Listening to updates of the NFL’s labor negotiations lately is like watching a couple of Ice Cube’s movies……
“ARE WE THERE YET??”
”ARE WE DONE YET??”
“CAN THEY PLAY YET??”
“CAN I DRIVE TO LEHIGH YET??”
With the salary cap returning after a year hiatus, one thing will be certain. There are going to be quite a few cap casualties to add to the approx. 500 free agents in waiting.
Reggie Bush, Shawn Andrews, and Nate Clements are a few names that come to mind.
A few teams are currently over the reported $120 million limit (i.e.- Dallas Cowboys at $136 million). Other teams, such as the San Francisco 49ers with Clements $17 million cap figure for 2011, will reconsider the value of players under contract.
Out west in Mile High City, one of Philadelphia’s favorite Eagles of all-time could be a free agent soon.
Denver Bronco safety Brian Dawkins is scheduled to make $6 million this coming season. That’s pretty steep for someone turning 38 in a few months, especially when the Broncos current payroll is within $1 million of the reported salary cap.
The Broncos could rework Dawkins contract, but I doubt it will happen. In April’s draft, they drafted two safeties in the 2nd and 4th rounds. Also, Dawkins’ signing was during the Josh McDaniels era. New Vice President John Elway and head coach John Fox aren’t attached to the future Hall of Famer.
If Dawkins does hit the market, should the Eagles bring him back?? Of course they should and listed below are the reasons why….
1. Contract amount- When Dawk left Philly after the 2008 season, it was obviously for the money (5yrs; $17 million). It’s just as 
obvious that he won’t receive that type of offer again. Unfortunately, at this stage of his career combined with the other free agents in waiting, Dawkins won’t be as coveted. He’ll likely receive a 1yr (2yr tops) deal.
2. Veteran leadership- Anyone who knows about Brian Dawkins knows that he’s a fiery, emotional leader who motivates his teammates to “GIVE IT ALL YOU GOT!!” That’s one thing that’s lacking on the Eagles defense. Nate Allen is going into his second season. 2nd round pick Jaiquawn Jarrett doesn’t even know his jersey yet. The Eagles also might land 25 yr old Dominique Rogers-Cromartie once the lockout is ended. All of these guys could use the mentoring of Dawkins.
3. Most veterans end up returning to Philly- When the Eagles lose veterans via free agency, it’s always business. Most of the time, on a personal level, those same guys love Philadelphia and return as a player, coach or radio personality. As previously stated, Dawkins went to Denver for the money. After 13 seasons in midnight green, I believe he’s still an Eagle at heart.
Although Andy Reid has rearranged the Eagles roster for the “Young Gunz” to take over, veteran leadership is still necessary for a team’s success.
With Jarrett and Allen the future at safety, but they still need time to develop as a tandem. With Quintin Mikell likely wanting a 3-4 year deal, don’t expect him back in Philly.
Brian Dawkins would be the perfect stopgap solution. Not only would he help transition Allen and Jarrett into a starting tandem, he would be a coaching extension on the field to help Juan Castillo’s crash course transition to defensive coordinator.
The way free agency may possibly unfold when the lockout ends, don’t be surprised if you see No. 20 crawling out the tunnel in eight weeks.
There is no need for him. Take care of the rest of the holes on the DF first. If he wants to except a low contract, maybe, but he is done.
B DAWK, KEEP YOUR PRIDE. REMEMBER WHAT BANNER WITH HIS COFFEE STAINED TEETH AND FAT SLOB REID DID TO YOU. YOU WERE TOO OLD. GO ELSEWHERE. THESE WEASELS DON’T DESERVE YOU.
Yeah right…Dawks time is up here and “father time” has arrived (been arrived). It doesn’t even make sense. Were rebuilding with younger and faster weapons and i like what i see in Allen/cole and possibly the new safety (brain freeze at moment,forgot his name). I got nothing but love for dawk and all but that’s it. Thanks for the great memories #20 and hope to see you in the hall as an eagle. It wouldn’t matter to me if he was willing to do a 2year 1 million dollar contract, it’s time for a new phase with a new defense. Time to move forward nuff said. Ridiculous article by the way…just plain ridiculous.
