Eagles remove franchise tag

[EagleFan344]

Who wants him? Im glad that overrated lazy ass piece of trash is gone. However, I was hoping we could get something for him.

[BBTV]

*yawns.*

Corey who?

Now we're $5 million more under the cap. If decent players get released, we are in position to pick and choose, not worry about fitting guys in. As long as they don't give TO a dime of the extra cap money.

[pcgd]

Maurice Clarrett is availible

[Pat]

Hey did anyone here my email on Game Night on ESPN Radio regarding Corey Simon and the Packers?

Freddy Coleman sure seemed like he thought itd be a good idea for the Pack to look at him, even though IMO its a little unrealistic.

Anyway pretty cool my email got on!

[Jigga]

I don't know about the overrated and lazy comments. I'm a 'Skins fan and Corey Simon always played well against them...lol. However, I commend the Eagles organization for removing ONE of their offseason distractions. Andy Reid and Joe Banner know what they're doing (remember they did the same thing to Jeremiah Trotter and he was a BUST in DC). For a team to be a consistent contender and to still be so far under the salary cap is amazing. I wouldn't be surprised if they add another solid player after the late cuts to take Simon's place in the rotation.

[BBTV]

Yeah, they rarely make personnel mistakes. The Trotter move was very costly, but necessary at the time. He is perfect for the Eagles and they are perfect for him. But they knew that he wasn't the premiere player that was worth 6.5 mill a year, so they had to let him go and bust.

Letting Shawn Barber go was a mistake, but again, he wanted superstar money, and they haven't fallen off too far at OLB.

Everyone thought letting Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor go was a mistake, and what happened? Pro bowl Lito Sheppard and should-have-been pro-bowler Sheldon Brown.

People bitched about letting Staley go, but I think they've done just fine without him.

For the past two seasone, Corey Simon was pretty much worthless IMO, and with the depth they now have at DL he is really not needed, especially not at Franchise player dollars. Good riddence to a fat, fat man.

[EagleFan344]

We wont sign anyone to replace Simon. Thats where Mike Patterson, our first round pick comes in. We had alot of DT depth, so thats another reason we let Simon go.

[otherwilds]

I really respect these owners and GM's that are holding the line on better than average players that want superstar mega deals. Maybe this will serve as a wake up call for Simon and provide the motivation for him to earn the big contract he believes he deserves. Or is there some scumbucket agent telling him he's some outlandish figure just to fatten his cut.

[BBTV]

I don't know where Simon thinks he will get this huge contract from. The Eagles shopped him around, and only two teams really showed interest. They cut a deal with Baltimore for a 2nd and 3rd round pick (a steal for the Eagles) but Baltimore wouldn't give Simon an extension anywhere near what he was looking for, so the deal fell through.

The problem is that when a team has prolonged success, and even goes to a SuperBowl, some players start to think that they are the reason for it and that they are better than they are. What they don't realize is that on teams like the Eagles and Patriots, most (not all) of the players are interchangable, and losing anyone doesn't really slow the train down. Simon will find this out the hard way, unfortunately.

Oh, and V.D. - if you are reading this...

You better hope that Kearse doesn't decide to take Simon's #90, which was the rumor early in the spring when Simon was going to be traded to Baltimore. I was going to pick up a black Kearse jersey to go with my green Trotter and white H.D., but I may hold off for a couple of weeks now.

[VitaminD]

Yeah, I'm here, thinking the same thing. And I've got my midnight green #93 on. Hell, it was correct last year and at some point this preseason, it'll do for now. I don't think my Buckhalter #28 is coming out all that much this year - or next year - or next year. The only good thing about him is that he can't hold out for more cash because he hasn't done a damned thing.

If the trend holds, Corey will head south for the cash, be exposed for what he is - underperforming, and not as successful outside Jim Johnson's system. Like Hugh. Like Trotter. (Like Troy and Bobby, but they're not headed back this way.) Corey gets cut after 1 year and heads back to the banks of the Schuylkill, humbled and ready to play for what he deserves. If Shawn Barber is the worst mistake we've made, then so be it.

[bigger question: can Joe Banner wander across Pattison and smack Ed Wade upside the head, just to see if a little managerial acumen makes it way through Ed's newscaster hair? The Eagles are the shrewdest evaluators of talent going; the Phillies are so in love with their overestimations that they can't get out of their own way. Tangent over.]

