Even during the Death Valley section of the offseason, there have been a number of interesting stories recently. They just haven't risen quite to the post level -- especially since they're not all totally Eagles related -- so it's wrap-up time.
On Donte Stallworth. I keep seeing the headline "Stallworth sentenced to 30 days in jail." I don't know about you, but for rolling up a BAC of >.12, driving yourself home, and killing a dude crossing the street whom you saw, that seems incredibly weak.
But it turns out the headline doesn't cover the full punishment:
After his release from jail, he must serve two years of house arrest and spend eight years on probation. The house arrest provisions will allow him to resume his football career, his attorney said...
Stallworth also must undergo drug and alcohol testing, will have a lifetime driver's license suspension and must perform 1,000 hours of community service. Lyons said after five years, Stallworth could win approval for limited driving such as for employment.
Is that an appropriate punishment for someone who killed a man? I don't know. But I do believe it's fair that he's going to be dealing with the repercussions the rest of his life -- even if he is rich enough to hire someone to drive him everywhere.
I've always liked Donte, despite the obvious issues. I just hope he's smart enough to keep his nose clean the next few years so we don't end up seeing probation revoked and another life wasted.
On McNabb's deal. Yeah, I know, covered to death. But I hadn't seen this interesting stat from Reuben Frank until today:
Donovan McNabb's contract was a fossil, a relic from another era.
Before he signed his restructured deal on Friday morning, McNabb's contract dated back to 2002, which made him - according to NFL Players Association documents - the only active NFL quarterback with a contract that predated 2005.
And only four quarterbacks have deals that go back that far - Carson Palmer, Andrew Walter, Jason Campbell and Matt Hasselbeck.
So McNabb's deal was the oldest in the NFL by three years. And since signing it, he's taken the Eagles to four NFC title games and a Super Bowl.
So it's pretty simple to see why the Eagles gave him a raise.
You can argue about how much of that success was "baked in" to his current deal, but that's still a pretty amazing figure.
On Omar Gaither. Frank also has an offseason look at Gaither's attempt to reclaim his starting spot. I didn't think he was playing that badly either. And early in the season, he was the only linebacker who didn't look lost in pass coverage.
You have to wonder if a possible switch at defensive coordinator would make this quest easier or harder.
On Lorenzo Booker. It really would solve a bunch of problems if Booker were at least adequate this year, wouldn't it? Suddenly we don't have to worry quite as much about Westbrook's ankle or McCoy's grasp of the offense. With that said, this is laughable:
Fair or not, the tag on Booker is that he falls to the turf if a defender happens to breathe on him too heavily — a bum rap, he said.
“I’m not going to be like Eddie George and break eight tackles,” said Booker, who turns 25 on Sunday. “I’m going to break some, but I’m not going to move the pile four yards. That’s not my style of play. ... I don’t expect people to know that because everything I do is during training camp. They wouldn’t know. How can I be mad at people who don’t know?
“It’s like my son. He’s not potty-trained. I’m not going to be mad if he pees himself. You can’t be mad at somebody who just doesn’t know. Over time, they will.”
Right, dude, the fans just don't have a clue. It's not like we didn't get to see you carry the ball 40+ times last year in the pre- and regular seasons. Maybe you'll be better with some effective blocking -- something you didn't see much of last year -- but we know what we saw.
On the offensive line. I'm actually a little annoyed with KC Joyner Enterprises right now, because I subscribed to get access to his current research and it's not working and no one over there is returning my emails. This wouldn't be so annoying if the most recent data weren't AFC East run-blocking numbers, the division that happens to be the former home of one Jason Peters.
So listen, KC. I'm going to bold this link. And I'm going to ask everyone who has time to click on it. Because I want you to check your stats, see the traffic and then realize we really, really want to know how well Jason Peters blocked in the run game last year.
With that said, I still want to point to an NYT post KC had a couple days ago that Gabe linked to in his delicious feed:
The POA win marks from the center/left are all very good, and right tackle Jon Runyan’s 83.6% mark was acceptable. The only weakness was at right guard; starter Shawn Andrews missed most of the season and his backups were adequate at best. What these numbers show is that the Eagles’ O-line had a solid base to build on when they added Jason Peters and Stacy Andrews, so their run blocking should be much improved at some level in 2009.