Jaiquawn Jarrett is his name my bad. The article was so ridiculous that I couldn’t continue past the first few paragraphs (still can’t, I just happen to scroll back up and caught his name). Ridiculous.
If we could get him cheap, i say do it just for the fact of some personality on defense for a change. we have no amped up head hunters.
By the way (I can’t seem to leave this damn ridiculous article) Mikells time is up as well. Our rookies don’t need any transition help from”father times 2″ while balls are soaring over their heads for touchdowns; while they’re so called transitioning the younger players. The young gunz will be alright imo. Alright, hopefully I’m finished with this “ridiculousness”.
LMAO…Ok Ok Ok …which article was more ridiculous…Brett favre as a backup or this one….LMAO..Love ’em to death but I don’t wanna see #20 on the field anymore…
Putting Dawkins on the field now, would be like playing with 10 men on defense. He is now too slow to cover syrup going up a hill in January. If you want to bring him back, bring him back as a secondary coach. I love the guy, but the best way for the new safetys to grow is to play and gain experience. There is no substitute for experience.
as a coach yes. as a player, hell no. he’s done for this type of play. its like bringing Trotter back, again.
ummm i have no issue with them bringing him back. And i fell that this article is way more legit then farve coming here. Eagles are known for bringing back certain guys. I wouldnt mind them bringing back dawk at all But not as a starter. More of a mentor/motivator. Play him on occasional downs and in certain situations. The guy can still hit and blitz.
I think its a great idea bringing him back.. But only as a commentator along side Meril Reese and fire Mike Quick.. To play football nahhhhhhh. Also you got G on here talking about playing cover 2 which aint happening with Dawkins in the lineup.
There is no doubt he will be released by the Broncos, as will many players who are ove r30 and making a big Salary.. but Dawkin’s playing days are over.. Remember the Eagles has Marlin “Billie Jean” Jackson who will most likley play Safety and help out the young guys.. Jackson (if Heathly and that’s a big if) has played in a Cover-2 Scheme when back in Indy under Coach Dungy) so he will be able to contribute and help mentor the young guys..
I’LL SAY IT!!!!
Right now at the age of 38 Dawk is better than every safety on our team!
Don’t forget it’s Dawk who we’ve been trying to replace since he left..Have he been replaced? Hell to the no.
How many pro bowlers at safety did we have since his departure? Now….How many pro bowls have Dawk attended since his departure?
I don’t give a damn about age if the talent is not there.
If Dawkins come back to this secondary…the secondary automatically gets better. He makes players around him better players and we can’t say that about anyone in our secondary including Asante Samuel.
Dawkins makes players around him better..and yes….He’ll do it as long as his body is in top shape.
I remember the same guys on here said Vick’s better days was behind him. Remember?
You said Dawk was washed up …and he went to Denver in a new defense and had a pro bowl year. Remember? What kind of year did our young safties have? Did youth stop them from being torched? Look what Britt did to Allen last year. Come on guys…use some since when making certain statements. You can not say a guy is washed up..and none of the players who are younger on our team have shown they’re beter.
you guys are so effing dumb on here i swear to god i don’t even know why i bother reading your comments.
i agree with songs
how the hell do you guys how slow he is, washed up, etc., did you clock him in the 40, so many damn experts here, chock full of stats geeks, jock sniffers you are
Paulman, you are ridiculous…Marlin Jackson have not played a full season in years. So what makes him a better option compared to Dawk?
Would it surprise anyone if Marlin Jackson suffer another season ending injury before the season?
Our Safety play fell off signifcantly after Dawk left and the only guy who was servicable was Quinto Mikell…And he looked like fish out of water in those post game press conferences…We all was looking at this guy and asking…What the hell this guy doing answering questions after a game? Is this the guy that was supposed to step in Dawk shoes? We played russian roullette with the position every season after Dawk been gone and have been torched.
You think our worse red zone play over 25 years have anything to do with the Safties?
