I have heard and read various opinions concerning whether the Eagles should hang onto or release last year’s starting cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. I believe Chip Kelly has got to get rid of both of them.
There’s nothing that poisons a young team more than highly-paid, talented players, who set poor examples by either not giving maximum effort on the field or off of it.
Rodgers-Cromartie is as talented as any cornerback in the NFL, but he has a tendency to fall asleep mentally during games and he gives subpar effort at times. I’ve never heard him give an exhaustive scouting report on upcoming wide receivers. He’s always known that he can make a lot of money with his physical skills alone, so he’s never decided to put everything he has into being the best player he could be. DRC’s picture should be in the dictionary by the word lackadaisical.
Asomugha seems to be more interested in his off-field endeavors than football. It’s as if football is a part-time job for him. It’s like it was his side hustle.
Although he was the most-celebrated veteran defensive back they had on the roster, he never took the time to spend time with the younger players to make sure everybody was on the same page on every coverage and in every situation. Nnamdi was too busy going somewhere to meet with a politician or to make a speech. The veteran corner has lost a step or two and can’t run with many of the speedy wide receivers in the league.
The Eagles must change the defensive culture on this football team. They’ve got to have total commitment from everybody who puts on a uniform and is playing defense for the Birds. Poisonous attitudes must be eliminated and that’s why Nnamdi and DRC must be shown the door.
That’s also one of the reasons the Birds must take a long look at Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner, who is supposed to be the best corner in this year’s class.
Nobody could understand why during the BCS Championship game, the Notre Dame offense was attacking Milliner. It made no sense and he made the Fighting Iris pay for their foolish game plan.
Milliner is considered the best cornerback in this year’s NFL draft and he’s expected to go early in the first round because he’s an all around cornerback, who can do everything needed as an NFL cornerback.
He is listed at 6’1″ and he weighs about 200 pounds.
He’s got the speed, size, and quickness to be a top NFL cornerback. Milliner has a physical style and should flourish when allowed to move up into “press” technique where he can be aggressive with wide receiver.
He’s very technically sound. The youngster has been groomed to play a NFL style by former NFL head coach and defensive coordinator Nick Saban, so he knows how to play all of the coverages which are prevalent in the league. I also like the fact that he comes from a football culture where football is a religion.
When rebuilding a team, you must have players who value the game and desire to be great.
I’ve stated this since the Off-Season HC search began which ended with Chip Kelly being names the HC
There is no better way to set a new Tone and Vision for the Franchise then to gut the Roster of your older,underperforming,players who are overpaid and really not part of the Future.. The Best Way for a New SHerriff in Town is to surround himseld with new Deputies that But into his Program a 100%
If Chip Kelly does not cut the Chord with Players of the Past like Vick,Bell,Herremans,Jenkins,Cole,Patterson,Asmo, Coleman and let Free-Agents like DRC, Tapp,Landri walk, then this will truly not be “His Team”..
I’ve mentioned what Chuch Pagano and GM Griggson did in Indy last year
they gutted Veterans and now have a greay young core of Players who got plenty of playing opporutnites and are $40 Million under the Cap and actually made the Playoffs with a Roster of 35 New Colt Players.. Gone were Peyton Manning, Dallas Clark,Joseph Addai,Pierre Garcon,Jacob Tamme, Gary Brackett,Jacob Lacey,CLint Sessions,etc,etc …
Chip Kelly has that golden opportuity right now to make this Roster into his Likeness with his Type of Players.. not a baby-sitter to reinvent the wheel and try to Coach up Veteran Players whose best days are behing them.. There is no better time to do this than right now in his first year for by failing to do so is a sign of weakness and indesciveness on Chip Kelly’s Part..
Everyone needs to keep in mind, the Eagles are 12-22 over their last 34 NFL Games including 2 Losing Records at Home in Linc..
Can anyone tell me with a serious face, why as a new HC you would want to keep the Veteran Group Core of this Team around.. These are the same bunch that have quit, played heart-less football, threw Coaches and Teammates under the Bus.. Really guys, this is not Rocket Science and the Eagles with this Current Group are not a legitimate PLayoff Team anytime soon, so blow the F’er Up and begin anew with a new Roster full of hungey,passionate players trying to make names for themselves.. ..
