Wellness

[gardenman]

Josh McCown is now saying he'll visit a few more teams and make a decision in a week or so. He's in a good spot now, but if he waits too long teams may move on to other free agents when they become available.

Reports indicate the Eagles turned down a Nick Foles for Josh Gordon trade in 2012 when Mike Vick was the starter. That's looking like a very good decision these days. Josh Gordon is a very talented train wreck.

We're seeing more and more veterans getting released every day as teams work to lower their cap number and lose unwanted baggage.

[gardenman]

And the NFL combine is now underway. Jay Gruden tried to clear up the quarterback situation in Washington by announcing that RGIII will be the starting quarterback for the Redskins this year. I'm guessing Kurt Cousins will be demanding a trade in the near future since it's now clear there won't be a quarterback competition. He wants to be a starter and it looks unlikely that will happen in Washington. I wouldn't be shocked to see him granted an outright release as I doubt many teams would invest much in him.

A local reporter looked back at last year's mock drafts and discovered the big issue at this time last year was whether Teddy Bridgewater or Johnny Manziel would be the first overall pick. It turns out neither one was and the first one of those two to go off the board was Manziel at pick 22. I wouldn't be shocked to see a similar fall by the two "top" quarterbacks this year. Both have big question marks (maturity for Winston and adaptability for Mariota) that might start them both sliding down. There are enough "sure thing" players in the draft to make taking a risk look less interesting for the teams with high picks. Even risky players like Dorial Green-Beckham, who some are comparing to Megatron, might go before one of those QB's. He's got some maturity issues of his own, but he's a talent that's likely to intrigue nearly every team.

When free agency kicks off next month we'll get a better feel for where the QB's will go. If Tampa and Tennessee make a grab for one of the free agent quarterbacks to fill their void, then we could see more of the top defensive players go off the board early and the college quarterbacks fall quite a bit. Young quarterbacks have a nasty habit of imploding while defensive and offensive linemen generally perform well. Wide receivers came out last year and looked good and even running backs generally translate well into the NFL. I wouldn't be shocked to see the top two quarterbacks slide a bit.

[teganslaw]

I was surprised by Washington's decision. I really thought that RG111 was gone from that team. How many chances will they give him? If RG111 doesn't perform well this coming season, what will happen? Wondering if Cousins will be released or demand a trade. The Redskins are going to be under some scrutiny.

Saturday is when the quarterbacks perform at the combine. I plan on watching some of it. Rumors are still going around about the Eagles wanting Mariota. I don't think that rumor is going away anytime soon.

There is talk about RB Frank Gore wanting to join the Colts. Nothing is official, though, so I don't know if it's just a rumor or if it actually is in the works. Time will tell.

[gardenman]

I bet the Colts will draft a running back or two. There are lots of good kids coming out this year. I wouldn't invest the cash in a free agent. Running backs tend to burn out with little advance notice.

[gardenman]

And the Eagles cut James Casey the fullback/tight end we signed from the Texans a couple of years ago. He was a high priced former free agent ($4 million this year) who was the third string tight end and likely fourth string this year with the emergence of Trey Burton (an undrafted rookie from last summer) who has been very impressive. That frees up more cap space and lets Casey have a better shot at hooking on with another team. He got held back in his first year due to an ankle issue that bothered him all through training camp, then the Eagles drafted Zach Ertz who did very well making Casey less important for the Eagles. I wouldn't be shocked to see a team claim him off of waivers. They'd only be on the hook for one year at four million which is probably less than they'd end up paying him if he hit free agency.

[gardenman]

And it's quarterback day at the NFL combine. Jameis Winston may now have "shoulder weakness" that teams are investigating. Reportedly they ordered some extra tests (an MRI) to see if anything is going on there. Reports indicate that Marcus Mariota is killing it in the team interviews. Everyone's apparently coming away very impressed by the kid. He's truly got all of the intangibles teams want and if he puts on a good display of his talent today and in private workouts he could still go first overall.

I've still got a feeling both quarterbacks will fall quite a bit in the draft though. Last year at this time everyone was going nuts over Teddy Bridgewater and Johnny Manziel and they were the consensus top two quarterbacks and likely going first and second in the draft. Instead Blake Bortles was the first quarterback taken and he was taken third overall. I'm not sure any of the other quarterbacks will jump up over Winston/Manziel, but I wouldn't be shocked to see one or both of them still on the board at ten. Both of them have enough question marks that can make a GM edgy about making them the pick.

[Spurt]

Well interesting events on the Redskin front---after leaving Robert's name off of the letter to season ticket holders, Jay Gruden has reluctantly named Robert as next year's QB starter....meanwhile Kirk Cousins is working out with his brother, Jon.....hmmmmmmmmmm. The sad thing I was hoping that MCCoy would be back...but Gruden made it clear that it is harder to try to give 3 guys enough reps.....