You guys pisses me off when you claim a guy is washed up then complain when the scrubs we have get torched continuously. You can’t have it both ways. Dawk is a special player…They don’t don’t come like that often. I don’t want a guy because he’s younger….I want a guy who is better at the safety position regardless of age. I want a guy who know what to do in a crunch situation in the secondary…A guy who can study a quarterback and read tendencies and have the respect of his teammates so they will do what’s needed in a game when it’s all on the line.
Is that any of the Allens? No! Is that Jackson? No! Is that Cole? No Is that Quinton Mikell? No! They all had a chance (Except Jarrett) to show they could step in Dawk’s shoes..and didn’t….I don’t give a damn if Dawk’s 50…If he’s better than what we have and can make players better around him, I’m all for his ceremonious return.
Ok sure guys… While we’re at it lets bring back Bobby Abreu to the Phils.. Why not bring back Eric Lingros to the Flyers? While we’re at it lets bring Allen Iverson back and trade Jrue Holiday.
Lets compare Nate Allens numbers last years to Dawks shall we?
Brian Dawkins 66 Tackles 2 Sacks 2 Forced Fumbles 1 Ints
Nate Allen – 48 Tackles 2 sacks 1 forced fumble 3 Ints
Very close numbers but Nate did this in his rookie year and missed half the season.
Exactly Vricchini…I agree, the stats speak for themselves; guys it’s time to stop livin in the past and get with the here and now. Sure, Dawkins can lay the wood if he’s in the proximity of a player; but only if he isn’t out ran by these younger faster receivers. Nate allens numbers in half a year and he’s boomin and doin his thing. I believe Cole and Jarrett are going to be beasts as well. Some of you alls comments are just as ridiculous as this article.
Vricchini….I think you just proved our point…He’s 38 with comparable numbers to a rookie who is supposed to be better and faster. So his age really don’t make a difference..Right?
And by the way..Dawkins also missed the 2nd half of the season due to injury.
Thanks for the numbers….proves Dawk still have something left.
Vricchini …I think you forgot to mention Allens serious fall off before he was injured. He was getting toasted in the secondary in those games before injury and all 3 int’s came in the first part of the season. He was horrendous before and after the Titans game. That’s why the Eagles drafted Jarrett this year. Believe me…if Dawk is invited back he starts hands down over every safety on the team.
can the man play football, is he in shape, those are the questions you can’t answer by stats, but you know what type of leadership he brings to a defense that is damn soft, he is one of the best to play in eagles history, if he is in shape, can play, he is better than what the eagles now have and can make a huge difference on team morale, remember the eagles brought back Trotter and Douglas, this is a special player
I posted those numbers in regards to your statement that Dawk is MUCH better than anything we have when stats show he isnt MUCH better. Compare his stats to Nate Allen when he was a rookie
Dawk – 53 Tackles 1 Sack and 3 Ints (Rookie year)
Nate Allen – 48 Tackles 2 sacks 1 forced fumble 3 Ints (rookie year)
Stop trying to find a solution when we have more pressing needs at the moment. In the nfl things dont work like where we can just replace everyone in one off season cmon we got the OL, CB, QB, DE, DT positions to worry about more. We have a promising safety crew. Is it old school dawkins? no but it doesn’t have to be to win in our case.
yes Vricchini…but by posting the numbers you disproved the age factor you were using to say Dawk was over the hill. If he put up comparable numbers to a rookie…age is not a factor.
Songs your acting like we seen all the potential off Nate Allen. like what he did last year is what he’s going to do every year. It was his rookie season and was hurt half the year and still put up the same numbers as Brian Dawkins did in his rookie year and last year. This does not show that Dawk is better because we didn’t see a FULL Nate Allen yet. Your problem is you want Dawkins back here to take over at safety and expect him to dominate and problem solved and by saying that is idiotic I could possibly see if your reason was to bring him in to help the young safeties but its not. Its oh yeah bring Dawkins back and SUPERBOWL HERE WE COME.
