Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / ITB Contract Series: What Are Eagles Financial Ramifications If Dickerson, Jurgens Struggle Again?

Transcript

ITB Contract Series: What Are Eagles Financial Ramifications If Dickerson, Jurgens Struggle Again? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: Inside the Birds is back.
0:13
Speaker 2: What's going on? Everybody? It is Jeff Mosher and Adam
0:16
Speaker 2: Kaplan and.
0:16
Speaker 1: We are continuing our podcast series looking at Eagles contracts.
0:23
Speaker 1: We are going to finish up the offense by going
0:24
Speaker 1: through the offensive line. That's the interior offensive lineman and
0:28
Speaker 1: of course the offensive tackles. As we have said throughout
0:31
Speaker 1: this podcast series, contracts matter not just for this year,
0:35
Speaker 1: but really determining your future. We've talked about players that
0:39
Speaker 1: need to have big years coming up to make sure
0:41
Speaker 1: if they're guaranteed money's out, that they're gonna see another
0:45
Speaker 1: season or two in an Eagles uniform. We've talked about
0:47
Speaker 1: DeVante Smith who needs to be re upped right away,
0:50
Speaker 1: and doesn't. You don't wait for another good year, you
0:52
Speaker 1: do it now. And here we'll talk about a bunch
0:55
Speaker 1: of different kind of guys Adam on the offensive line,
0:57
Speaker 1: but we really got to start on the interior offensive
1:00
Speaker 1: line because we're talking about here about your contracts and
1:02
Speaker 1: your future and what that means. And I think you
1:06
Speaker 1: said this best when we were talking about this off air.
1:08
Speaker 1: They can't have a repeat of last year, especially on
1:12
Speaker 1: the inside, and everything be okay, especially with the injuries
1:15
Speaker 1: and the and the decline and play that we saw.
1:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, and this is where contracts it'll come in to play. Here.
1:22
Speaker 3: There's no question that if it does not go well
1:26
Speaker 3: for Jurgens and Dickerson, that's when you start looking at Okay,
1:32
Speaker 3: if for the Eagles and Howie Roseman will make a decision.
1:36
Speaker 3: You don't want to come to this decision, but you
1:38
Speaker 3: have to start looking at it, and with you Dickerson,
1:43
Speaker 3: especially because of all the knee problems and it's weight
1:48
Speaker 3: and all that all that comes with it. I mean,
1:51
Speaker 3: you give all the cret in the world for playing
1:53
Speaker 3: for injury. Did everything he could. He got a small
1:56
Speaker 3: contract rejection this past season, very all. But the bottom
2:02
Speaker 3: line is, uh, since they did that, they're kind of
2:05
Speaker 3: telling them, hey man, we we don't think you deserve
2:08
Speaker 3: to get paid this. So where this is what we're
2:11
Speaker 3: looking at, and it's it's it's a it's a signal
2:14
Speaker 3: to him he's just gotta sure he's got to get
2:17
Speaker 3: over the best he can im and it's it's, uh,
2:19
Speaker 3: he's pretty much now at a contract crossroads where you
2:22
Speaker 3: had the major injury history and then just trying to
2:29
Speaker 3: decide what he wants to do with his career. And
2:31
Speaker 3: you know, I like that he and Cam you sought
2:35
Speaker 3: a little bit of help overseas see what they could
2:38
Speaker 3: do to help for longevity their career and the post
2:42
Speaker 3: career and all that stuff. But this thing caught us
2:45
Speaker 3: by surprise less season like it did everyone else. I
2:47
Speaker 3: just did not see the regression. Yep, run blocking and
2:51
Speaker 3: it's because of the physical abilities that they regressed in
2:54
Speaker 3: the interior.
2:56
Speaker 2: Yeah.
2:56
Speaker 1: I like the way you phrased that about a contract crossroads.
2:59
Speaker 1: And yes, Dickerson himself by acknowledging that he was considering retirement,
3:05
Speaker 1: he thought of retirement.
3:07
Speaker 2: This may not just be.
3:08
Speaker 1: This may not be the quote unquote difficult decision of
3:10
Speaker 1: a team to maybe have to move on from a
3:12
Speaker 1: player at the end of next year if things don't
3:14
Speaker 1: go well. It sounded if you heard Landon Dickerson talk
3:17
Speaker 1: about how frustrating it was that he doesn't seem like
3:20
Speaker 1: the kind of guy who wants to stick around and
3:22
Speaker 1: play it a show of.
3:24
Speaker 2: What he was like.
3:25
Speaker 1: He's very you know, he knows he's a He's the
3:27
Speaker 1: toughest nails dude. I mean, this guy is country strong,
3:30
Speaker 1: tough as nails, and.
3:31
Speaker 2: It's gotta be.
3:31
Speaker 1: He's got to be number one on the list of
3:33
Speaker 1: people who are home who were let down by his
3:35
Speaker 1: play last year. He gave it everything he had. He
3:37
Speaker 1: just wasn't the same guy and that was unfortunate. But
3:40
Speaker 1: by him even contemplating retirement and thinking about it, you
3:44
Speaker 1: know that that's his way of saying, Man, if my
3:46
Speaker 1: body can't do what I needed to do, then I'm
3:48
Speaker 1: not gonna I'm not gonna sit around be a turnstyle
3:51
Speaker 1: for anybody.
