Eagles' Building of team

[SunDancer]

I keep hearing about the Philadelphia Eagles' philosophy of team building and cap management that keeps them inline, and in the contender "mode". Anyone explain this philosophy, through cap management, building through the draft/free agency, and overturning of the roster/player development.

[cthomer5000]

1. Don't overpay players. Even if they are very good, do not pay them more than you feel they are realisitcally worth.

2. Pro-actively re-negotiatie and extend contracts before players reach free agency. If you watch closely, the Eagles sign many young players to 3-4 year extensions before they are even in the last year of their current deal. If you trust your scouting department, this is a great way to lock up players at good prices.

3. Don't sign big money, long-term contracts with players over 30 years old. Those players are on the backside of their careers, and generally aren't worth it. Many players who walk away from Philly are 30+.

4. Don't be afraid to throw a bunch of draft picks at positions of need. Remember when the Eagles drafted DB's 1-2-3 a few years ago? Well, now they have a deep secondary ready to replace one or two departing vets. There was also little drop-off when multiple starters were out for extended stretches this past season.


I would say that's the basis of their philosophy.

[Subby]

The Philadelphia and New England team building strategies are so sound that both teams were able to make the playoffs despite numerous injuries that would have devastated other franchises...

I wish Danny would pay attention. :(

[JAG]

cthomer has it pretty much exactly, except I don't agree with 4. (CB wasn't a position of need with Taylor and Vincent, Pro Bowlers, at starters. I think they did it to protect themselves against what is happening this year with both Vincent and Taylor departing. Pretty impressive foresight). To put it most simply, they are always looking towards the future with their moves. By signing young players early, they pay the cost in cap money right away, but years down the line, they save what those players would've cost had they waited till they were free agents. By not signing older players, they protect themselves as best they can against players being injured or less effective in future years. By not overpaying players (e.g. they let Trotter go even though he was a Pro Bowl LB rather than paying him a huge salary), they give themselves more cap flexibility in future years. One area where I think they're missing the boat is giving a decent free agent vet a high 1 year contract with their left-over cap space. They can shore up an area of need (WR anyone?) and don't hurt themselves for the future.

I don't like the Eagles much, but to me there's no question that the way they handle the cap and their roster is the class of the league.

[rkmsuf]

The Philadelphia and New England team building strategies are so sound that both teams were able to make the playoffs despite numerous injuries that would have devastated other franchises...

I wish Danny would pay attention. :(

Agreed although if you were a Philly fan I guess you could be somewhat critical of being 27 million under the cap. I'm not saying spend like a drunken Snyder but 27 million?

[cthomer5000]

Agreed although if you were a Philly fan I guess you could be somewhat critical of being 27 million under the cap. I'm not saying spend like a drunken Snyder but 27 million?
I assume you mean they are *currently* 27 million under the cap. Since free agency hasn't started yet, it's difficult to criticize them for having that much money.

They were around 8-9 million under the cap last year at season's end.

[rkmsuf]

I assume you mean they are *currently* 27 million under the cap. Since free agency hasn't started yet, it's difficult to criticize them for having that much money.

They were around 8-9 million under the cap last year at season's end.

Currently but they've traditionally been well under. I'm not saying it's a big deal just that from a Philly fan perspective I'd think they'd want to get over the hump. Splerging on something other than say Pinkston, Mitchell ect might be a start.

They do a fine job overall and it's a minor point.

[AgPete]

Agreed although if you were a Philly fan I guess you could be somewhat critical of being 27 million under the cap. I'm not saying spend like a drunken Snyder but 27 million?


I don't think a team needs to spend for the sake of spending but when the team continues to lose the NFC title games and has plenty of cap room, you wonder if there were one or two free agents they could have gone after that would have put them over the hump.

[JAG]

Even a sober Snyder.

[rkmsuf]

Even a sober Snyder.

Yeah actually that would have been a funnier analogy...

[JAG]

I don't think a team needs to spend for the sake of spending but when the team continues to lose the NFC title games and has plenty of cap room, you wonder if there were one or two free agents they could have gone after that would have put them over the hump.

That's a little unfair. Were they supposed to account for the 18 or so injuries to the DL their defense sustained? I think they mainly just got screwed this year with injuries (I know, the Patriots overcame them, but that doesn't mean every team can), although I would agree they knew prior to this year that they needed a receiver and didn't even try to get one.

[AgPete]

That's a little unfair. Were they supposed to account for the 18 or so injuries to the DL their defense sustained? I think they mainly just got screwed this year with injuries (I know, the Patriots overcame them, but that doesn't mean every team can), although I would agree they knew prior to this year that they needed a receiver and didn't even try to get one.

