Football at Four: How Will Eagles Positional Needs Impact Their Off-Season?

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You're going to be a great week coming up in two weeks.

The start of March Band is two weeks from today.

The madness begins.

You can listen to it all right here on 973 ESPN

from noon to midnight Thursday and Friday.

We got you covered right now.

We got you covered on the Eagles offseason,

which gets underway on Monday with the start

of the legal tampering period.

And of course, no better guy to talk to about

for agency and the draft than Andrew to check out

from the inside of the Burns podcast inside the birds.com.

And he joins me now on the sports bash for today's football.

For Andrew, welcome back, buddy.

How are you?

What's going on, Mike?

Yeah, the month of March might be my favorite month

on the sports calendar.

Yeah, we're ready to go.

I mean, March Band is we just were talking about

our favorite events.

March Band is would be number one.

The NFL playoffs would be up there draft season.

I love talking to you about the draft,

but we do have the start of free agency

and all this AJ Brown stuff.

I know you're not a big rumors guy

and all that speculation.

But as we get ready for Monday,

do we anticipate AJ Brown being here

or someplace else by the next time you and I

have a conversation?

Well, there's no rush for the Eagles to unload AJ Brown.

They don't have to do anything.

He's under contract.

And now the Eagles hold all the cards.

You saw what happened with DJ Moore.

He commanded a second round pick.

So the cost for AJ is first round pick, which it should be.

And the Eagles are playing it well.

But I don't know if they're going to be in any rush

to get anything done.

Now will a team be a little bit more hasty

and trying to get something done perhaps,

but I don't view it as something that's

going to be taking care of in the immediacy.

But the Eagles are going to continue to listen.

But nothing's really changed.

They're going to have to be blown away by an offer

in order for them to move off of their top receiver.

All right.

You wrote a piece over at insidethebirds.com

that leads us into this because if AJ Brown is not

with the birds, even if he is with the birds,

do you think they need to look at some receiving options

and some possible, we know they need a tight end most likely

if Goddard walks.

But any receivers in the free agent markers,

that's something they probably would have to trade,

excuse me, draft if they ended up moving on from AJ Brown.

Yeah.

I mean, the free agent class is not very

deep at wide receiver.

If you're getting a receiver in free agency,

it's going to be a supplemental type of player who can kind

of maybe fill that Johan Dotson role.

Mike, I think right now they need to draft a receiver.

And I say that because look at the defensive side of the ball.

A lot of money is going to have to be invested on that side.

Now that's the pendulum swinging that on the offensive side,

the Eagles are going to have to start to draft

and get younger and more cost effective.

And so one of the more preeminent positions

on the offensive side is wide receiver.

And this draft has a lot towards the top of the draft.

And I look at where the Eagles sit at pick 54.

And that seems like an optimal spot

if they want to go and get one.

What's going to say is this free agent class, you're right.

I mean, you got Romeo Dobbs.

One Del Robinson kind of interesting as maybe a slot guy.

I feel like it's if you agree, Andrew.

This team has constantly lacked that little slot guy,

the undersized guy between the hash marks.

He's got some speed or shorthands.

They've never really had a great, going back to,

I guess the best one was Aguilar in 2017.

But even he wasn't like a classic slot guy.

Now, Jason Avant is the first player who comes to mind

as being the prototypical slot guy, dependable,

shorthands, tough as nails.

But yeah, they don't really have that short area

of quickness inside receiver guy, like maybe the Patriots

had with Danny Amindola and Wes Welker and Julian Edelman.

But I don't know that this offense requires a player like that.

I look at someone like a Jalen Nailer,

who is with the Minnesota Vikings for at least a few more days.

And 5'11, 200 pounds.

He was obviously not going to see a healthy amount of targets

given that they have Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.

But he's tough.

He blocks from that position,

which is something that the Eagles really value.

So it depends on what team and what system you run.

But what the Eagles have proven over their time

with Nick Seriani is that they've really value

that blocking type of wide receiver

who's going to do the dirty work

and free up teammates to do some things.

So I would look for that as well.

But I'm also curious because the Eagles

don't have a manufactured touch player.

And they probably imagined they were getting that

in a Niasmith a couple years ago,

but that never panned out.

