As the Eagles and SOB Nation continue to mourn the death of the Dawkins era, NFL Free Agency marches forward.

The Birds were quiet today, after their “splash” of signing Stacy Andrews in Day 1 of Free Agency.  Here’s an update of today’s Eagles-related NFL Free Agency news:

T.J. Houshmandzadeh - Late yesterday, Housh and his agent got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, asking for more money from the Eagles than other teams.  The rumor going around is that Andy called his good friend and former Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren to get a read on the kind of contract T.J. was asking for from Seattle.  We can thank Houshmandzadeh’s agent Kennard McGuire for negotiating him out of Philly.  Housh visited with Minnesota today.

Antonio Smith - A player that the Eagles were rumored to be interested in, he signed a 5-year, $35 million contract with Houston today.  I’m glad to see Smith sign elsewhere, as I think the 6′4″ 285 pound DE is overrated, and was overpayed.  2007 was Smith’s best year in terms of tackles (44) and sacks (5.5).  $35 million for that?  No Thanks.

Bryant Johnson - Another player who has been on the Eagles (and Frankie V’s) radar, he signed with the Lions today.  The 3-year, $9 million deal is an upgrade for Johnson, and as of now he will start opposite Megatron.

Keith Brooking - In NFC East news, Brooking signed with Dallas on Saturday.  Looks like Dallas is trying to put together the oldest LB corps in the NFL, with Greg Ellis (33), Brooking (33) and Zach Thomas (35) all running with the freak known as DeMarcus Ware.

Still a lot of action to come, but the Eagles have done more to fall off than improve.  The window keeps on slipping closer to closed.

Trent Cole will dominate on the right side of the Eagles defensive line in '09, and four quality players platoon the left end.

The Eagles are fairly deep right now at Defensive End, and have a nice mix of young talent and veteran leadership.  Trent Cole and Juqua Parker (Thomas) are currently listed as the starters, but by the end of the 2008 season it seemed like Darren Howard and Chris Clemons were both playing more than Juqua.  In addition to those four players, the Eagles have unproven but promising youth in Victor Abiamiri and Bryan Smith.

I like where the Eagles stand at DE a lot, but if Peppers weren’t tagged I would be screaming for the Eagles to sign him.  Cole is an unstoppable force on the right end, but adding another Pro Bowl Defensive End across the line from Cole would bring our defense to levels we have not seen.  When it comes to DE’s, I expect the Eagles to be very quiet in Free Agency.  Hopefully it isn’t that way across the board.

Click here to see all the notable Defensive Ends available in NFL Free Agency