Eagles built for the long run

Originally Published: February 7, 2005

Philadelphia may have fallen short in the Super Bowl this season, but that doesn't mean the Eagles won't be back next year.

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By John Clayton
ESPN.com
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Of the two participants in Super Bowl XXXIX, the Eagles have the best chance to return.

Unlike the Patriots, who are $195,000 over the $85.5 million salary cap, the Eagles have cap room. They still have a great core group of players. They have Donovan McNabb, Terrell Owens and eight other Pro Bowlers. They're loaded, and they are in the NFC, the lesser of the two conferences. Unlike the Patriots, they are expected to bring the entire coaching staff back. They are strong at important positions -- quarterback, wide receiver, cornerback, tackle, defensive end and halfback.

Owens told the national press after the game that the Super Bowl was his stage, but he told his teammates that the Super Bowl is the stage on which this team will return. With the additions of Owens and Jevon Kearse, the Eagles made their first trip to the Super Bowl after three failed efforts in NFC championship games.

They hunger for a return.

"The ultimate goal was not to be satisfied just to get to the Super Bowl," Owens said. "Our goal is to win it. We came up short. We let the game slip away."

Flying The Coop?
Unrestricted free agents LB Keith Adams QB Jeff Blake RB Correll Buckhalter DE Derrick Burgess DE Hugh Douglas RB Dorsey Levens G Jermane Mayberry TE Chad Lewis LB Ike Reese RB Jon Ritchie DT Corey Simon MLB Jeremiah Trotter TE Jeff Thomason Restricted free agents T Ian Allen RB Brian Westbrook $17.1 million of cap room -- John Clayton

The Eagles have 13 unrestricted free agents and two restricted free agents, including halfback Brian Westbrook. The good news is that they have $17.1 million of cap room. The bad news is that they have some difficult negotiations.

Defensive tackle Corey Simon is one of the anchors of the defensive line -- and he wants to remain an Eagles -- but he would also like like to be among the highest paid defensive tackles in football. While the team might not consider him as good of a run stopper as they hoped, the Eagles know they can't afford to lose him. If no deal is reached in the next couple of weeks, there is a good chance he will be franchised at the one-year offer of $5.134 million.

If Simon is franchised, though, don't necessarily expect a holdout. He tells friends he would be willing to sign the one-year tender and work toward a long-term deal and not miss the offseason program.

Once middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter returned to the starting lineup, he shaved 50 yards off the team's rushing yards allowed average. He came back at the minimum salary of $535,000 after being released from a Redskins contract that paid him $5 million a year. For next season, he doesn't want to be a minimum salary bargain. What do the Eagles pay him? That's a good question.

Derrick Burgess emerged as a playmaker along the defensive line, and he seemed to do better at left defensive end during the past two playoff games. Burgess had only two-and-a-half sacks during the regular season, but he did a great job pressuring Michael Vick and Tom Brady. Kearse has an eight-year, $62.6 million contract. Simon is an expensive commodity along the defensive line. Can the Eagles pay three linemen? The negotiations will be interesting.

Last year the Eagles changed their offseason strategy by going outside the organization to get Owens and Kearse. They also went against their recent history of letting unsigned players in their thirties go. The pattern changed when they brought back Trotter and Hugh Douglas. Interesting decisions will involve two aging starters -- tight end Chad Lewis (33) and guard Jermane Mayberry (31). L.J. Smith has shown he is ready to take over as the main tight end. Mayberry remains a solid offensive lineman and injuries left the team thin on backups. The question for the Eagles is cost. If Lewis and Mayberry want to return for a modest cost -- $1 million or so -- then the Eagles will re-sign them. If they want better paydays, they will join Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent as former Eagles.

The Eagles have to figure how much of a feature back Westbrook is and how to pay him. They will likely place a first-round tender or a first- and third-round tender on the restricted free agent, making sure he doesn't leave. Westbrook is the X-factor in the Eagles offense because of the matchup problems he causes when he lines up as a receiver. As a running back, he's an escape artist who gets about 14 carries a game and averages 4.6 yards a carry. Is that worth $3 million a year? Or $4 million a year? Or will Westbrook ask for more?

Overall, the Eagles still have legs after their incredible four-year run at getting to NFC Championship games. As far as coaching staffs, they have a future head coach in offensive coordinator Brad Childress who faced many of the same problems as Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis. The deeper Childress goes into the playoffs, the less chance he has of getting a head coaching job. Had the Browns not hired Crennel, Childress would have been the next option.

Figure on the Eagles to add more depth to the offensive line. First-round pick Shawn Andrews played only one game before a season-ending injury, but he will return as a powerful guard next season. The thought was Andrews would take over for Jon Runyan at right tackle in 2005, but Runyan played so well, he will get to complete the final year of his contract.

Kearse may keep the job as the right defensive spot. A left defensive end his entire career, Kearse believes playing the right side gives him a better ability to make inside rushes. Plus, he doesn't fear playing against the left tackle, usually the team's best pass blocker. Coming from the right side, he gets to attack the quarterback's blind side, and with that speed, he can "freak out" a quarterback.

Also, look for the Eagles to draft a running back in the first day of the draft. They are like a handful of teams that believe in getting a running back every year because backs have short careers. Buckhalter's knee injury left the Eagles so thin in the backfield they had to bring back 11-year veteran Dorsey Levens. It will be interesting to see whether the Eagles bring in a big back to pound the ball as a counter to Westbrook.

The bottom line is the Eagles remain the top dogs in the NFC. They just need a little more bite to win a Super Bowl

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.