And so I look at someone like an Omar Cooper

out of Indiana who probably his stock is rising.

But if the Eagles want to get him,

they're going to have to be aggressive.

But he is someone who gets a lot of yards after the catch.

You can find creative ways to move him around formation

and get him the football.

And they really lack for a player like that.

And in fact, there is a pro day going on today

and it's Navy.

And there's a player by the name of Eli Heidenreich.

Heidenreich, that is a wide receiver running back, 511,

198 pounds thereabouts, had 77 carries last season

from almost 500 yards last year had 51 catches

for nearly 1,000 yards.

So he's sort of a duel thread.

He's going to go on day three, Heidenreich, Eli Heidenreich.

So I'm curious to see what his numbers come back as today.

Omar Cooper for you, he's the wide receiver out of Indiana.

Would he be a guy at 23 that you would have to get him there?

I think that's a little early.

You could trade back in the first round,

which how he rosemond has proven that he'll either trade up

or trade down, he's very active.

He doesn't like to stand pat.

But that would be a player, Mike,

that if you wanted to get an Omar Cooper,

you could probably trade down the first round and secure him.

But at 54, you're not going to get a player like that.

You're more looking at a Chris Bell from Louisville,

who I really like, or a Chris Brasile from Tennessee,

another really good player.

And so I think what I'm imagining this offense to look like

and a player who could fit pretty well,

Omar Cooper is one of them.

And Chris Bell, if the Eagles don't retain AJ Brown

for whatever reason, he is sort of,

he's built like AJs about 6'1, 220 pounds

and really physical is your pro typical X.

And I think that he would be a good option there at 54

if they need to, if they so choose to add a player there.

Andrew, to check out football of four

from the inside of the birds podcast inside the birds.com.

Dallas, Goddard, Lyshire, a lot of speculation, Andrew,

that he would be gone.

They ended up finding a way to bring him back.

Are you optimistic to take and get him back?

And if not, they do not have a tight end on the roster.

Is that a spot where, you know, Lyshire and free agency,

they kind of made moves in anticipation

that he wouldn't be back.

They brought in Granson and Harrison Bryant.

Obviously, these two guys didn't have much of an impact,

but if Goddard's gone, can they do anything

in free agency there?

Yeah, so I went into the combine thinking that the Eagles

were gonna do whatever they could to keep Dallas Goddard

and that it may not cost all that much knowing

that he's 31, that he has an injury history and all that.

But then I left the combine wondering how the Eagles

were going to be able to do that.

Just talking to people,

listening to Howie Rose and Nick Seriani,

and it's going to be an off season

where it might not be the maintenance off season

the last year, but you're gonna have to make

some tough decisions.

And so I look at it like this.

The Eagles last May agreed to,

they reached the resolution with Dallas Goddard

one year, 10 million.

Well, one would presume that the price would go up.

And if they were a little reluctant

to give Dallas Goddard 10 million last year,

well, he just had 60 catches a career high,

11 touchdowns a career high.

I would imagine that with free agency

as is usually the case, the price only goes up.

But there's the injury history,

there's the demonstrator performance for one team

and the history with the organization

that I think could help the Eagles.

But all things being considered,

I would imagine that Dallas Goddard

is playing somewhere else next season.

All right, there's a lot of talk too.

I mean, we were at the Super Bowl at Radio Row

and there was a lot of people buzzing about Christian Parker

when he got hired.

And now you're starting to hear the buzz.

He might want to take some of his buddies with him,

one reblench chip who obviously was coached by Parker,

Nikobe Dean, who probably has a very slim chance

of returning to Philadelphia.

And even possibly Jalen Phillips,

they apparently, you know,

there's a lot of buzz this time of the year about stuff.

But could you imagine some of those guys landing in Dallas?

Yeah, so Jalen Phillips is going to be the priority.

What he commands on the open market

is sort of a mystery right now

because of the injuries that he's had in his past.

But he's going to be 27 years old.

He fits this scheme.

He fits the culture.

He loves being in Philadelphia.

Now, there ultimately has to be a walkaway price.

And for me, I think that 24 or 25 mil

might be a little rich for my blood if I'm the Eagles.

But I think that he's going to be the priority there.