3:52
Speaker 3: You make a great point. We don't talk about this
3:54
Speaker 3: enough with buck got like the league kind of retires
3:56
Speaker 3: players well they just can't do it anymore. They they
3:59
Speaker 3: cut the player, or they they have a discussion, Hey,
4:03
Speaker 3: I think you should retire. We're here, it's going to
4:06
Speaker 3: be more okay, Atlanta, And can you still play at
4:08
Speaker 3: that good enough level? What are you willing to accept?
4:11
Speaker 3: You know?
4:11
Speaker 2: And that's yeah, boy.
4:12
Speaker 3: You don't want to get that well before you're thirty.
4:15
Speaker 3: Like that's it's bad. But that's kind of where he's at.
4:18
Speaker 3: We have no idea. Hey, yeah, what I'm saying, it's
4:24
Speaker 3: like we could find out, Oh he's in much better shape.
4:26
Speaker 3: But that's that's great. But that doesn't tell us if
4:29
Speaker 3: you could play at an elite level anymore. Nobody knows.
4:31
Speaker 3: It's no what you could know. At this point, we're
4:33
Speaker 3: only in June.
4:34
Speaker 1: I think we're seeing far more players in this era,
4:37
Speaker 1: especially the last five years, especially with the concussion protocol
4:41
Speaker 1: coming in, Not that that has anything with Landon, but
4:44
Speaker 1: we are seeing far more players surprisingly retire before you
4:49
Speaker 1: would have thought. In fact, it just happened the season
4:51
Speaker 1: right the Bears center. Did he not kind of take it,
4:55
Speaker 1: dolmend right, He yeah, yeah, that when you're into a
4:59
Speaker 1: contract that he signed with them and he called the quits.
5:02
Speaker 3: Came over from Atlanta. Yeah, that was the spot that
5:04
Speaker 3: came out of blue like that was not on the
5:06
Speaker 3: red on anyone's radar. Yeah yeah yeah. But getting back
5:10
Speaker 3: to Landon Dickerson, no one will ever challenge your questions toughness.
5:16
Speaker 3: I mean this dude, And we'll get the cam jerks
5:19
Speaker 3: in the second after through what he's been dealing with,
5:22
Speaker 3: you know, with his back and and so forth. But
5:27
Speaker 3: this is a big deal here now that what we
5:28
Speaker 3: should mention is they really have not Michael Morris is
5:34
Speaker 3: a six round pick. It's not like they spent a
5:35
Speaker 3: third or second round pick, which is start giving you
5:38
Speaker 3: a side. Okay, you guys are really thinking about life
5:41
Speaker 3: after Dickson potentially, Well they're not. They didn't do that.
5:44
Speaker 3: Mark how Bell's at right tackle. He's playing tackle for now. Yes,
5:48
Speaker 3: they're cross training Miles Hinton, but this is just more Okay,
5:52
Speaker 3: give them a chance. This guy is a better chance
5:54
Speaker 3: to make it. He's a long ways away from being
5:57
Speaker 3: even being a backup left guard. And now Kendall, they
6:01
Speaker 3: believe they're super high on, really high on, and we've
6:04
Speaker 3: heard he's he's looking good, he's put some weight on
6:07
Speaker 3: and all that. You know, they're cross traming at right guard.
6:11
Speaker 3: Is he a left guard? We'll have to see. But overall,
6:16
Speaker 3: the backup guard group has got to sort of identify
6:20
Speaker 3: itself going forward here.
6:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do wonder when Lane Johnson does practice, you know,
6:26
Speaker 1: I imagine he'll be there for the mandatory camps unless
6:28
Speaker 1: there's unless he's they say he's injured and just don't
6:31
Speaker 1: have him practicing or coming back from the injury, which
6:34
Speaker 1: is possible. But when Lane Johnson does practice and take
6:38
Speaker 1: his spot at right tackle, does that make the team
6:41
Speaker 1: look at Mark hel Bell a little bit more on
6:43
Speaker 1: the inside or are they just gonna push him down
6:45
Speaker 1: a second string right tackle, because then I feel like
6:48
Speaker 1: we would get a little bit of clues into what
6:50
Speaker 1: they're thinking on the interior offensive line if they did that.
6:53
Speaker 1: As far as cross training, Bill to play right tackle
6:55
Speaker 1: and maybe right guard also, we'll see. Because he's so big,
6:59
Speaker 1: he's mammoth. Some people thought felt he could be he
7:01
Speaker 1: would be a guard because of that, more of a
7:04
Speaker 1: big guy than a mobile guy. But right now it's
7:07
Speaker 1: been right tackle for him because Lane's not at least
7:09
Speaker 1: in the in the in the OTAs that were open
7:12
Speaker 1: to the media, Lane was not there.
7:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know the thing is with with Mark
7:18
Speaker 3: kel Bell. If Staltlin was still the online coach, I
7:22
Speaker 3: bet the house he'd get cross trained and training camp
7:26
Speaker 3: and there's no doubt. There's just just I mean that
7:28
Speaker 3: the the the Makai Beckton situation was just that is stoutlet.
7:34
Speaker 3: That's the top ten stallin coaching job, maybe even top five.
7:38
Speaker 3: My lot is number one. Nothing would beat that. It
7:40
Speaker 3: would be impossible. Lane was a first round pick. Obviously,
7:43
Speaker 3: that was Staltlin's first pupil, so to speak. Development It
7:48
Speaker 3: was twenty thirteen when he came in with Chip. But
7:51
Speaker 3: Mark L. Bell is very talented. He's you know, as
7:56
Speaker 3: we said when he was drafted, the word in the
7:58
Speaker 3: scouting community and coach community, he's got to get a
8:00
Speaker 3: better shape. And he was one on line. Coach told
8:04
Speaker 3: me that he was definitely when he met with him.
