Football at Four: Updating the Eagles TE and CB Situation

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All right, let's bring in Jeff Mosher on a day

where the Eagles have got some things going.

Actually, it happened yesterday.

Right when we got off the air,

the Eagles made a couple of moves

and unless something has happened in the last couple of moments

since Jeff has popped on to the screen, Jeff.

Rick Wolland, who, I don't know how Halley

convinced him to take a one-year deal,

but there's a pretty impactful move for Halley Roseman,

is it not?

It's an impactful move.

I mean, you know better than this, Mike, come on.

Halley didn't convince him to take a one-year deal

over some offer elsewhere for more money and more years.

As Adam and I say, I can cap on inside the birds and you know this.

The NFL tells you how it feels about a player

by that player's contract.

And especially when free agency comes along.

He signed a one-year deal up to 15 million,

so it's not fully 15 million.

I think it's 12.

What a door you get, one-year for eight, I think.

So it's a little bit more than O'Dorey Jackson.

He's a talented kid who had a really good first year,

but he's got knocks against him.

There's immaturity knocks.

There's mental lapses.

He was benched in the game this year.

He's also very handsy.

He led the Seahawks in penalties.

So I know you've talked about it.

I've heard others point out this stat

that you know his numbers are really good when targeted.

And okay, but if they were really,

if that stat really told the story of who requal it is,

he wouldn't be signing a one-year deal in free agency.

Yeah, I know that.

By the way, that sounded negative.

I'm sorry.

I was just sort of going off of the convincing

that he obviously to me is a high upside upgrade

over O'Dorey Jackson.

So long as he fits this system well

and can really get his head on straight,

there's potential there.

Well, that's what I was going to ask.

What kind of fit is this?

This is a guy who's pretty good in man coverage

across from Quinion Mitchell now.

It's going to be Mitchell Cuperdigine

and you would think Woolen.

And his name has come up in trade talks

the last couple of years.

And it was like, hey, should you kick the tires there?

He's a big, I said, you know,

going back to the early Eagles

when Dallas had Michael Irvin and Alvin Harper

and you drafted Bobby Taylor.

You know, they were trying to find guys to go up there.

He would fit that bill, six, four, two, 15.

Big physical corner.

Does he fit in your mind, Vic Fangio's system?

Yeah, I think so.

I mean, Vic actually played more man defense last year

than he had the year before.

And I obviously did that because it's a year later

of Quinion Mitchell and Cuperdigine, right?

And he just felt more comfortable,

especially on third down in the NFL.

You want to be able to play man defenses.

You're going to either blitz

or you're going to, in Vic's case,

either play a tilted front or have a SIM pressure.

You're going to try to rattle the quarterback on third down

and you would love to be able to play man defense

to get those receivers kind of bumped off their outs

while the quarterback's under a little bit of the rest.

That's the key to playing defense.

That's why the Seahawks were so good at it.

They did not blitz up very much at all, excuse me.

So there is a clear fit with those long arms that he has.

He can be sticky.

I did speak to someone,

I spoke to someone today who did a personnel person

in the NFL who did watch his tape for his team.

And he told me that he feels it's an upgrade.

He thinks it's a good system fit, good man press corner.

But along with those other things that I said,

he gave up too many deep balls for a guy who has great speed

and really long arms.

So that's one thing you'd have to look out for.

All right, so intrigued by how he fits in here.

It's a one year deal for Rick Wolin.

And of course, one problem with him.

He's got a lot of penalties.

He's been a guy who gets a lot of these 15 yarders.

That's something that you're going to have to account for.

He had a huge penalty in that NFC championship game against the Rams.

He was the one that was whistled for that.

And I thought it was a weak taunting penalty,

but he's got a couple of those.

He has been flagged for stuff like this in the past.

So he's your new Derek Barnett.

Yeah, you know that.

Oh, I love that you mentioned that.

OK, because I was trying to think of a comp

and you just gave it to me.

Because as soon as the Eagles made the signing,

I kind of saw this reaction on social media,

like this is another great how he steal.

And it's so funny, because if Rick Wolin's exact career

was with the Eagles, where it starts off

with a good rookie year like Derek Barnett.

But by the end of the year, you're

talking about a guy who's had too many lapses, getting bench,

making mental mistakes in a big game.

If he were an eagle right now, Eagles fans

would want him to get out, right?

Like, that's the funny thing.

It's just like Eagles fans want

to have enough of Derek Barnett by the end of his career.

Remember, they were mad when he got resigned

for a one-year deal to the Eagles, right?

So I think it's always, I find this fascinating

is that sometimes fans and public get excited by the other

team's player who's clearly not impressing that team.

Because I think it's going to change here.

But in reverse, it doesn't work that way.

It's always that.

That's the guy you want to get out.