For the Record,
I was probably the only one on here that Called the SIgning of CB Asmo a colossal mistake.. His last “Shut-down Year” was in 2008 with the Raiders and was simply average in 2009/2010 before coming to the Eagles.. I also warned about his off-the Field Image and Adventures that he was INvovled with and was looking for more post-career opportunites than actually playing Football and I also warned about his lack of “thick-skin” or what I call a lack of Mental Toughness to play in a Demanding Market like Philadelphia..
DRC is even weaker when it comes to the mental part of the Game, He’s lackadasical, immarture and just not very bright.. He’s athletic as hell but has never over his 5 Year Career been able to bring the Focus, the attention to detail that it takes on every down, or every week for an entire Season..
He fit right in on 2011 with the laid back, look at me Samuel and the Asmo who was wondering where he’s next Black-Tie event was going to be which probably made his lack of focus even worse.. He could be salvageable under the right Coaches and Circumstances, but I see his lack of mental toughness as a real detriment in staying with Philly.. Of Asmo if Cut which I expect, and DRC gets elevated to the Teams #1 CB, I don’t beleive DRC could handle the scrutiny, being the spokesman for the Secondary.. He just doesn;t have the fire in him from watching him over the last few Seasons..
Thats BS Paulman…when it happened no one on these boards said a word about being a colossal mistake…There were some like myself that said the Eagles should of went after a LB like Tulloch that year…But I recall no one saying the Nnamdi signing was a mistake…
That’s incorrect RT777,
I was Critical of the Signing from Day1 and have been Critical ever since…
In fact when we were all posting about our wish lists of Free-Agents when the lockout ended, I was the only one who said stay away from CB Asomougah for I wanted CB Carlos Rogers or Richard Marshall who were are more physical CB’s and I thought just better players than Asmogoah
I wanted Safety Dwan Landty, LB Tullock, CB Rogers… and instead, they shot their wad on Asmo which was a mistake and I said it then and I say it still…..
of his Salary versus his Value of a
I remember that Paul. I couldn’t understand why you said it, but reserved judgement because I wanted to wait, and see what you said had some weight..
But you did state that.
Everyone laughed at me for wanted CarlosRogers saying he was a bum and aninjury risk.. (he had an injury and missed 6 Weeks in 2009) but the man competes for the ball , is physical and since he played with the Redskins for his first 4-5 Seasons, knows the NFC East QB & WR’s and the other NFC Conference Teams and thought that was important where Asmo played in the AFC abd was not very familiar with the more Physical NFC East style of Play..
Al lRogers has done is malke the NFC Pro-Bowl the last 2 Seasons as a 49ers, is a leader and good locker room guy, meanwhile ASmo is one of the biggest Free-Agent Busts of all Time and in Fact, I believe he is the biggest singular Free-agent Bust in the HIstory of Free-Agency in the NFL
Instead of JH calling me Fraudman, Asmo is the “Fraudman” of All-Time in collectiing his $20 Million + over the last 2 Seasons..
for all we know Nnamdi may have become a God out there with that team.
Listen, we have no idea what these players would do if they swiitched teams…. this Eagles D has not had a coach in like 5 years… what do you expect?
Over and over again we hear how great you think you are at all your calls. You never take into consideration the systems these guys run in.
I remember. I was one of them, but I still think Carlos Rogers is an average CB. I think he found the right team, and scheme to use the talent he has, but he isn’t all that. Talent wise I say DRC is better. Effort wise I give Rogers the nod, but he had a more disciplined coach Fangio.
yea possibly you had your own preference…but at no time did you utter nor type the words signing Nnamdi would be a “colossal mistake”…Also, GMCliff, I don’t recall you posting on here back 2-3 years ago…
Check with Regular Posters RT777, and they would beg to differ
GMCliff, DCar, Stevo,Birdo and even Songs would remember since he really wanted Asmo.. I stated that Eagles should stay far,far away before they een signed him and then was critical once the Eagles did..
Anyways, ot really doesn;t matter now for 2 Years later, he’s been th biggest bust in NFL Free-Agnecy History.. The time to move on and cut his ass is right now, this Off-season before the Draft, Spring OTA’s and start with a new Secondary..