8:05
Speaker 3: He's very accountable with getting a shape, getting and all that.
8:08
Speaker 3: And no, he spoke really this coach book super highly
8:13
Speaker 3: of him, like he really connected well with him. Really
8:16
Speaker 3: a smart kid, diligent and as you said, he's a
8:19
Speaker 3: massive human being. You know, it's funny going from stout
8:23
Speaker 3: to this guy, Chris Cooper. It's you know, you know,
8:26
Speaker 3: you're trying to get a beat on what he likes.
8:27
Speaker 3: It's his first year here, but size matters and all
8:31
Speaker 3: the offensive line and they're not getting smaller here, No.
8:35
Speaker 1: For sure, they aren't real quick Before we move off
8:38
Speaker 1: of Dickerson and get to Jurgens, So Dickerson took the
8:41
Speaker 1: pay cut. What does his guaranteed money look like over
8:44
Speaker 1: the rest of his deal?
8:47
Speaker 3: All right? So he signed through. So he's got past
8:49
Speaker 3: the season. He is got two years left. The total
8:55
Speaker 3: cash for twenty seven is twenty two million. None of
8:59
Speaker 3: it's fully gainanteed, but it's invests, it becomes fully guaranteed.
9:05
Speaker 3: The cash about twenty just on a twenty one million
9:10
Speaker 3: comes fully guaranteed on the third year, third day of
9:12
Speaker 3: the league year in March next year. So this is
9:16
Speaker 3: a pivotal year. He's he doesn't have to be the
9:19
Speaker 3: landing Dickerson involved, but he's got to be very solid.
9:21
Speaker 3: And as you said, you make a good point, it's
9:23
Speaker 3: got to feel good about it. That's a really good point,
9:27
Speaker 3: just hearing players and not being able to play to
9:30
Speaker 3: their standard. Now it's a new standard. Let's say it's
9:34
Speaker 3: eighty percent of what he's been could still be pretty good.
9:37
Speaker 3: But as you said, fifty unacceptable rights. As a front office,
9:42
Speaker 3: you can't like you can't have that for what you're
9:44
Speaker 3: paying them, you know. So it'll be interesting to see
9:48
Speaker 3: what happens with him. And and look is is We
9:51
Speaker 3: talked about it on our Monday show on the Quarterback
9:55
Speaker 3: Running Backshow Breakdowns right as you put in the title,
9:59
Speaker 3: and it's it's very Some people thought we were grant
10:01
Speaker 3: standing on the title. It wasn't about Barclay and Hurts
10:05
Speaker 3: have huge years in terms of contract, sure, huge, absolutely,
10:10
Speaker 3: and by the way, they're super key to the offensive development.
10:13
Speaker 1: Hello right right, yeah, okay, so interesting. So Dickerson, there
10:19
Speaker 1: was somebody else we put in this category. I forget
10:21
Speaker 1: who it was, but sort of more to lose than gain.
10:24
Speaker 1: If you play really well and you're landing Dickerson and
10:27
Speaker 1: you are, then you'll be and you want to keep playing,
10:30
Speaker 1: then you're under your contract. The money is fair. If
10:33
Speaker 1: you don't, then the decision becomes really difficult.
10:37
Speaker 2: Right.
10:37
Speaker 3: Twenty one million. There's a typical Eagles extension option bonuses
10:42
Speaker 3: in every year he's got his base salary and his
10:46
Speaker 3: option bonus come up to twenty one million combined. None
10:49
Speaker 3: of it's guaranteed. There's no vesting dates and becoming guaranteed,
10:52
Speaker 3: there's there's no nothing attached to it. Right, So this
10:55
Speaker 3: is a huge year for him to continue as an Eagle.
10:59
Speaker 3: It's got to look good. This guy look good? Yea,
11:02
Speaker 3: How do you You can't justify paying him twenty two million?
11:05
Speaker 2: Right?
11:05
Speaker 3: He doesn't play well? Right, So it's a pivotal year
11:08
Speaker 3: for him. Wish him luck man, great, great dude.
11:13
Speaker 1: Easy to roof for what's that?
11:19
Speaker 2: He put it all on one you can.
11:20
Speaker 3: Tell super tough and yeah, you give him credit. And
11:25
Speaker 3: then you know, the thing with him was because when
11:28
Speaker 3: he went in the second round at the year he
11:29
Speaker 3: was drafted in what twenty one. Yeah, the belief was
11:33
Speaker 3: he would have been sure if I guards simply are
11:36
Speaker 3: not going to go in the first round. But he
11:38
Speaker 3: was so dominant and so talented and so good, just
11:42
Speaker 3: his knees were the only concern and obviously it was
11:44
Speaker 3: well founded.
11:45
Speaker 2: Yeah.
11:47
Speaker 3: Look, sometimes you've got guys who a j. Brown, for instance,
11:52
Speaker 3: there were concerns coming out of Mississippi and then the
11:56
Speaker 3: uh the Titans offered him a very low end deal
12:00
Speaker 3: because they were concerned about the launchevity of his career,
12:02
Speaker 3: and he turned it down. And obviously, you know what happened.
12:04
Speaker 3: Four years with Eagles, I've been a lot of money.