And I think it's fair to say, like, if Seattle's coaching staff,

I know the Eagles are not a great coaching staff,

but if Seattle's coaching staff was frustrated with him,

it to me signals that there's probably

going to be some frustrations with him here.

But I will say this.

He's the number two corner here.

Seattle has a different weather spoon.

He's a really, really good player.

But here, I would say you're not under the microscope

because you've got Quenya Mitchell and Cooper to Jane, right?

We'll see you, McCuba.

So I don't think the eyes will be on him to be a superstar.

He just has to be better for Jackson.

And I think a lot of people anticipate that would.

Why?

Because everybody remembers a Dory on opening night

and then doesn't remember any other game of the season.

He actually kind of played well as the season went on.

But it's opening night.

He did not play well.

And that's all we remember.

So he stunk last year, right?

Yeah, well, sort of right.

It didn't help that the Eagles were basically trying

to replace him at every single juncture of the season,

including a Jaira Alexander who could even get on the field, right?

I mean, the Eagles, in fairness to the fan,

the Eagles were also trying to say, can we please

try to get somebody better than the Dory Jackson?

But I think in fairness to the Dory,

he did play better as the season went along.

So again, if Rick Wollen could, but I'll,

here's the thing about a Dory.

Very mature, smart guy understands his assignments,

like his issues at this point where his age and his talent level.

And, you know, we saw that at times getting burned

and everything like that.

But you didn't have to worry about lapses per se

or immaturity or things like that.

All right, Jeff Mosher, football at four,

Rick Wollen is now here.

He gets a one-year deal.

It's up to $15 million.

We'll see how he fits in with Vic Fangio.

So the other moves I thought were interesting last night,

I want to get your take on these.

They signed Johnny Mont, a blocking tight end.

He knows Sean Manion.

They then follow that up by bringing back Grant Calcuttaire.

I thought this is the interesting part.

Do you think that they like Calcuttaire

enough as a pass catcher, not as a blocker?

Obviously, he struggled in that role.

But if, hey, you're the pass catcher,

the other guy, we now got a run blocker.

We are okay with Calcuttaire,

maybe drafting a guy developing him.

But Calcuttaire, you'll be the main pass catcher

for a heck of a lot less than Goddard.

The gloves are just a main pass catcher.

From the time he would basically be the,

he would be your pass catching tight end.

And Johnny months the blocker and then you draft a guy

and then maybe halfway through the season

if he's coming on or even if he beats Calcuttaire out.

But in lieu of paying someone $10 million to play tight end.

Right, right.

I think I'm in the middle with what you're saying.

I mean, I think the reality of the situation is

with Goddard probably not coming back here,

they had nobody under contract other than Cam Latto, right?

So to your point, you need a guy who knows the system.

Amazingly, Johnny Monk was with the Vikings

when Manion was a quarterback there.

So there's a guy who comes in and does take care

of that blocking element that you need.

And then I think what the Eagles are trying to do, Mike,

is make sure they have bodies at that position

and also not spend anything that's gonna cancel out.

Any comp picks that they're gonna get

so you never get dinged in the comp pick formula

when you bring back your own guys,

even if they hit free agency,

which he did not technically.

So there will no be, he's a body, he gives them depth.

They really only have three tight ends

under contract right now or by tomorrow,

which will be Monk, it'll be Calcutta and it'll be Cam Latto

who obviously is not proven much in this league,

although I would like to see him use more.

They do have EJ Jenkins and Jayne Bell,

but those guys are kind of fringe players

fighting to make a team.

So to me, it was more of an opportunity at that low price

to bring in a guy, yes, who can be a pass catching tight end,

but they're gonna have to draft there.

They're absolutely gonna have to draft at that position.

And I still think they have to make modest moves there

to your point.

Could he emerge as, I would think if he has to emerge

as your top pass catcher, then it's not a great thing,

to be honest with you, and hopefully that you draft high

and get a guy who can come play right away.

That's where like, hey, they've seen him for the last four years.

He's never really been given the opportunity,

but I got to imagine they've seen him in practice and think,

hey, this guy could catch the ball.

He could probably get some yards after the catch.

If we don't ask him to block, maybe we can have him for,

I don't know, what did he get paid, you know?

Well, it's a one year deal, so I'm gonna imagine it's

one of those, you know, 900K guarantee.

Exactly, like that.

So instead of paying a guy $10 million,

you're paying this guy less than a million dollars,

he catches three to four passes, he gets 40, 50 yards,

the other guy blocks.

I don't know like how big of a role the tight end

has in Sean Mannion's offense.

Well, that's where I'm wondering, you know,

and we have to see is, you know, what A,

what happens to AJ Brown?

B, how do they remake the wide receiver position?

Because they need bodies, they need depth,

they need to get more from a slot receiver.

They just need more than just two guys hauling, you know,

and the purpose of this offense is to be able to get guys

in space and, you know, make them productive.