I don't think it's unfair because teams have done it before. Remember the '94 49ers? They kept losing in the NFC title game to the Cowboys so they went out and bought a boatload of expensive free agent vets. It's one of the reasons why they were in cap hell for a bit. It got them a Super Bowl that year though. The Ravens tried to do it in their repeat year but failed to reach the Super Bowl. Injuries are impossible to predict but if a team has a lot of cap room, they can always invest in depth. The Titans paid Neil O'Donnell a lot of money to be their backup quarterback for a few years. I'm sure Philly could have found one or two players who would have given them an edge last year.

[JAG]

I don't think it's unfair because teams have done it before. Remember the '94 49ers? They kept losing in the NFC title game to the Cowboys so they went out and bought a boatload of expensive free agent vets. It's one of the reasons why they were in cap hell for a bit. It got them a Super Bowl that year though. The Ravens tried to do it in their repeat year but failed to reach the Super Bowl. Injuries are impossible to predict but if a team has a lot of cap room, they can always invest in depth. The Titans paid Neil O'Donnell a lot of money to be their backup quarterback for a few years. I'm sure Philly could have found one or two players who would have given them an edge last year.

For the most part, I agree with you. There were some areas they could have and should have shored up, including backup LB and starting WR's, but a lot of the reason for their collapse can be attributed to their injuries, including Brian Westbrook, Carlos Emmons, and all the guys on their DL they lost for the year. They had depth at RB with Staley and Buckhalter. They HAD great depth on the DL before they lost 3 or 4 people for the year, along with nagging injuries to numerous others. You can't field a team of 75. I guarantee you nail any team with losing 3-4 DLmen for the year and I will give you a team that will get runover at the end of the year. No team can adequately prepare when one position gets ravaged by injuries. Remember a couple of years back where Dallas was starting a bunch of nobodies on the OL due to injury or a few years back when their top 4 of 5 WR's were hurt and they signed (for the love of God) Alvin Harper?

[AgPete]

For the most part, I agree with you. There were some areas they could have and should have shored up, including backup LB and starting WR's, but a lot of the reason for their collapse can be attributed to their injuries, including Brian Westbrook, Carlos Emmons, and all the guys on their DL they lost for the year. They had depth at RB with Staley and Buckhalter. They HAD great depth on the DL before they lost 3 or 4 people for the year, along with nagging injuries to numerous others. You can't field a team of 75. I guarantee you nail any team with losing 3-4 DLmen for the year and I will give you a team that will get runover at the end of the year. No team can adequately prepare when one position gets ravaged by injuries. Remember a couple of years back where Dallas was starting a bunch of nobodies on the OL due to injury or a few years back when their top 4 of 5 WR's were hurt and they signed (for the love of God) Alvin Harper?

I won't disagree with that. I remember how many times I kept reading about starting dlinemen going down or the Eagles. It seemed to happen every week. LOL They lost most of their starting defensive backs during some periods of the season, Westbrook's loss really hurt, yeah, I agree with you that it's miraculous what they did when you consider how many injuries they had last year. Maybe people should be giving praise to Andy Reid for just getting that team to the NFC Championship game. I can't think of many teams that would have gone that far with that many injuries. I'm a Cowboys fan so I hope the Eagles never decide to start splurging on the cap. :D If the Eagles went after someone like TO to improve their offense, that could be a scary situation. :eek:

[SunDancer]

I don't think it's unfair because teams have done it before. Remember the '94 49ers? They kept losing in the NFC title game to the Cowboys so they went out and bought a boatload of expensive free agent vets. It's one of the reasons why they were in cap hell for a bit. It got them a Super Bowl that year though. The Ravens tried to do it in their repeat year but failed to reach the Super Bowl. Injuries are impossible to predict but if a team has a lot of cap room, they can always invest in depth. The Titans paid Neil O'Donnell a lot of money to be their backup quarterback for a few years. I'm sure Philly could have found one or two players who would have given them an edge last year.


But wasn't the 94 Niners in the pre-Free Agency system that we have today? I think the Eagles got it right. I think they need to be alittle more aggressive in the draft, like last year. I think they do a great job in the market. Just curious, what exactly is the Patrioits model?

[cthomer5000]

But wasn't the 94 Niners in the pre-Free Agency system that we have today? I think the Eagles got it right. I think they need to be alittle more aggressive in the draft, like last year. I think they do a great job in the market. Just curious, what exactly is the Patrioits model?
pretty much the same, except they bring in a lot more role players and aging vets (signed to 1 year deals).

[AgPete]

But wasn't the 94 Niners in the pre-Free Agency system that we have today? I think the Eagles got it right. I think they need to be alittle more aggressive in the draft, like last year. I think they do a great job in the market. Just curious, what exactly is the Patrioits model?

I'm pretty sure free agency was in place that year because I remember the Cowboys lost Norton to the 49ers and gave up Stepnoski because of their cap.

[Cap Ologist]

here's a link to an article about the eagles plan

http://espn.go.com/magazine/vol5no19flightplans.html