Honestly, I don't know where he's going to get more than $5 mil a year, and have a shot of going deep into the playoffs. The locker room is full of enough cautionary tales, had he paid attention, he'd know that. Of course, with a Florida State "ejakayshun", there's only so much he could have picked up along the way!

Oh well... see ya in '06 at the NovaCare, Corey.

[BBTV]

Yeah, I'm here, thinking the same thing. And I've got my midnight green #93 on. Hell, it was correct last year and at some point this preseason, it'll do for now. I don't think my Buckhalter #28 is coming out all that much this year - or next year - or next year. The only good thing about him is that he can't hold out for more cash because he hasn't done a damned thing.

If the trend holds, Corey will head south for the cash, be exposed for what he is - underperforming, and not as successful outside Jim Johnson's system. Like Hugh. Like Trotter. (Like Troy and Bobby, but they're not headed back this way.) Corey gets cut after 1 year and heads back to the banks of the Schuylkill, humbled and ready to play for what he deserves. If Shawn Barber is the worst mistake we've made, then so be it.

[bigger question: can Joe Banner wander across Pattison and smack Ed Wade upside the head, just to see if a little managerial acumen makes it way through Ed's newscaster hair? The Eagles are the shrewdest evaluators of talent going; the Phillies are so in love with their overestimations that they can't get out of their own way. Tangent over.]

Honestly, I don't know where he's going to get more than $5 mil a year, and have a shot of going deep into the playoffs. The locker room is full of enough cautionary tales, had he paid attention, he'd know that. Of course, with a Florida State "ejakayshun", there's only so much he could have picked up along the way!

Oh well... see ya in '06 at the NovaCare, Corey.

After reading some of the stories, I don't really think he wanted this to happen at all. I believe that he 100% wanted and expected to play for the Eagles this year and beyond, but was just being lazy and skipping camp / preseason. He thought he could sit out, nix any trade, and report a week or so before the first game and be OK. The contract thing was more of a disguise for his true intentions. But, Banner and Reid called his bluff, and now he'll be suiting up for some 1-15 team desperate for any kind of marquee name (and I use the term marquee as loosely as possible.)

Also, there was an article in the Inquire a while back about how the Flyers started sending their top people to "cap class" with Joe Banner, and Joe pretty much trained them on how to manage a cap. They started this about 2 years ago, just to be ready for the cap era in the NHL. Do you think that the Phillies would ever seek anyone's advice or even listen to another perspective on how to do things? Of course not, because they know better than all of us.

[Sterling84]

Looks like Green Bay isn't at all interested in Corey either. Which, given the condition of our D-Line is a little hmmm?

They must have a Joe Johnson hangover.

I really like the way the Eagles do things despite how they've ruled us the last couple years. I'm a fan of Reid and their upper management.

But given that they haven't actually won anything yet, don't you guys think there is room to question some of their tactics?

New England is the model for interchangeable team players....but heck. They've got three titles to back them up.

I don't see the point of running at 15million under the cap or whatever when there were pieces to be had to put them over the top. Once in a while they go shopping (Kearse) and most times they play hardline with their existing roster.

Do you think longterm it could make Philly a less attractive place to play for free agents? Unless winning cures all ills which maybe it does....if winning Divisions counts.

I'm not casting stones. Green Bay has made nothing but questionable moves since Wolf left and is not much of a model for anything. And the Colts are mortgaging their near future all on Manning which seems like poor planning, so I get where the Eagles' heads are at. But their fans seem to be really eager to lump themselves in the same category with New England and I think there are some key differences there. You guys might be the sole second best run team in football, but it's a big step up to #1.

[BBTV]

Looks like Green Bay isn't at all interested in Corey either.  Which, given the condition of our D-Line is a little hmmm?

They must have a Joe Johnson hangover.

I really like the way the Eagles do things despite how they've ruled us the last couple years.  I'm a fan of Reid and their upper management.

But given that they haven't actually won anything yet, don't you guys think there is room to question some of their tactics?

New England is the model for interchangeable team players....but heck.  They've got three titles to back them up.

I don't see the point of running at 15million under the cap or whatever when there were pieces to be had to put them over the top.  Once in a while they go shopping (Kearse) and most times they play hardline with their existing roster.