12:06
Speaker 3: Now he's with the Patriots. Sometimes you could you could
12:10
Speaker 3: outplay the injury concerns. Josh Sweat is probably one of
12:13
Speaker 3: the better ones. Great Cally going back to high school,
12:17
Speaker 3: which devastating, So it could happen.
12:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, and by the way, the Eagles would sign up
12:20
Speaker 1: for this knowing it in advance. All over again because
12:24
Speaker 1: for almost all of Landon Dickerson's career they've been a
12:26
Speaker 1: playoff team, they went to two Super Bowls.
12:28
Speaker 2: They won one.
12:29
Speaker 1: And if you told them that all this was going
12:31
Speaker 1: to happen, they were going to sign to an extension,
12:33
Speaker 1: and then you know a year after winning the Super
12:35
Speaker 1: Bowl that things were going to fall apart, they would
12:37
Speaker 1: do it again because of all the great rewards that
12:39
Speaker 1: they had.
12:40
Speaker 3: One more real quick, I feel appalling that about. I said, Bill,
12:44
Speaker 3: do you if any regrets of because I know it's
12:47
Speaker 3: not good form to overrule your medical staff. Was there
12:51
Speaker 3: anyone who would have said, hey, you know what, I'm
12:53
Speaker 3: still going to draft the guy? And he said, Rob Gronkowski,
12:56
Speaker 3: he knew because the back, it might he might not
12:58
Speaker 3: have a ten year career, but look at the crayer
13:01
Speaker 3: that he had despite all the injuries and missing time
13:04
Speaker 3: in the bad back, he still got it done. That
13:07
Speaker 3: I place to your point. If you if they tell
13:11
Speaker 3: you he's he's going to be a minimum a two
13:15
Speaker 3: contract guy, you're doing it right. If you get the
13:18
Speaker 3: second contract and give me six good years, I'm in.
13:22
Speaker 2: That is true, all right.
13:24
Speaker 1: So let's move to center uh and talk about Cam Jurgens.
13:27
Speaker 1: This one's trickier because it was just last offseason, coming
13:32
Speaker 1: off that Super Bowl, going into the net last year
13:34
Speaker 1: that he had signed that contract extension made him one
13:37
Speaker 1: of the highest at the time. Did he do his
13:41
Speaker 1: before Creed I he was either the number one or
13:43
Speaker 1: the number two paid highest center at the time that
13:45
Speaker 1: he reached that extension. So now he's just one year
13:48
Speaker 1: into it, so he's probably you're gonna tell us he's
13:50
Speaker 1: probably got guaranteed money left for this year and I
13:53
Speaker 1: would think the next.
13:56
Speaker 3: All right, so yeah, his Yeah, he's got an advanced
14:01
Speaker 3: guarantee on his cash in twenty seven, so it's all guaranteed.
14:04
Speaker 3: Now it's sixteen million, and then that's it for that.
14:09
Speaker 3: There's no full guaranteed money pass twenty seven. Okay, he'll
14:14
Speaker 3: he'll make. He's gonna make twelve to seven to five
14:17
Speaker 3: this year, all guaranteed, all fully guaranteed. Twenty seven, it's
14:21
Speaker 3: all full of guaranteed. That's sixteen million. That's his space
14:24
Speaker 3: salary and option bonus, and that's it.
14:26
Speaker 2: That's tricky. That's tricky.
14:27
Speaker 1: Then the twenty twenty seven season becomes tricky. If Cam
14:32
Speaker 1: Jurgens doesn't recover, well, he's not the same player, he's
14:36
Speaker 1: not a Pro Bowl I mean, he made a Pro
14:37
Speaker 1: bowler last year, but he was not.
14:39
Speaker 2: A Pro Bowl player last year.
14:40
Speaker 1: And if he goes another year that was now I know,
14:43
Speaker 1: And if he goes another year like that, then then
14:46
Speaker 1: it's you know, I mean, there's all sorts of things.
14:48
Speaker 1: There's post June one, there's there's that we know about that,
14:51
Speaker 1: but it just in general, I think he needs to
14:54
Speaker 1: have a rebound year as well.
14:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, and look, Drew Kendall is is this is a
15:00
Speaker 3: real thing here, like they they're very high on him.
15:03
Speaker 3: I love what I speak on Drew Dolmen. Was it
15:08
Speaker 3: Lindstrom or it was Dolmenand who greco Celt compared him to?
15:11
Speaker 3: I think was Dolmen.
15:11
Speaker 2: Right that Drew repaired Drew Kendal to. Yeah, which is luck.
15:16
Speaker 3: That's a pretty I mean, that's pretty lofty praise. Sure.
15:19
Speaker 3: Now again, the Guard thing is Booty's and the Ivy
15:24
Speaker 3: beholder with that one to say the least. But the
15:27
Speaker 3: Eagles they've they've struck all with Drew Drew Kennel as
15:29
Speaker 3: the center.
15:30
Speaker 1: Right, all right, so we'll see, all right, right, Guard,
15:35
Speaker 1: interesting situation. Tyler Steen will enter the final year of
15:39
Speaker 1: his deal. Usually the Eagles like to have a guy bottled,
15:43
Speaker 1: you know, signed to a contract extension at this point.
15:46
Speaker 1: This would be a test of the theory can you pay?
15:49
Speaker 1: Can you have five offensive linemen all on contract extensions
15:55
Speaker 1: that pay them somewhere around main or mid market value.
15:59
Speaker 2: That's tough.
16:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he has not earned one.
16:05
Speaker 1: He was okay, No, I mean I say offensive line.