See unreal Paul always takes the negative. If it doesn’t work out he says I told you so, if the guy is great he says hey I’m a fan glad he turned out great. It’s a pansy way to do business but it works for him
Nmadi was the best CB on a terrible Raiders team. Teams avoided throwing to his side (as we read 50,000x) not because of his greatness, but because of the weaknesses of the other players. Offensive coaches don’t avoid good players, they attack weak ones.. I mentioned this several times when Nmandi signed…that and I never believed the Eagles were as close to the SB as they thought they were.
DRC is a disaster and needs to be shipped out of here poste haste. The team that signs that slacker to a big $$ contract will rue it for the next 4 years.
Duly noted for the Record Vinnie
(A 2013 Calender of “Asmo’s Dancing Puppies” is on the Way to you and your Family to Enjoy)..
Eagles have 8 Free-Agents Players on their Roster
(7 Unrestricted and 1 Restricted)
7 Unrestricted Players that are Free-agents as of March 9th,2013
CB DRC
DE Darryl Tapp
DT Derek Landri
LB Akeem Jordan
OL King Dunlap & Jake Scott
LS Jon Donebros
1 Unrestricted Free Agent (means Eagles must make an Initial Offer to the Player by March 12,2013 by 4pm and would then have the Right of Matching another Teams offer or would receive Compensation in return if that Player signs for more $$ elsewhere)
Colt Anderson (who probably won’t get much or any offers from anyone else)
the only Player with this Status ..
I amgaine the Eagles will not make any offers anythime soon to sign their own Free-Agents outside of Colt Anderson and Jon Donebros.. maybe a Jake Scott depending on how the Draft goes and if they Trade or Release Herremans (as I am hoping)
They will have time in April/May to pursue players like Jordan,Landri if they feel they have the need.. I am expecting to make an Offer to DRC but will not be a serious one and not want DRC and his Agent are Looking for..
I expect DRC to go back South where he’s from and play closer to his hometown on McMinnville,Tn and see him landing at Carolina, Tennessee or possibly the Saints for he is a fish out of water playing up in the big City up North
I think Demeco Ryans needs to be cut.He makes too much money and I dont like his happy ho hum attitude.Whenever they would ask him about what was going on with the team he would just say that everything was ok,to me he didnt seem like a leader and I just didnt like what he had to say to the media week to week.
Ryans stays, we need leaders. Im fine with moving on from the starting Cb’s. I understand the desire to clean house but we still have to play football. If you were to tell the starting O that we are fielding the all D rookie team this year it would create problems (plus its just dumb).
How would you replace 5 starting guys that were big FA names? By grabbing 5 more FA’s? Stupid.
We draft a CB in round 2.
We sign a quality starting CB or keep DRC
Nnamdi is cut.
Trade Cole if we are switching to a 3-4.
Sign a Thumper at S.S.
Draft a LB.
Draft a DT in round 1.
In all…. we need to draft well and sign 2 guys.
I am with you Stevo, Ryans stays,he was one of the better players last year and we have some many holes to fill it would be foolish to cut Demeco Ryans
Besides giving up a 4th Ruond Pick to the Texans for MLB Ryans
they also switched Draft Positions in the 3rd Round so the Eagles dropped 12 Positions on the Draft Board in this Deal also (from #13th to #25 in the 3rd Rd)..
Texasns Drafted Guard Brandon Brooks and Eagles Selected QB Nick Foles
judging the past is an easy thing to do, projecting the future is the hard part. i hope chip can get the right personal together whether it is a complete overhaul (I am hoping for) but if it includes a mix i am willing to give it a shot.
status quo was Andy’s downfall. i am not going to be surprised in the least to see a revolving door like Seattle was for the last couple years. i think chip will gets guys in that want to play and are willing to follow his his leadership. back to being a blue collar team instead of a bunch of talented sucks.
as much as paulmans commentary is bs and a pile of smoke, his points are typically fairly accurate. and for the record he did say asamo was a bad signing.