Do you think longterm it could make Philly a less attractive place to play for free agents?  Unless winning cures all ills which maybe it does....if winning Divisions counts.

I'm not casting stones.  Green Bay has made nothing but questionable moves since Wolf left and is not much of a model for anything.  And the Colts are mortgaging their near future all on Manning which seems like poor planning, so I get where the Eagles' heads are at.  But their fans seem to be really eager to lump themselves in the same category with New England and I think there are some key differences there.  You guys might be the sole second best run team in football, but it's a big step up to #1.

You make a good point about "not winning anything" yet, and some around here are saying the same thing. They make fun of how the Eagles are always the "cap champions" but never the SB champions.

I think it can be looked at two ways.

1. Should a team sell out and over pay for great players to make a big run at a SB, and then risk being in cap hell for the next few years? Some fans would say that any amount of post SB suffering would be worth it just to win one title.

2. Should a team position itsself to have the flexibility to be competitive every year, and at least give fans the excitement of a championship run every year (even if it doesn't necessarily result in a title?)

I think #2 is the way to go. Every year for the past 5 years, we've had something to look forward to, because each of those years we had a legit chance to go to and win the SB. Things happen, but we had 17-18 weeks of highly entertaining exciting football every year. I'd rather have that than go into a season knowing that we are rebuilding. Plus, with the cap excess, they have the flexibility to add a Kearse or TO when they come available.

The other good thing about the way they do business is they almost never cut players prior to their contract being done. Infact, other than Runyan accepting a smaller deal to stay on the team this year, I'm not sure that they have ever had to release a player for cap reasons. I'm not sure any other teams (maybe NE) can say that.

I think that ties in to your point about players wanting to sign here. You know that you may not get as much, but you have a better chance of seeing most if not all of your contract dollars here than anywhere else. They also do a good job of locking up young players early in their careers, before they hit free-agency. They offer the player long-term security early in their careers, and in exchange the players take a little less than they may get if they wait until free agency. I think a lot of players think that the Eagles organization is very fair, and the only "business decisions" really come into play when players are done with their contracts.

Also, while they haven't won a SB, I do think it is fair to give them the benefit of the doubt with their personnel decesions, because the fact is that when it comes to decisions about their own players, they have been right, despite fan backlash and media criticism. They only place they can be criticized is possibly with some of the draft picks (even though they've been pretty good there too) and maybe some free agents that they didn't even consider.

I think a lot of fans in a lot of cities would kill for a situation like what the Eagles have given us, and you have to remember that only one team can win the SB every year, and being second to NE is not a bad thing.

Edit:

And I don't think that the gap between #2 and #1 is that big, at least off the field. Remember, New England had a little luck with Tom Brady. I can't think that even they knew the type of player he would turn into. Not that the Eagles haven't gotten lucky with some guys, but having Bledsoe get hurt and the Brady era beginning in '01 was huge.

[VitaminD]

As another resident of Eagles Nation, I am with BBTV in choosing the 2nd option. The Eagles have a very clear business model. It's not hard to figure out, and they've gotten to the point where nearly every personnel decision they've made has worked out for them. They've even managed to welcome players like Hugh Douglas and Trotter back into the fold after allowing them to strike out on their own in such of fat cash, only to find out the grass isn't greener on the other side.

By not allowing anyone special treatment (which TO had to know going in, which makes his actions all the more puzzling), the Eagles don't have to worry about caving in. Their policies are their policies. And by adhering to a sound fiscal model, they leave themselves room to acquire the missing pieces or 2. But those pieces aren't predicated just on talent - with the exception of TO, the Eagles will not bring in guys who'll disrupt the locker room, no matter how talented they are. The ship doesn't get rocked often because they choose their talent carefully and evaluate it shrewdly.

Having lived through the Marion Campbell and Rich Kotite Eras, I never want to go back to the days of 3-13. Losing in the NFC Championship or Super Bowl hurts anew every year, but you've got to get to those games to experience that kind of hurt. And you've got to get to those games to have a shot at being the last team standing. In this era of forced parody, the Eagles have been one of the 4 best teams in the league over the last 4 seasons, are the odds-on favorite to win the conference again, and are set up to be dominant for the next 3 or 4 years beyond this one. They've got it right, and if they find that last piece, I'll be on Broad Street in February, screaming like a fool.