16:08
Speaker 1: He hasn't earned a top market one. But offensive line
16:10
Speaker 1: player around the league is not good.
16:12
Speaker 3: I get that.
16:12
Speaker 1: You're what you're saying, he's replaceable, but it doesn't mean
16:15
Speaker 1: you're just gonna stick Kendall or somebody else in there
16:18
Speaker 1: and get guy.
16:18
Speaker 2: Yeah.
16:19
Speaker 3: I know that, but I'm just saying, listen, he's under contract.
16:22
Speaker 3: They don't. He's gonna make six three point six two
16:26
Speaker 3: four million. That's that based on his draft status. He
16:32
Speaker 3: he had a increase in pay for the escalators escalator.
16:36
Speaker 3: There's a fourth year escalator which increased it to three
16:40
Speaker 3: point six to two four million. It's not guaranteed he's
16:42
Speaker 3: gonna start, There's no debate about that.
16:44
Speaker 2: Yeah.
16:44
Speaker 3: Now, what would be interesting would be is if they
16:47
Speaker 3: give Kendall a little bit of a run, a little
16:50
Speaker 3: bit of a see if he could push him a
16:52
Speaker 3: little bit training camp. Hmmm.
16:55
Speaker 1: See, I think from a ve, I think if you're
16:58
Speaker 1: the Eagles, if you're not going to a stend Tyler Steen,
17:02
Speaker 1: you would need Kendall to be like almost two times
17:05
Speaker 1: better because eventually, if you're not going to extend him,
17:07
Speaker 1: you still want him to be a starter. Play well
17:10
Speaker 1: going out into free agency, get a good contract because
17:14
Speaker 1: contracts for guards were like crazy the last few years,
17:17
Speaker 1: and then you get a really good compic out of it,
17:19
Speaker 1: because again, he's been a formidable starter for them last year.
17:22
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, he was obviously was one of
17:24
Speaker 1: their better ones because the line was beat up. So
17:26
Speaker 1: that doesn't say he's just something great.
17:28
Speaker 2: But yeah, yeah, but he.
17:29
Speaker 1: Doesn't hurt you.
17:30
Speaker 2: I don't think.
17:31
Speaker 3: I don't.
17:31
Speaker 1: I don't think there are times where you're like, man,
17:33
Speaker 1: Tyler Steen really wrecked this game.
17:35
Speaker 3: No, he's no, but that's not what you don't aspire
17:37
Speaker 3: to be. Just okay, that's the that's the problem with
17:39
Speaker 3: Tyler Steen. It's like, Okay, he made it. He never
17:41
Speaker 3: played guard before before. He came here to feel and stuff,
17:46
Speaker 3: thought he can do it. He's had some good moments,
17:49
Speaker 3: so then I know, when we were doing shows with
17:51
Speaker 3: Greg last year. He would point it out. You know,
17:52
Speaker 3: this is not one of Tyler Steen's best game. That
17:54
Speaker 3: could point that.
17:54
Speaker 4: Out, right, He said, Oh, yeah, he's okay, Yeah, he's
17:59
Speaker 4: just started though he's probably probably again, you look around
18:01
Speaker 4: the how many teams do you think we would look
18:04
Speaker 4: at right, Uh, in the NFL look at their two
18:07
Speaker 4: guards and say, Tyler See is probably better than that guy, Like,
18:10
Speaker 4: they'd be better if they had Tyler Steen more.
18:12
Speaker 1: More so, yes than no. I would think that's how
18:15
Speaker 1: bad guard play has been in the NFL for quite well.
18:18
Speaker 3: I know. I know a friend of mine who's an
18:19
Speaker 3: NFL personnel executive said, Uh, we had a discussion over
18:24
Speaker 3: the years about the center position. He goes, Dude, there
18:27
Speaker 3: might be five good centers in the NFL, he goes,
18:30
Speaker 3: and he wasn't a shot. You know, I think it
18:33
Speaker 3: was a discussion about how good Kelsey is m hm,
18:36
Speaker 3: because he.
18:39
Speaker 2: The guy.
18:39
Speaker 3: The guy thought that Kelsey sometimes get a little bit
18:42
Speaker 3: pushed up because the position is so bad around the league.
18:45
Speaker 3: But then he would go, hey, that you want to
18:47
Speaker 3: find an athlete like this guy, You just don't find
18:48
Speaker 3: guys you can move like this at that position. True,
18:51
Speaker 3: it's usually something each center you could find a flaw with,
18:54
Speaker 3: you know whether it's not. But Kelsey is one of
18:56
Speaker 3: the few guys you just yeah, he's undersized, but he
18:59
Speaker 3: would make up for with with athleticism and technique, you know,
19:02
Speaker 3: hand usage and stuff like that. But other than that, look,
19:06
Speaker 3: it's it's Fred Johnson's there is a top backup swing tackle.
19:10
Speaker 3: For now, we'll see what Bell can do. You're going
19:14
Speaker 3: into mid mid to late August. We'll visit how Bell's doing.
19:19
Speaker 3: Fred Johnson came. You know, it's kind of funny about
19:22
Speaker 3: his contract. It's really funny. One year, two point one million,
19:26
Speaker 3: but they had to do four void years.
19:30
Speaker 2: Of course they did.
19:31
Speaker 5: Yeah, exactly, they that's four yeah only for yeah, they
19:36
Speaker 5: of the two point one million they get, they fully
19:39
Speaker 5: guaranteed it, signing eight hundred thousand, which he's going to
19:43
Speaker 5: be on the team.