So to your point, you know, that is an area where,

I thought Grant Calcutta, two years ago,

when he had a fill in for a couple of games,

for Goddard did a nice job.

Now he's kind of a catch the ball and turn around

if he can guy, he's not, he's not gonna break a lot of tackles.

I mean, he can run in space.

So he does fit the offense, but he's also, you know,

he's had his concussions yet.

I still think he has to make this team based on whatever moves

left that the Eagles are going to be making at that position.

But yeah, there could be some value at that price,

especially if he gets in there for a few snaps

and pick catches the ball.

Right, exactly.

You can't pay everybody.

We have a guy we're familiar with.

We've got a guy that can now block.

Maybe these two guys can hold it down.

We draft a guy, you know, in the second round,

he gets up to speed and boom, that's how he goes.

We'll see.

Re-black and chip, he obviously leaves.

How do you foresee now with what we know,

that safety position evolving moving forward here?

Yeah, and there are a couple of safety

using, you know, flown off the board lately.

So, I mean, you're looking at the available safeties now.

And, you know, I just put it up on Philly Voice.

I did a little, like, who are the best available at certain positions

and safety is one of them.

There's still some interesting names,

but they're going to be, remember,

they're not trying to make the type of signing, right?

That's going to cancel out what they're probably going to,

what, what, I can't see it not being a third round pick.

The number one overall compensatory pick next year,

in 2027 for losing,

Dylan Phillips is such a big deal.

So, you're looking at Kyle Dugger.

Andre Sisco is kind of interesting to me

because he was hurt last year with the Jets,

but he's been a decent safety throughout his career with the Jags.

He was a real ball hawk at Syracuse,

had, like, 13 interceptions in three years.

There's your old reliable, like Jordan Poyer

and Donovan Wilson, or Gino Stone and Ashton Davis.

Davis was drafted by Joe Douglas with the Jets.

So, there's some familiarity there.

But that's what we're looking at.

You know, I mean, if you're not going to pay $8 million,

roughly, to keep re-blankenship,

then you're not going to go out and sign Andre Sisco

for $10 million.

You know what I'm saying?

They're looking for that.

By the way, I do believe that not only they will get bodies

here, but I do believe Michael Carter,

the second coming back on that revised contract,

will get a chance to compete for that job.

He was a safety in college.

He was a very good nickel at one time for the Jets

until they changed their defense.

He came here and immediately got on the field

as like a third safety or a big nickel,

second interior slot guy.

So, I think that there's a chance he can compete for that job

and then there's always, do they move Cooper to Gene there?

Although, I would put that lower on the toilet and pool.

Okay, so let's get to the craziness that happened yesterday

in which Baltimore backs out of the deal

for Max Crosby yesterday,

then this morning they pivot and give $27 million a year

to Trey Hendrixson.

Number one, Hendrixson now makes less than Phillips.

I think that's interesting.

And then two, the fallout of Crosby going back

and what that could mean for Philadelphia

looking to replace Phillips.

Yeah, I mean, I know, obviously my colleague,

Jimmy Kemsky reported that they did the swing there

at Hendrixson.

I don't know how big of a swing it was,

but they took a swing.

Now, the recent reports are that the Raiders

are just going to wind up holding on to Max Crosby,

which is going to be an awesome look back.

I mean, with all the moves they've made to get Nicole B.D.

and get Quay Walker, Kemp Erick Stokes,

they're going to draft Mendoza, right?

He got genty in year two, better off into line,

watch the Raiders go win double-digit games,

and then Max Crosby is a big reason for that.

That would be a very funny look back.

But the Eagles definitely need to do something here

at the edges, Mike, and I don't know what it is.

Dude, there was reports that they would have been

interested in Crosby had they lost Phillips.

Well, Crosby got traded.

There's how we now call, and is he...

Oh, you're not getting two first round picks for him now, right?

God, man, I'm sure he's...

Yeah, I don't know if he was going to give up

two first round picks in the first place.

So we'll see.

Very, to me, it's a fascinating story,

but if the Raiders are going to hold on to...

I don't know if the...

I would imagine some of those Raiders

are going to hold on to in reports

or to fend off all the people now calling the Raiders

trying to offer like a six and a seventh for Max Crosby.

How he...

So we'll see what happens.

You know, you just know this.

How he's not going to go into the season,

this baron at the end position.

He'll do something.

I agree.

All right.

Adam Schefter about half an hour ago said,

quote, they would rather not move him,

even though he would like to be moved,

and they are not going to move him

until they get what they feel is a fair price.

That is the very latest on AJ Brown.

Has anything changed in your mind on AJ Brown

and whether he will be here or moved?

No, I still think that if there's some team

that can work with the Eagles,

on what they're looking for,

and I don't think the Patriots signing Romo Dobbs

makes them like, you know, all right,

we survived the loss of Stefan Diggs,

we had a really good year for them last year.

