take to pry either Anquan Boldin or Braylon Edwards away from their respective teams.

What once looked like a very promising and exicting off-season is quickly folding as quickly as McNabb in a two minute drill with the game on the line.  It’s still early, but the FO has a lot of work to do to improve the team and prove to the fans that they are indeed committed to building a Super Bowl winner and not just selling jerseys and filling the stadium.