Donte Stallworth and a Technical Glitch

I was on the road this weekend when the Stallworth deal broke, so I used my mobile posting software to put up my quick thoughts on the news.  Due to an evident technical glitch, that post came through a bit ... strangely. 

Looking back on it, that pretty much summed my first response up.  A long string of unprintable characters.

One day later, here's what I think happened.  The Eagles determined several months ago that they weren't going to be able to afford to keep Donte.  So they did all their offseason planning with that in mind.  They pulled tape on Kevin Curtis and Wes Welker.  They thought about doing something in the draft.  They determined that they would be spending their money in other places.

Then all of a sudden Donte's price started falling.  Next thing you know, he's dropped right down into what everyone would agree was a very reasonable price for him.  But this team couldn't pull the trigger.  And so he's gone and while his departure won't cripple our offense -- by any means -- it's a real loss that leaves us much less well-positioned next year should we lose one of our other playmakers to any significant injury.

Obviously, I just pulled all that out of thin air.  I don't know anything that you don't know.  But it makes sense.  And it certainly fits the Eagles' pattern under Andy Reid: rock-solid long term plan, but maybe not that flexible in fast-moving situations (see: last few minutes of the Super Bowl, end-of-half clock management, play-calling, etcetera).

I'm not a sky-is-falling fan.  I understand you can't sign everyone you want and even if you could, it wouldn't be the best way to go.  But Stallworth was a big help to this offense and now that he's gone, we shouldn't kid ourselves that everything is going to be OK.  Reggie Brown is fine as our go-to, but we saw a few years ago what happens when you take a guy who did well in a smaller role (Greg Lewis the UDFA success story) and move him into a larger role he may not be prepared for (Greg Lewis the failed #1 receiver).  Baskett and Avant looked good last year doing what they did, but their success once teams are focusing on them is certainly not assured. 

The Eagles may not be done making moves.  There's at least a chance they will be signing Kevin Curtis, who has done well serving as the third receiver for the St. Louis Rams.  But even if they do sign him, the question will be if he is prepared to be a full-time starter.  And how much money does he get?  If it's not that far from what Donte received, maybe we should just have kept the guy who already had success here...

Comments

[Bekir Celikay]

There's another Stallworth to be found out there somewhere. I TRUST the PHILADELPHIA EAGLES will address the need for speed at receiver. They have a solid core of receivers, a GREAT QUARTERBACK coming back, hopefully totally healthy. I'm not worried. I see 10-12 wins, if not more. It's too early to tell that yet though.

[Bake]

Having a speedy receiver that's not as good as stallworth but can put in at least 13 games is better than having Stallworth at 8 games a year. Hopefully Donte can work out his injury problems, but he hasn't shown to be a full time player as of yet.

[Bake]

I don't know how much Donte ended up getting, but it was too much in the EAGLES eyes, apparently because he's injury prone.