Andy’s downfall was not status quo…. making the Oline coach the DC, signing the FA dream team, bringing in position coaches before cordinators… and on and on is not staus quo. Andy failed to make in game changes and he failed to look outside his system for coaches (until it was too late)
About Pman….. the man says 100 things and gets 1 right.
good point on andy, and you are right pman i sbatting somewhere between .070 and .100
He also said Tom Donahue would be vp of football, Dave wanndstadt (who incidentally caused flacco to transfer because he wasn’t good enough to get on the field) would be the eagles coach and on and on. He crows when one of the many theories he throws out hits and says my bad when they don’t. Andy would have been better staying with status quo.. He went against all of his good common sense philosophy for fommicks
Just read the 49ers said No to the Saints about talking to Ed Donatell for the D-Coord position, if that’s the case I guess we can scratch him off our list, can’t see them saying no to them an yes to us.
I am really confused in regards to the DC. I would have thought we would have heard somerthing with today being signing day and the superbowl having passed. I think they already have there guy, they have too, they already have all the coaching positions filled. Its gotta be Grantham.. maybe?
i think so too Frank. I was under the belief that it was one of the SB coaches but now i think its Grantham… no way they built this staff without knowing who the DC was, the new DC has been calling the shots from afar.
I think so too Steveo.. It wouldn’t make sense to do it like they did last year.
You can’t kick both to the curb, because you don’t have two reliable CBs to replace them. Nnamdi has the best attitude of the two and in a revitalized system emphasizing man coverage he mat find his stride. Cromartie on the other hand is a child trapped in a man’s body…who knows when he’ll grow up…it may be well after his playing days are over. Dee Milliner maybe should be the 1st rounder as this draft is supposed to be deep at O-Line, but after remembering the O-Line play this year I still kind of think Joeckel should be the guy.
Eagles need to trade Down from #4 to the Rams for their #16 & #22nd Picks
Rams Want OT Joeckel or Fisher and will have to move up to get one of these Top OT Prospects who can play from Day 1..
At #16 – Eagles could still get stud Safety Kenny Vaccaro from Texas
At #22 – Eagles could get very good CB Xavier Rhodes from Fla State or Trufant from Washington or Jonathon Banks from MIss State
Trade a Top 4 Pick but Fill in 2 Crtical Spots in the Secondary is a pretty good move in my opinion…
Eagles need to obtail 2-3 More Draft Picks by trading Veteran PLayers and by Sliding down from the #4 Spot to rebuild this Team with as many quality players as possible in the Top 4 ROunds (Top #125 Picks)
I too was skeptical of the Nnamdi signing, if for no other reason they already had millions invested in Samuel at the time and had just traded for DRC. So in my mind they were investing way too much money in a third corner, and had a huge need at LB (as always). Anyway, I wouldn’t be shocked if Nnanmdi goes and DRC stays. Rumor has it Billy Davis is the new DC. He was DC in Arizona during DRC’s only pro bowl season and the birds might believe Davis can harness the physical ability that DRC has, but doesn’t often tap into.
Let’s talk common sense here.
Chip Kelly has done nothing publicly to give us any insight into his plans for the team: All he has done is made a couple of PR appearances.
The choice of coaches can be debated, but just because, say, the new Defensive Coordinator seems to be a journeyman type, that doesn’t mean that he can’t do a good job here given the right players and proper support.
The real problem is the lack of players, especially on defense, and, in the last few years, the lack of any coherent schemes to use the players.
This includes offense, defense and special teams.
I favor going into full rebuilding mode, meaning cleaning all deadwood from the locker room…BUT, in order to do this successfully, you will have to have a grade A draft this year, acquire a few ‘ready to play’ free agents, and have a coaching philosophy that is both consistent AND flexible…Don’t expect miracles this season; the best we can hope for is progress.
Just too many question marks everywhere, and, of course, the QB position will play a key role…But the goal should be to move forward with a fresh approach, and not half step to challenge for a mere playoff berth as an acceptable end result.
As for the type of football that will win a championship, just look at the teams that played in the Super Bowl, with the 49ers, although they lost, seeming to have all the ingredients for continued success at a high level, not the least of which is a coach who isn’t afraid to make the adjustments necessary to push his team to the next plateau.