19:44
Speaker 3: You know, he know he can back up both positions.
19:46
Speaker 3: That's a good thing. He's he's done a yeoman's job.
19:48
Speaker 3: He's just not a he's not a starting quality player.
19:52
Speaker 3: He's never been. Really, He's just the kind of revived
19:54
Speaker 3: his career or stout. That was a great relationship. He
19:56
Speaker 3: had had good story of development now another stout developmental success.
20:03
Speaker 3: They kind of revived a career with Flottering, and it's
20:06
Speaker 3: provenly if you can have a guy who could be
20:09
Speaker 3: just give me four to six good games or or
20:12
Speaker 3: decent games, it's kind of what he is. Yeah, but
20:15
Speaker 3: when you go eight, ten, twelve, then you're pushing. Then
20:17
Speaker 3: he gets exposed.
20:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm curious about him and the scheme fit because
20:23
Speaker 1: you know, he was with the Jaguars last year around
20:25
Speaker 1: this time and they run a similar zone blocking offense
20:29
Speaker 1: Liam cohen Is and and Grant Udinskier, guys that came
20:32
Speaker 1: from the McVeigh tree. Uh, and he didn't make it there.
20:35
Speaker 3: So yeah, they traded, they didn't cut him.
20:41
Speaker 1: The reason why the Jacks traded him was because they
20:43
Speaker 1: didn't see the value in having him on the fifty three.
20:45
Speaker 1: So I mean that's to me, that's sort of equivalent
20:48
Speaker 1: to getting rid of a guy, you know. Yeah, like, yeah,
20:52
Speaker 1: maybe he would have made it as a backup, but
20:53
Speaker 1: I don't know. They clearly didn't think he fit.
20:55
Speaker 3: He was chance.
20:56
Speaker 1: It was there to try to be a starter, and
20:58
Speaker 1: he didn't make it.
21:00
Speaker 3: My money was so low anyway, there's.
21:01
Speaker 1: Just no way he was cracked correct, all right, So
21:05
Speaker 1: that's so that parlays well. Then Fred Johnson into the
21:09
Speaker 1: Lane Johnson situation, which we'll get to in a second.
21:14
Speaker 1: If you're thinking about hitting an away game this season,
21:17
Speaker 1: check out Eagles Fans Travel. They put together full weekend
21:20
Speaker 1: experiences for Eagles fans. That's flights, hotels, game tickets, tailgates,
21:26
Speaker 1: exclusive events, even appearances from former players. They take care
21:30
Speaker 1: of it all. It's honestly one of the coolest ways
21:32
Speaker 1: to experience an away game.
21:34
Speaker 2: So head to Philadelphia Eagles.
21:36
Speaker 1: Dot com slash travel to secure your spot. Hey, Philly fans,
21:40
Speaker 1: game day is stressful enough. Parking, traffic, long lines, We've
21:44
Speaker 1: all been there, But when it comes to your cannabis,
21:47
Speaker 1: Camden Apothecary makes it easy. This is the dispensary for
21:52
Speaker 1: sports fans, just minutes outside of Philly, with plenty of
21:55
Speaker 1: free parking. You'll be in and out fast, no hassle,
21:58
Speaker 1: no waiting, and I don't just care about convenience. Cam
22:02
Speaker 1: Din Apothecary is all about the guest experience. Their staff
22:06
Speaker 1: makes sure you feel taken care of every time you
22:09
Speaker 1: walk in. Plus they carry only the best quality cannabis
22:13
Speaker 1: at the fairest prices, So whether you're stocking up for
22:16
Speaker 1: the tailgate, the watch party, or celebrating a big win,
22:20
Speaker 1: you know you're getting the good stuff without overpaying. They
22:24
Speaker 1: even show love to the community with specials for fans, students,
22:28
Speaker 1: service members, and healthcare pros. Cam din Apothecary, top quality cannabis,
22:34
Speaker 1: great prices, and an experience made for Philly fans twenty
22:37
Speaker 1: one and up. All right, So Lane Johnson, let's get
22:40
Speaker 1: into the contract, Adam.
22:41
Speaker 2: Then what it means.
22:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, basically he's got another one of these Jason Kelcey
22:46
Speaker 3: placeholder contracts. If Lane wants to come back for twenty
22:51
Speaker 3: twenty eight, they would have to redo it. That's kind
22:55
Speaker 3: of where it is. He signed through twenty eight, but
22:58
Speaker 3: it's a placeholder salary. It's look, it's kind of like,
23:02
Speaker 3: let's get through this season. Let's see how he does.
23:04
Speaker 3: You know, as he says every years, it's how he feels,
23:07
Speaker 3: you know. But I remember talking to a lot of
23:10
Speaker 3: people about Kelsey, people you know, on both sides, so
23:13
Speaker 3: to speak, and every year it's that man, this is
23:15
Speaker 3: he's not this will be his last year. Then he
23:17
Speaker 3: keep he kept coming back, right, and Lane was feeling good.
23:21
Speaker 3: You know, obviously he had the had the groin issue.
23:25
Speaker 3: But other than that, if you know, if his knees
23:28
Speaker 3: are okay, it's back's okay. If he's feeling okay, then
23:33
Speaker 3: he could come back. And now you do have to
23:37
Speaker 3: look at it this way. If Mark kel bell is
23:39
Speaker 3: really had a schedule and he's kicking ass, that's a
23:43
Speaker 3: Discussion's a pretty serious discussion. Even if Lane wants to
23:45
Speaker 3: come back.
23:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a third round pick. You gotta get him
23:47
Speaker 1: on the field if he's ready to play. I mean,
23:49
Speaker 1: maybe he can be right guard for a year, kind
23:52
Speaker 1: of like the way Jurgen's had to wait a year
23:54
Speaker 1: off and then play right guard and then play center.
23:57
Speaker 1: Maybe Bell is your right guard after Tyler Steen walked
24:00
Speaker 1: free agency. If Lane Johnson comes back after this season
24:03
Speaker 1: for another but like you said, you got to get
24:05
Speaker 1: there first.
24:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, bark Heal Bell is a massive dude. It's really
24:11
Speaker 3: once again, if he has to fill in, they're still
24:14
Speaker 3: going to have like the biggest offensive line football in
24:17
Speaker 3: the NFL. That is I can't speak from college football,
24:19
Speaker 3: but anyway.
24:21
Speaker 1: Let's flip the other side and talk about Jordan Malatta
24:23
Speaker 1: because it's been an interesting situation when he signed his
24:27
Speaker 1: first contract extension, You and I felt like the Eagles
24:31
Speaker 1: did a good job there. They got a guy who
24:33
Speaker 1: was on the come up but hadn't played enough to
24:36
Speaker 1: be considered like a top three paid left tackle, and
24:39
Speaker 1: so they kind of got him on a on a
24:40
Speaker 1: team friendly deal. Did they not make an adjustment along
24:43
Speaker 1: the way somewhere or it is.
24:44
Speaker 3: Dated two years ago? They redid his deal again and
24:48
Speaker 3: he signed a three year extension worth twenty two million
24:51
Speaker 3: right season.
24:52
Speaker 1: By the way, still still good market value for a
24:55
Speaker 1: left tackle.
24:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, he he, It's just that, it's just the left
25:02
Speaker 3: tackle markets exploded to a certain extent. So yeah, he's
25:07
Speaker 3: probably done with an adjustment. Yeah, he's uh past the season.
25:13
Speaker 3: There's no guaranteed money left, and he has signed through
25:17
Speaker 3: twenty twenty eight. I could certainly see I could certainly
25:21
Speaker 3: see an adjustment done after the season. But the thing is, man,
25:26
Speaker 3: one thing, before we get out of here, you got
25:28
Speaker 3: to understand how many contracts could be done after the season.
25:31
Speaker 3: Moro Joe was up the after the season has been
25:33
Speaker 3: a good story. Right. If he doesn't get one this year,
25:36
Speaker 3: sure we expect Carter to get one. That he's going
25:40
Speaker 3: to get one. It's just is it June fifteenth, is
25:43
Speaker 3: it July fifteenth, August fifteenth, Right, it's the expectations he's
25:47
Speaker 3: going to get one before the season starts. Okay, then
25:51
Speaker 3: you've got Jylex Hunt. Jalox Hunt is up after twenty seven.
25:55
Speaker 3: But he if he kicks ass the season, you know,
25:57
Speaker 3: they're gonna want to They're gonna address that if he's
26:01
Speaker 3: a stud it they want they're gonna want to get
26:04
Speaker 3: ahead of that one, you know, because because the interest
26:06
Speaker 3: market and then of course the two big ones. Q
26:10
Speaker 3: gwenon Mitchell Cooper de jan As you correctly pointed out
26:14
Speaker 3: a couple of years ago. Well, although we didn't know
26:16
Speaker 3: he's good, we didn't know about safety two years ago. Yeah,
26:19
Speaker 3: although a year ago we probably could have told you
26:21
Speaker 3: that it's not out of the question. And now here
26:22
Speaker 3: we are trying to figure out what his contract's going
26:25
Speaker 3: to look like. Good luck.
26:27
Speaker 1: Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna make a bold prediction that's
26:29
Speaker 1: gonna upset some people.
26:31
Speaker 2: But I don't know who it's gonna be.
26:33
Speaker 1: But the Eagles are gonna have to make a very difficult,
26:36
Speaker 1: probably trade decision on somebody on that defense in the
26:39
Speaker 1: next year or two who fans love, because I just
26:42
Speaker 1: don't know how you're gonna have Carter Davis, j Alex
26:47
Speaker 1: Hunt Cooper to Jean.
26:51
Speaker 3: H.
26:52
Speaker 2: Mitchell.
26:53
Speaker 1: I mean, by the end of this year, you'll only
26:55
Speaker 1: be one year away from a Macouba extension if he's good.
26:57
Speaker 1: I just Nolan Smith, who I don't think he's going
27:00
Speaker 1: to get the extension. But I also think there's going
27:03
Speaker 1: to have to be another domino along the way in
27:05
Speaker 1: the next two years of a guy just that they
27:07
Speaker 1: can't make it work for because you just cannot pay
27:11
Speaker 1: eleven guys top market money and they got about eight
27:13
Speaker 1: guys who deserve top market money.
27:17
Speaker 3: I mean, it's you look at the cool thing is
27:20
Speaker 3: this is a great problem to have. It's kind of
27:22
Speaker 3: funny because for how he got before the twenty one season,
27:28
Speaker 3: right where he really turned his career around, you could
27:32
Speaker 3: have said, like, who have they even drafted on defense?