So it appears it will be Robert and Cousins...and someone needs to take the first team reps....and Jay did mention something about competition so all hope is not lost ....and perhaps this was to quiet all the talk about "the letter" and endless questions. The Redskins certainly can't wheel and deal because we have so many spots to fill....and btw who else is out there either in free agency or the draft at the QB position? There seems to be a QB shortage in the NFL? .....Cutler, as some suggested, would be trading one problem for another and at too high of cost and cap hit..And I think our new GM wants to stand pat at the QB position, give the coaches a chance to see if he can develop and improve, if not go with Cousins. Next year is when the Redskins will have to open their wallets to keep and re-sign him. So I think Jay had to play with the cards he was dealt and I think the press is making too much of this....JMHO. Personally, I would have liked to see Robert pack his bags and move on, but the team gave up too much to just turn him loose and I think the new GM wants to pursue other positions at this point!

GARDENMAN---so with Winston's "shoulder weakness" and "small hands" will this cause the Bucs to turn to Mariota....or raise Mariota's draft slot? Or is this much ado about nothing with Winston? Interesting that Joyner said break the bank ( I guess that means throwing in that statue) for Mariota ...Hey I'll be happy to take Foles!

P.S. A very sad RIP to Jerome Kersey who played in the NBA mostly as a Portland Trailblazer, but also as a Spur. He won a Championship with us---he was a hard worker, did a lot in the community, had a good sense of humor and an all around good guy!!!! Both Terry Porter and Sean Elliott got really chocked up in talking about him and had trouble completing the interviews...Jerome you will be missed. He was 52 and died due to a blod clot following knee surgery!

[gardenman]

There are whispers now that the Browns want to get the Ram's quarterback Bradford and the Rams want Nick Foles and somehow the Eagles will get Mariota out of all of that. I guess the theory is the Rams will give us the tenth pick in the draft and they'll get one of Cleveland's two first round picks that would also go to the Eagles who would then use all three first round picks to move up for Mariota.

[gardenman]

In an odd quirk, it was the Cowboys who wanted the extra tests on Jameis Winston's shoulder. I'd be very surprised if Winston fell far enough for the Cowboys to get him, but maybe they're looking to move up?

[gardenman]

And lots more players are now unemployed. Ted Ginn Jr. was cut by the Cards. He'll catch on somewhere as a punt returner, fourth receiver. DeAngelo Williams was cut by the Panthers. Ricky Jean Francois was cut by the Colts. We'll likely see many more players cut in the near future as teams trim their rosters and free up cap space.

Adrian Peterson really seems to want out of Minnesota. Given all of the back and forth between him and the Cowboys in the last year, if he ends up going to Dallas (a real possibility if DeMarco Murray leaves via free agency) then the league will likely have to look into tampering and some sort of penalty. (I'm figuring a late round draft pick or maybe cash.) Jerry Jones never should have commented on how much he'd love to have Adrian Peterson on the team. That could come back to bite him.

We're just a couple of weeks from free agency starting up now. The Eagles have an interesting strategy for free agency and the draft. They want to come out of the free agency period with every hole filled with a body so they don't "have to" draft someone to fill a need. That frees them up to draft the "best available" player and not have to slot a draft pick in as a starter right away. If they can do that then they have the option of using their draft picks for "luxury" players who don't fill a current need, but may become very valuable later. This strategy also lets them bundle a number of picks to move up to get a guy they really like or if there's no one they particularly like they can trade back to get more/future picks.

I expect to see the Eagles sign a cornerback and safety in free agency. Those are the two most glaring needs on the team. An offensive guard to come in and supplant Todd Herremanns wouldn't shock me. An outside linebacker would also make some sense. Last year's first round pick Marcus Smith is largely discounted by the local media as a flop, but Tra Thomas (former offensive lineman who worked with the d-line last year) has said that Smith has all of the moves and athletic ability of Connor Barwin, but he needs to get stronger. I found that to be very encouraging. It's pretty darn easy to make a kid stronger if he has the moves/ability than it is to take a strong guy and teach him the proper moves/abilities. I wouldn't be shocked to see the kid have a heck of a year this year. He really wants to prove the doubters wrong.

We've got two good young inside linebackers who got hurt early in the preseason/season which made the loss of DeMeco Ryans to an Achilles injury look worse. The young guys were our second and third string guys, so we ended up with our fourth and fifth string linebackers making that hole look bigger than it really is. If those two young guys come back healthy then inside linebacker should be pretty solid.

I expect to see the Eagles resign Jeremy Maclin in the next week or two. I think it's iffy if they resign Brandon Graham as outside linebacker. He might test free agency first and see what's available. I expect to see the Eagles sign a safety and cornerback early in free agency then sit back and let the market sort itself out. Fill the obvious holes in free agency and then the draft picks can be used for depth and building for the future.