vricchini..If we had a nickle for every player with so called potential we’d have put those nickles together and buy the Eagles…Potential don’t cut it. That means it can go either way. Remember the Stewart Bradley potential talks? how about the Kolb potential talks last offseason. how about the potential Freddie Mitchell had…oh yeah..reggie Brown had a lot of potential. I don’t give a damn about potential. the reality is Nate Allen stunk up the joint the few games he played before injury and he have the potential to keep getting burned too. We’ve never seen a stretch of bad games like that when Dawk was here…Even if Dawk don’t dominate…he’ll be better than what we have,,and hell make the other players better. Can Nate Allen make the other players better? Hell no..I’m stating fact. Our saftey position have been weak since Dawk left that’s fact. And if the opportunity comes for him to show he have a few season left…I would like those seasons in Eagles green. If he succeed ..we’ll improve…if he lost a step or two..that’s when the young guys can step in..But Dawk have earned his stripes and a chance to show he can still do it. You still didn’t answer the first question…What Eagles safety seen a pro bowl since Dawk left? Did Dawk see a Pro Bowl after he left the Eagles? So we are talking about a pro bowl player against a bunch of unprovensafties that got torched last year and became the apart of the worse red zone coverage in Eagles history. But none of that matters to you…At least they are young. And if you throw in the offensive line coach who never coached a pro defense in his life…Do you really want to see our safeties with no veteran leadership under Juan Castillo learning on the job? That’s a recipe for disaster. Dawk will help the Eagles in more ways than one.
Brian Dawkins is finished as an Eagle. He will re-sign in Denver for less money, never even be on the market. Why argue about things that will not happen. NA isn’t coming here either, so that debate is also a waste of time. They are not coming to Philadelphia, I repeat, they are not coming to Philadelphia, this is not a drill.
anderson..ok let me get this right..Brian Dawkins was too old and not worth resigning but we’ve been trying to replace him every since he left. what’s wrong with that picture? Usually when a player is not good anymore…there’s a player on the team that’s better. Why get rid of a player only to downgrade the position? Another thing…..If the Eagles believe in Nate Allen and Cole…Why draft A Safety with the 2nd pick and have Reid state that he reminds him of Dawk? It’s obvious Dawk was never replaced. Why would Denver want to rework a contract for an over the hill Safety? Could it be that even at the age of 38 …he’s still the best Safety on Denver’s roster?
No way. Veteran leadership is overrated. Because the same folks that talk about that then turn around an tout how good it is to be a young team i.e. the young guns with almost 0 veteran leadership on offense. Secondly, what are you going to bring Dawk in for? If you sign him at this point in his career that says a lot about your personnel.
His last couple seasons, he was only good around the line of scrimmage. If they are converting to more of a cover 2 defense, that means he would have to you know, COVER a lot more. And cover deep and no one wants to see him out there 30+ yards off the line of scrimmage. I really don’t see any good reason. Even if he’s a backup, he’s doesn’t play special teams. Love ya Dawk, but no thanks.
Guys you know why Eagles fans will except Dawk back with no problem? Not just his leadership skills, or strong play of the past……..Our safeties were getting torched since he left..The Safety position gets exploited. That’s why. And if we can’t improve on what we had …..might as well get to where we were before digressing.
You don’t hold roster spots for “leadership”. Has to perform on the field, point blank. And he cannot cover anyone. No thanks.
Scorp…didn’t you say Vick best days were behind him last offseason?
If he’s cut, bring him back for one day contract so he can retire an Eagle. Honestly I didnt watch him in Denver enought to know whether he can still play at an elite level or not. But I do know their D was God awful.
Still, I want him to retire a Bird.
Randall…you should have watched…He’s better than every safety on our team…and he even got a pro bowl appearance the season he left. retire these stiffs that allowed us to have the worse red zone coverage in football history. How about retiring those bums.
Randall …in case you didn’t know..here’s some facts.
Former Eagles safety Brian Dawkins is expecting to take a pay cut to play this season with the Denver Broncos.
When Dawkins left the Eagles before the 2009 season, his contract was reported to be for 5 years and $17 million, with the possibility of it escalating to $27 million if he reached certain performance incentives. The first 2 years were for $9 million, with $7.2 million guaranteed.
Well, Dawkins has reached the salary escalator that bumped his salary this past season from $2.24 million to $6 million, according to the Denver Post.