27:35
Speaker 3: You want to extend Now it's the talent levels and
27:38
Speaker 3: plus they nailed obviously Zach Bond, who's been unbelievable. They
27:43
Speaker 3: took care of Gnard and with the trade. This thing
27:47
Speaker 3: is safety is shaky for the future. But this thing
27:51
Speaker 3: is looking really good for the future. It's as you
27:55
Speaker 3: were talking, I was just looking at it just to
27:56
Speaker 3: see who's on a contract and who they've gotten right,
28:01
Speaker 3: and why this thing looks so good. It's just because, uh,
28:06
Speaker 3: it's the football character, it's performance, and he's he's kind
28:11
Speaker 3: of getting the stuff right man. And Q is because
28:14
Speaker 3: if you look at a couple of these guys right
28:16
Speaker 3: before we get out of here, there were major questions
28:19
Speaker 3: of what dejeans this is around the league. Not on
28:21
Speaker 3: the Eagle standpoint, but there were questions around the league,
28:23
Speaker 3: what what is Dejeane's best position? Okay, although Vic, of
28:27
Speaker 3: course is Vic is going through that obviously because he's
28:31
Speaker 3: trying to figure that out. And then with Q, there
28:34
Speaker 3: was the man coverage issue, right, you know, this was
28:37
Speaker 3: not a slam dunk Joe looks like one.
28:40
Speaker 1: Now, but it looks yeah, yeah, no, it's worked out
28:43
Speaker 1: really well.
28:44
Speaker 2: So I know you were getting that.
28:45
Speaker 1: We got to defense sort of through my lotta. You
28:48
Speaker 1: were trying to make a point about all this money
28:50
Speaker 1: and what that means for mylotta.
28:53
Speaker 3: Yes, so it's just with him, is he signed through
28:57
Speaker 3: twenty eight he'll make yeah? He uh he's got a
29:02
Speaker 3: very low cash number this year of thirteen million, then
29:05
Speaker 3: it jumps to twenty one and twenty seven and twenty
29:08
Speaker 3: eight is twenty two million. But again it's about guarantees.
29:12
Speaker 3: There's no guarantee money after the season. But that's what
29:15
Speaker 3: it plays into the we were talking about defense, all
29:18
Speaker 3: the contracts that they've got to get through. I know
29:22
Speaker 3: where you're going here. You can't pay everybody. Look it.
29:27
Speaker 3: If you're the Phillies, Phillies, if you're the Eagles, you
29:32
Speaker 3: have to look at like Nolan Smith. Okay, they rolled
29:35
Speaker 3: over with fifth or option of surprise there because this
29:37
Speaker 3: has been their history, right been, He's done enough to
29:40
Speaker 3: take a longer look with. But he's a guy that
29:44
Speaker 3: you could certainly take a look at trading down the line,
29:48
Speaker 3: especially if Hunt kicks ass the season. You're not paying Smith,
29:51
Speaker 3: there's no way you're gonna pay the funt.
29:52
Speaker 2: Yeah.
29:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's gonna be tough. It's gonna be tough, and
29:55
Speaker 1: I do want you know, the Eagles of stockpiled. The
29:57
Speaker 1: one thing that helps my lot a little bit is
30:00
Speaker 1: even though the Eagles have stockpiled a lot of tackles
30:02
Speaker 1: over the last few years, you know Bell is the
30:05
Speaker 1: highest drafted one. He's he's a right tackle. No one,
30:07
Speaker 1: no one told us he could play left tackle because
30:09
Speaker 1: it's almost too big and not mobile enough. And then
30:13
Speaker 1: same thing with Cameron Williams, more of a right tackle.
30:15
Speaker 1: He played right tackle at Texas and he's he's still
30:17
Speaker 1: a project. Miles hitting that are already sort of cross
30:20
Speaker 1: training at left guard. And you know, you'd have to
30:22
Speaker 1: see a lot from a major, major jump out of
30:25
Speaker 1: Miles hitting and think that he could take my lotta
30:28
Speaker 1: his job just to save some cash. So I think
30:30
Speaker 1: my lot is in a good spot as far as competition.
30:33
Speaker 1: But then again, he goes are going to have a
30:35
Speaker 1: ton of draft picks for the next two years too,
30:37
Speaker 1: So he's got to keep playing well. He's got to
30:39
Speaker 1: play better than he did last year.
30:40
Speaker 3: I think the whole line.
30:42
Speaker 2: It's just the whole line.
30:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's funny. It wasn't passbro for this line. That
30:49
Speaker 3: pass pro was actually really good, right, It's just the
30:52
Speaker 3: rum blocking was atrocious. It's just again, you couldn't have
30:55
Speaker 3: seen this coming. But we'll see what train of camp once.
31:00
Speaker 3: You can't tell. You can see how they move a
31:02
Speaker 3: little bit, but you can't engage the offensive lineman can't
31:05
Speaker 3: engage the defensive lineman. In OTAs I called, it's really
31:09
Speaker 3: flag football is what it is. No, I love flag football,
31:12
Speaker 3: but it's not a criticism of it. But flag football
31:15
Speaker 3: is some pushing, some shoving, but you can't engage physically, right,
31:20
Speaker 3: But they sure as how well in training camp. So
31:21
Speaker 3: that's when we're going to start.
31:22
Speaker 1: To know, all right, great stuff. So that finishes off
31:25
Speaker 1: the offense. We've done quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, guards, centers,
31:30
Speaker 1: and tackles, and we will continue this series and we'll
31:35
Speaker 1: look at defense. And of course you have been listening
31:38
Speaker 1: to the Inside the Birds podcast, the Number one podcast
31:42
Speaker 1: and Eagles Intel, and of course we thank you for
31:45
Speaker 1: flying with us Inside the Birds