I'm actually happy to see those numbers, because they suggest Nick Cole wasn't as great as everyone seems to think he was, which matches my perception of what I saw on the field. The YPA stat also supports the idea that Herremans was our best lineman last year. The only head-scratcher is JJ's high POA win%, but that's another reason I want to see some more league statistics. Seems like the center is involved in a lot of combo blocks, so maybe those guys have better numbers as a group.
He also echoes the point we've made before:
Philly’s failure to gain a single yard on those four runs led their offensive line to take a ton of grief, but after looking at the tape, I am convinced that grief was misdirected. The defense had eight POA wins on those runs but four of them came against tight ends, one against a wide receiver and one against a fullback. One of the defensive wins came when a linebacker shot the gap unblocked, so there was only a single POA loss by an offensive lineman in those four plays.
The Eagles seemed to recognize this weakness, or at least their acquisition of the free-agent fullback Leonard Weaver and the drafting of tight end Cornelius Ingram suggest that is the case. If those two can help shore up the short-yardage inadequacies that plagued last year’s Eagles, Philadelphia should be able to run the ball at will regardless of the situation.
I'm not sure how much Ingram buys us there, but Weaver should be a huge addition.
On Jeremy Maclin. In a bloghead post (still need to figure out the individual post links, guys), practice squad cornerback Trae Williams gives his assessment of the Eagles wide receivers. He's pretty effusive ... until he gets to Maclin:
"He's doing a good job. He has good speed. He routes are coming along. He has good hands. I think with some work between here and training camp, he can have the same success DeSean did last year (as a rookie)."
Hopefully Maclin's a fast learner. And it's worth a click on that link to read what he says about everyone else.
On Juan Castillo. Spadaro had this to say about Jason Peters a couple days ago:
It is, however, rather interesting to me that the Eagles have had this generational handoff at left tackle -- from Thomas to Peters -- and we're not blinking an eye about it. Castillo inspires that confidence, doesn't he? If there is any coach to bring out the best in his players, it's Castillo. The best of Peters is the best of the best, and it is an exciting prospect to consider that the Eagles have something that could be very, very special at left tackle this year, and for many years to come.
This is actually an interesting test case in that debate we were having a few weeks ago. If Castillo isn't really a guy who turns lumps of coal into diamonds, but is a guy who turns uncut stones into polished beauties, Jason Peters could end up being scary good. Let the experiment begin.
On Kevin Curtis. And they say the man has no personality with the press:
Curtis, who turns 31 next month, also is suddenly the graybeard among the wide receivers. He knows that he is not guaranteed as prominent a role as he enjoyed when he signed as a free agent 2 years ago, penciled in right away as the No. 1 wideout.
"I'm trying to keep the hair long to stay kind of young to throw off the front office to think I'm not aging," joked Curtis, heading into his seventh NFL season.
Lastly, on that stupid financial dispute. So it's settled. The Eagles paid the city $3 million yesterday, and everyone calls it even.
I thought it was interesting that the writer made this point:
The $3 million would seem to be pocket change for the Eagles, considering their sold-out games and high salaries for players and coaches. The franchise on Friday rewarded its star quarterback, Donovan McNabb, with a $5 million bump in pay to keep him happy, upping the last two years of his contract, according to NFL sources, to $24.2 million.
And though every buck counts at City Hall, $3 million is just 0.075 percent of Philadelphia's $4 billion annual budget.
Everyone has the idea that the Eagles are some massive institution, but according to Forbes, their 2007 revenues (net of debt payments) were only $237 million. That's a bucketload of money, but it pales in comparison to the $4 billion entity that is the city of Philadelphia.
I also thought this part was interesting:
One thing is clear. The $3 million won't allow the city to spend money on anything new. On paper, the city has already spent the $8 million.
If your interests tend to both sports and local politics, check out this report. Page 8 is the interesting part.
Lastly, lastly. I just came across this post while researching the last item. There's a long driiiiiiiiive, deep left field, that ball is ..... OOOOUUUUTTAAAA HEEEEEEEEERE.
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