But yes, I can imagine a lot of these players

flocking to Dallas.

And it sounds easier said than done

because it's not always as simple as,

Christian Parker is the defensive coordinator in Dallas.

He knows a lot of these guys from Philadelphia.

A lot of these players are going to have considerable amount

of suitors, but someone like a re-blackenship, for example,

if his estimated cost is seven, a little over seven mil,

if I'm the Eagles, sign me up for that.

But if it goes up a little bit

and trends towards the nine or 10 million mark,

I'm finding another solution there.

And I would imagine that someone like Christian Parker

who oversaw the defensive backroom,

he knows what re-blackenships all about.

He can be a team captain, a culture center,

much like Nicobie Dean.

And when Christian Parker spoke,

and I listened to his opening press conference twice

because I was so impressed

with how he conducted himself,

he said it all starts up front,

affecting the quarterback and stopping the run.

And those are two things that Nicobie Dean does very well

in addition to being a tremendous presence in the locker room.

All right, Andrew, why I was gone,

you know, the Eagles, you know,

you mentioned Parker goes there.

But I guess actually I got back by the time

this happened, Jared Johnson on Sunday.

They brought him in too.

Yet, Jared Johnson, they brought him in here too.

Josh Grasard along with Sean Manion.

Too many cooks in the kitchen,

are you really excited to see,

is this a clear sign that the Eagles

are a hundred percent behind changing

what their offense has been the first five years

of Nick Sireon's tenure?

Well, I wouldn't be being truthful

if I didn't tell you that it conjured shades of 2020

a little bit with the Andrew Bryners and Rich Gangarellos

and Marty Morningwigs.

But I think to a larger point here,

it does show you and it indicates

that the Eagles are all in

on trying to reimagine this offense

and modernize it and take it to the next level.

And they've equipped themselves with a lot of brilliant

offensive minds.

At least that's what they're being built as

and a lot of the people that I've spoken to

behind the scenes since the hiring of Sean Manion

and some of these other coaches coming on board

really supports that.

And what you've done now is you've added

a lot of different coaches with some

having different backgrounds.

And I imagine it's going to be a collaborative approach.

Whether it's too many coaches,

well, that remains to be seen, but I am intrigued.

And there's something to be said for the Eagles

who interviewed Jared Johnson

for the offensive coordinator job.

When Kellen Moore got the job,

he interviewed for him again.

He was a finalist, one of seven finalists.

And they were found a way to keep him

on to get him onto the staff.

Josh Grasart, he interviewed for the job.

He's on staff and you also have Sean Manion.

So those are obviously three coaches

that impress the Eagles throughout the stages

of the interview process.

And now they're all working together

to try to get this thing headed in the right direction.

Yeah, that is an interesting, you know,

as you mentioned, too many cook to the kitchen,

Scanger Hill, you're the, you know,

past game coordinator guy and you do this.

And that guy does that.

He calls plays on third downs.

You call plays on second downs.

Or is it all going to be Sean Manion

and you just have a lot more talented coaches in there?

You hope that's the way it goes.

I want to get your thoughts on the trade today.

DJ Moore to the bills.

It's a second round pick that goes to Chicago.

Chicago sends Moore and a fifth rounder.

And I guess that kind of shows you

that what Howie Roseman's asking for

does make a lot of sense in that if you do in fact,

and I don't think they want to trade AJ Brown

or newer will they, but if they do,

it seems like you got to get a better deal

than what DJ Moore got.

And that deal there helps fill it off the out.

Yeah, we you're also correct on that.

The Eagles don't want to move AJ Brown.

And they don't have to.

That's why there's not a lot of pressure on them.

They're end because if they are,

if they're blown away by a trade that helps them acquire assets

and further reconstruct the team

and set them up for sustained success,

well, then Howie Roseman's going to take advantage.

But yes, when you look at what DJ Moore commanded

a second round pick,

it was a little bit of a head scratcher to me.

I thought it was a little rich, I should say.

DJ Moore is a good player, not a great player.

AJ Brown is still, he still has a couple years

of playing at an elite level at the position.

And he, I've said this the entire time

and I maintain this, he is worth a first round pick.