I think they need more, especially,

you don't want to come back equal

or just the same as you were last year,

you want to get better.

So I would still keep them very much alive

in the sweepstakes until it's officially over.

All right.

That's obviously something everybody's keeping an eye on.

Jalen Carter's name, you know,

they were getting calls.

This doesn't mean they wanted to trade him,

but do you think they are closer to working

on an extension for Jalen Carter?

Yeah, they should be.

I think they have to figure out

what's going to happen with the AJ Brown situation first.

And, you know, I also think they've got to make sure

that Jalen Carter, you know,

with his shoulder issues that he had last year,

I know he's been working in South Jersey, I believe,

really hard on getting those things rehabbed

and getting them right for the next season.

So that's going to be a big part of it too.

And, you know, Adam and I talked about us

on the pod a couple of days ago.

Whenever you see a guy that talented

and he doesn't have the extension yet

and the Eagles are known for doing them quickly,

that always is going to invite people to call it,

like, hey, what's going on there?

Is this guy available and then reports come out?

Jeff, it would be very rare.

It would be very surprising to me.

Now, I'm not ruling it out,

but it would be surprising to me if he got traded.

Jeff Moshe was with us.

Jordan Davis, he did get introduced today

at a press conference about his new contract there.

So Jordan Davis, he said he didn't expect Jalen Carter

to show up, Carter was there,

and we'll see what ends up happening with Carter

as he was there to kind of embrace his new teammate

who's now higher paid than he is.

That'll be something to keep an eye on as well.

Sam Halb, all the way to the back of quarterback

or actually the third quarterback.

He signed in Dallas, also Matt Pryor,

who was kind of a disappointment here.

He assigned in Arizona, so he's gone.

Brett Toath, he was another guy who,

we've talked a lot about Toath,

he actually was one of the more productive backup linemen.

They're going to have some work to do

on reshaping this offensive line at least to depth.

Yeah, so him signing with the Niners

is a validation of what we thought and then said

on inside the birds and that when you put him at left guard

and asked him to run up the middle and double team

three techniques or even single block.

You're not using him, correct?

That's not his strength.

He is an athletic guy who you want moving horizontally

like this new Eagles offense is going to do

with the wider zone or the outside zone.

And so we thought he would fit well

because when he moved the center,

if you remember in that game that they won against the Giants,

they did run outside, they kicked him out a little bit more,

so I'm having some pretty big blocks in the second level.

And so I thought he would be a key guy in some respects,

a key depth guy for the Eagles

and maybe you want to bring back on the cheap.

But the fact of the Niners signed him,

I thought, it's pretty interesting

because that does go to show that that is the kind of offense

where his strengths are going to be better capitalized.

And one thing, Jeff, it's 20 after four.

If you're listening live,

if you're listening in the best of the sports batch,

it's probably 20 after six.

But the time is the worst of the sports batch.

Come on.

That's the whole four hours, right?

The guys who were not free agents,

but teams are now releasing,

you're getting a new wave of free agents

that are starting to come out there.

Javad Hargrave is one we've seen being released.

So there could be another group of players

that emerge on the free agent market here between now

and by the time you hear this

in the best of the sports batch.

Oh, yeah, got to keep your eyes on Bradley Chubb.

I don't know if he's been officially released

right by the Dolphins, but they are going to.

And that would be a perfect signing for the Eagles.

Because again, when you sign a guy who gets released,

as opposed to having their contract expire,

then it doesn't count against the compict

where you could pay him $300 million billion

and it's not going to cancel out any of your compict formulas.

So N plus you played for Vic.

I mean, he's a big guy,

been to the Pro Bowl twice.

I mean, he's his ideal.

By the way, some of those names are starting to come out.

Josh Paschol, the defensive end from the Alliance.

He has been released Kyler Murray,

the quarterback, of course, he has been released.

Kirk Cousins, he has been released.

Jake Browning, the back of quarterback,

he is going to Tampa Bay.

Also released here moments ago, Harrison Smith.

So there's another safety that hits the market.

So you'll start to see some names

that will now enter the free agent mix as well.

Football at four.

Harrison Smith.

Harrison Smith is so old.

He might be hosting the best of the sports bash next year.

He is 37 years old.

Yeah, great career.

Yes.

The names that are going to be, you know,

Javon Hargrave, we just mentioned him.

He has been, by the way, a Zee's Ozalari,

he is heading to Atlanta with the Falcon.

So there's a former eagle that has got a new home as well.

Good stuff.

So don't forget to check out all his stuff

over at fillyboys.com.

And the podcasts with Adam and Jeff,

the Inside the Birds podcast over at Inside the Birds.com.

Andrews on tomorrow, Adams back on Friday.

Jeff, have a great rest of the week.

Thanks, you too, Mike.

We good.

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