Long-term security, even if it is a below-market deal, appeals to most players. And they are one of the few teams to realize that players do age, and their production falters. They pay for projected potential over past results, and unlike teams like the Cowboys and 49ers, who've had to fight out from beneath bloated contracts to over-the-hill talent, the Eagles are always ready to snap up that player who wants to play for a winner.

[Sterling84]

I think both BBTV and Vitamin make some nice points and really I can't argue them too much. I'm used to getting fairly blasted by Philly fans but, heck....I just enjoyed reading those posts very much.

I'll be rooting for them (as a distant #2 of course) this year simply because they didn't cave to T.O. Somebody has to take a stand and they sure have.

I can tell you though.....as Favre's career winds down and you can feel the window closing........the feeling of wasted opportunity is overwhelming. When Ahman went off for 1800 some yards several years ago, I told my friends......enjoy this. This is a magical running game and will not be repeated. We wasted five years with maybe the 2nd best O-Line in football and the break-away back we'd never had before. Now it's gone and although they are still formidable offensively......our defense assures us fans that we aren't going anywhere in January.

Anyway the most important thing to remember is indeed that only one team can win it all and everyone else feels disappointed.......whether they lose the SB or finish 4-12. Enjoy this period while it lasts.

[BBTV]

The fans who blast you are probably all younger guys, and don't realize what life was like during some of the previous eras.

One thing about being an Eagles fan, though: You really have to root for the laundry, not the players. Every year they draft or sign someone's replacement, and with only few exceptions, your favorite player won't be around for more than 10 minutes after he hits his peak. Staley-Westbrook. Vincent/Taylor-Sheppard/Brown. Bishop-Lewis. Simon-Patterson. Douglas-McDougal. C.Johnson-Pinkston. etc. etc. etc.

One thing they do is assign percentage based values to positions based on how important those positions are to their system. For example, a few years ago they extended Donovan's deal a few years early, and people were screaming "why did they give him all that money when they didn't have to?" What they did was project what the cap would be in a few years, project what Donovan would be making on the open market, and apparantly that number was a higher percentage of the projected cap than what they allocate for QB (even a franchise caliber QB.) So they figured that since they had the cap room to over pay him in '02, they could lock him up at today's dollars, so that for most of the contract, he would fall within their QB allocation. That is part of why they let Trotter go the first time. They had a very small percentage allocated for linebackers, because they felt that in their system, linebacker was not a position that required a great player. They have since changed that thinking a little bit, but not much. Once they establish their model, they rarely deviate from it, no matter how tempting the player is (TO is the exception because of how hard Donovan lobbied for him.)

VD is also correct in the points he made about character being a factor. They just don't bring bad guys in (again, TO being the exception because Donovan begged for him.) A couple years ago when they were really desperate for a receiver, they considered drafting Plaxico Burress. After his first interview (I think he may even have skipped one) they annonced that they had no interest, despite his talent. That is a trend, and for the most part the team is loaded with good likable people. Having worked personally with the players on various functions, I can attest to that.

One story that comes to mind has to do with former safety Damon Moore. Moore was a promising young player who was starting along side Brian Dawkins. He got in trouble because he tried to abandon his dog (some really expensive breed) by tying him to a tree in a park and just leaving him. Reid suspended him and he was not brought back the next year (I think there was also an injury concern, but I think that the character thing was the main reason.)

[VitaminD]

One story that comes to mind has to do with former safety Damon Moore. Moore was a promising young player who was starting along side Brian Dawkins. He got in trouble because he tried to abandon his dog (some really expensive breed) by tying him to a tree in a park and just leaving him. Reid suspended him and he was not brought back the next year (I think there was also an injury concern, but I think that the character thing was the main reason.)

The Damon Moore thng happened 10-15 minutes from where I live, at a park in Voorhees. But as much as the character thing had a definite impact, I remember that it was more because he blew up his knee. I don't think he's caught on with anyone, even the teams that are less moral than the Eagles. Plenty of teams could use a young safety with some talent like him, but no one's got him.

[EagleFan344]

Moore signed on with the Bears for part of the 02' season. It only lists him in 6 games though...