And unless the Eagles get not only a first round pick,

but also something else to sweeten the deal,

I would imagine somewhere in the top 100

they're not going to move them.

And that's what a player of his caliber,

of his talent commands and Eagles

from the beginning of this have played it to a tee.

Yeah, and I know that a lot of people,

I'm not in the camp of like,

there's a lot of people that I come across.

I'm sure you do too, Andrew,

that are just like, I'm tired of AJ move on from him.

He doesn't want to be here.

I don't get that sense.

I don't think AJ doesn't want to be in Philly

because I can't get along with people I don't like.

I think he just wanted a bigger role in the offense.

Yeah, and I'm glad you put it that way.

It's not because of interpersonal dynamics.

That has nothing to do with it.

It has to do with AJ and what he wants to,

where he believes he can take his game,

his overall involvement and contributions to an offense.

And there's many times where he's a focal point,

but then there's other weeks where he's not involved as much.

And if you remember back to the post that he had,

I think it might have been after the parade,

he said the biggest throw that he gets in this game

is by dominating his opponent

and seeing them hang their head as they surrender.

And just the preparation and the process

of going through everything,

he believes that he could be a hall of favor,

he's on that trajectory that he can be among the best.

Whether or not he feels that this offense

with this personnel can sort of amend to that,

I mean, we're gonna, you would suggest not.

It's not a high volume passing attack.

And but I do think that if you're able to talk to AJ,

if Sean Mannians able to sit him down,

express his vision for the offense with conviction

and illustrate a way to get him involved early in games,

allow him to take advantage of his ability

to run after the catch,

you would probably be able to,

that would probably be an easy sell.

All right, Andrew.

Gotta get a draft question for you

before we get out of here.

Obviously, the draft is now, we're into the,

you know, about two months from now,

you know, obviously the end of April,

while we're looking at draft favorite position,

deepest position in this draft class.

Oh, I'll say tight end.

I've talked to a lot of Montana.

I talked to a bunch from the NFL Scouting Combine.

You know, I think Ken Yanzadeek is,

he's the head of the class here

and he kind of reminds me a little of Vernon Davis

explosive athlete.

Then you have Eli Stowers and Eli Stowers sort of

reminds me a little bit of Evan Ingram

and body type and fluidity and his ability

to maneuver as a pass catcher.

Max Claire is gonna be a guy who's gonna be

in that second round conversation from Ohio State.

And then you have some blocking centric tight ends

like a Sam Rauch from Stanford

who I think can go in the fourth round.

The Eagles are gonna have their choice

from a bevy of different types of players at the position

and they are going to add a little bit more variety

to the room this year in terms of skill set.

They're receiving centric last year.

This year you're going to see a blend of both

as they look to really reshape that room.

All right, that's the spot we all thought

they would draft last year, never happened.

Maybe they do it this year.

Perhaps at number 23, we'll talk more about that

with Andrew as we get closer to the draft.

Free agency opens legal tampering on Monday

by Wednesday they're all official on Thursday.

We'll talk about it with Andrew to check out.

Thanks, man.

You got it, man, take care.

The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are built to keep going,

blending rugged muscle with precision engineering.

All supported by Toyota's time tested legacy

of dependability, step into a Tundra

and feel the on yielding capability.

With the available I Force Max engine,

Tundra puts out impressive power torque

and towing performance and the Rumi high-tech cabin

keeps you connected on the go.

We'll take a look at the Tacoma,

made for drivers who push past the path.

Agile tough and relentless with available features

like crawl control, a portable JBL speaker

and a power lift gate.

So gear goes in fast and the adventure keeps moving.

The Tacoma and Tundra are engineered to endure

season after season, mile after mile.

So drive one home today, visit Toyota.com

or stop by your local Toyota dealer

to find out more Toyota.

Let's go places.

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Virginia, we are counting on you.

Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress

to raid the next election and wield unchecked power

for two more years, but you can stop them.

By voting yes, by April 21st.

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President Barack Obama.

Virginia, we are counting on you.

Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress

to raid the next election and wield unchecked power

for two more years, but you can stop them.

By voting yes, by April 21st.

Help put our elections back on a level playing field

and let voters decide not politicians.

Vote yes, by April 21st.

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