He actually made incentives placed in his contract to prove his age wouldn’t slow production compared to other safeties.
Could any of our safties command salaries like this? If not…..Why? Quinton Mikell is younger..Do you think he’ll make near what dawk will make this season? If not ..why?
He’s not coming back. Denver has young safeties as well, Dawk will not even be playing by the end of the season, in my opinion. He is just a bridge to the new guys. He’s not an Eagle, not going to be again, unless he does that one day contract bit to retire as an Eagle. This debate is like talking about women you can’t meet and cars you can’t afford to drive, worthless expenditure of time.
anderson…did you think Vick would be the starting QB? Did you think Kolb ass would be outta here? Just trying to show you how much weight your opinion have. zero weight
Yeah, same amount as yours. None.
And for the record, I stated repeatedly last summer, I did not care who the qb was as long as that person played well, and the other guy brought back good draft picks. It makes no difference to me, doesn’t now, didn’t then. There always existed the possibility that Kolb would not get it done, what difference would it make to me?I am off to the gym, AMF
Why, does everyone on here, have to fight with each other, to prove who is right? Sit back, take a breath, & look realistically at the situation. The Birds do not make decisions based on nostalgia or past accomplishments. They began the rebuilding process, when they let him go the first time. What makes you think they will bring him back after 2 additional years. They do not sign 30+ players, especially now that they’re rebuilding. Thus the reason, Asomugha isn’t happening. What makes you think they will admit to making a mistake, by letting him go in the first place? I love BDawk, he is my favorite all time Bird, right behind Reggie White, but guys he is done here & doesn’t fit here, in the Eagles plans. Especially the way they do business. We may not agree, but it is a reality. We all have to stop thinking with our hearts, & start thinking in reality. Because the Birds do & don’t care what anyone thinks anyway. Let’s get over it & get excited about FA & the future.
Owners passed the vote…..players should vote on the conf call in 20 minutes….lets get this done tonight…..
This site is serious trash man. Every website has the lock out on it already but gcobb wont have this news until tomorrow afternoon smh.
NO DEAL DONE…….Players NOT voting
. ..
Songs are you high?..
Damn DDCar…you hit the nail on the head; I’m actually agreeing with you on that one buddy.
You guys act like we’re saying bring dawkins back for every down. One year contract for a superbowl run is not out of the question. His voice and tenacity on the sidelines alone is worth a cheap offer. You guys are a bunch of know nothings.
Songs, no I didn’t say that. I’m one of the ones like you that wanted Vick over Kolb from the beginning. Got me confused with someone else.
DDCar I agree with you wholeheartedly about Dawk. But I don’t agree with you entirely about your statements about the Eagles. I think they would bring anyone back IF they actually think that person added value to the team and can contribute. Trotter is an example of that. Our LBs went down and the ones left standing sucked so even though Trot was done, we almost had no choice because we needed LBs. I think they would sign a guy like Dawk for the same reasons. Not saying that’s what I want to happen but I wouldn’t use a blanket statement with the Eagles because all situations aren’t the same and they react differently do them. It all depends on how good the guys you already have are and the alternatives. Having said that, Dawk is done.
Dawk needs to get on the phone with Andy privately and ask what is the realistic money they’ll give him for one solid year if he refuse to rework his deal with Denver. If the numbers are right…He can sit back and tell Denver he can’t renegotiate. We sign Asmo with Asante and Dawk?..the Secondary would be beasting..and we’ll be able to match these big corners and cover tight ends for a change.
You mentioned in your article that the broncos drafted 2 safeties this yr, well what did the eagles do the past 2 years? Draft 3 safeties n sign another… cmon man its not gonna happen… dawk is dang there 40 yrs old n all banged up… he’s a liability on a team at this point, he ll most likely retire unless a team has a desperate need at safety…
Songs, you are delusional. A secondary with asante, nnamdi and dawk would only emphasize the old mans decline. It shows how you really only dwell in fantasy land. Do you want the birds to bring back troy vincent too? What about hugh dougs? Sean barber? To? Ricky waters? Are you pissed the phils haven’t resigned curt shilling?