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ITB on WBCB (Part 2): Andrew DiCecco, SI's Ed Kracz Break Down Eagles Free Agents · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: We now returned to Chicky's and Beats for the Pro
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Football Report presented by BCWSA. Once again. Here are your
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: hosts from inside the Birds. Andrew did check O.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Yes, indeed, you're listening to the Pro Football Report presented
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: by BCWSA right here on fourteen ninety WBCBN one oh
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: seven point three FM and scene live at wbcbsports dot com.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Andrew Dechecko and Ed Kratz, my fellow Eagles beat reporter.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: We are live inside Chicky's and Peats, which is inside
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Parks Casino. Great turnout, and look, the Eagles have a
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: lot of free agents upcoming at a couple of key
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: ones on the defensive side, in particular.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: Let's start.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Let's start there Reid Blanketship. So this is the player
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: who really bet on himself going into this season. He
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: didn't have the he didn't sign extension or anything like that,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: and I believe that he believed that he was going
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: to have this season that was going to kind of
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: put him in the upper tier ahead of free agency. Now,
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: he didn't have a particularly strong season from a coverage standpoint.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: There were a lot of times where he was getting
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: beat or a little bit late to a play. But
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: there's something to be said for someone who is just
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: a fundamentally sound, intelligent player, always in the right place, seemingly,
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: and he's tough. Vic Vanjao values that more than anything.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: And I think now that the Eagles are really thin
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: at that position, coupled with Reid maybe not having the
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: best season, it maybe helps with the negotiation process in
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: trying to keep Red blanken ship in Philadelphia.
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I think he should be a stay.
• 1:46
  Speaker 5: You know, he was a player the Eagles found on
• 1:49
  Speaker 5: the undrafted free agent market.
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: I love TJ. Edwards.
• 1:52
  Speaker 5: He was a great undrafted free agent that the Eagles
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: pluck from Wisconsin, developed him as a linebacker, and then
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: let him walk.
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: Out the door.
• 1:59
  Speaker 5: I would hate to see that happened with Reed. They
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: brought him in from Middle Tennessee State undrafted and he's
• 2:04
  Speaker 5: really come on strong.
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: Now.
• 2:05
  Speaker 5: You mentioned he didn't have the greatest year last year.
• 2:08
  Speaker 5: I think Reed was really focused on trying to be
• 2:10
  Speaker 5: a leader of that secondary. It was a young group
• 2:12
  Speaker 5: and remember all summer we were asking him about his
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: leadership style and how's that going to look? Because they
• 2:16
  Speaker 5: lost Darius Slay, they lost CJ. Gardner, Johnson. You know,
• 2:20
  Speaker 5: they lost some leaders on that back end, so he
• 2:22
  Speaker 5: was really focused on trying to help some of those
• 2:25
  Speaker 5: younger players, like Andrew mccooba, even like Cooper the jan
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: when he was cross training and safety, and those two
• 2:31
  Speaker 5: are great friends.
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: Obviously Blanket Ship and the Jene.
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: So it is a business, but you hate to see
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: the Jean's best friend.
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: Really walk out the door.
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: You hate to see him take his ability because even
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: though he had it down year, he still had a
• 2:43
  Speaker 5: pretty good season.
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: He's still a very useful player on that back end.
• 2:47
  Speaker 5: I don't know what it's going to take to resign him,
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: you know, maybe I don't know, speculating two years seven
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: million a year, maybe two years fourteen million, fifteen million.
• 2:55
  Speaker 5: I don't know if he would go there. But I
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: really think you need to bring him back just for
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: some of the intangible stuff, like the leadership, like the
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: good locker room guy that he is, the toughness that
• 3:06
  Speaker 5: he demonstrates, and his knowledge of the defense. Now does
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: he play it great all the time, not as well
• 3:12
  Speaker 5: as you'd like, but I still think he's a valuable
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: piece on that back end.
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: I'd like to see him come back.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: And Vic Vanjo has lauded read blank and Ship for
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: what he brings to the table. I think another year
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: of continuity with Blanken, Ship and Makouba, who of course
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: is returning from the fractured ankle. I think that's going
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: to be in the best interest of the defense moving forward.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Jaywen Phillips is a really interesting name here because I
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: would argue that he should be the priority for the
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Eagles in free agency. He was acquired ahead of the
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: trade deadline, and there it's no coincidence ed that the
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: defense started to turn a corner when he was inserted
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: into the starting lineup. You have to look a little
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: bit beyond the stat column that he doesn't have a
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: ton of sacks, but what you look at when what
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: you look at with him is what he brings in
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: run support, setting the edge with violence and authority, opening
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: things up for someone like a jaylyox Hunt who had
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: five and a half sacks since the arrival of Jalen Phillips.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: That's no coincidence either. He wants to be in Philadelphia.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: His best football I believes ahead of him. He's twenty
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: six years old. He does have the injury history, which
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: is something to be mindful of, but I think you
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: have to do what you can to keep him in
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: the building, especially when you look at the edge group
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: behind Jaylexhn it's just Noen Smith, josh Usha Zi's Ojulari
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: are also free agents.
• 4:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I agreed, but listen, they gave him a third
• 4:28
  Speaker 5: round pick for him two right, So that's pretty high
• 4:31
  Speaker 5: pick that you're giving him up, and you hate to
• 4:32
  Speaker 5: see it be just for a rental player that played
• 4:34
  Speaker 5: what eight games I think accounting the playoffs. You're right,
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: his presence on that edge helped open things up for
• 4:42
  Speaker 5: Hunt and for Morojomo and Jordan Davis in the middle
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: and Jalen Carter. And you know, the Eagles prioritize defense
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: last year going to the offseason, they prioritized Zach Bond.
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: They got him.
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: We learned later that they had prioritized Isaiah Rodgers. Thought
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: they had a deal done with Isaiah Rodgers to come back,
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: and then the Vikings swooped in at the last minute
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: and plucked him away from the Eagles, so they were
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: one for two and their priorities. I have to think
• 5:05
  Speaker 5: that Jalen Phillips is a priority sign for this defense,
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: even ahead of Blanket Ship I just think because of
• 5:11
  Speaker 5: what you gave up to get him, because of how
• 5:13
  Speaker 5: that defense looked once they brought him in, and what
• 5:16
  Speaker 5: he does for the rest of the guys on that team.
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: And like you said, he wants to be here. He's
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: got a fiance that he talked about every time he
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: talked to him. He's got a kid on the way
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: probably in a month that's due. I mean, this kind
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: wants to find some roots. But you know, edge rushers,
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: you know, they make a lot of money, and you know,
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: is it a twenty million dollar per year deal for him?
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: Well, I think you take that.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: I think if you're walking away points twenty four to
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: twenty five. But it depends on what the market dictates
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: and what the Eagles value him as.
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I thought maybe the injury thing might bring that
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: value down a little bit, just because there is the concern. Remember,
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: he was a guy that retired briefly while he was
• 5:54
  Speaker 5: at UCLA because of a concussion history, came back obviously,
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: got drafted in the first round.
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: But I think he.
• 6:00
  Speaker 5: Had a was an achilles or an acl he had both. Yes, Yeah,
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: So I mean he's a guy that you know, the
• 6:06
  Speaker 5: injuries might bring that value down a little bit. Maybe
• 6:08
  Speaker 5: he likes it here so much, maybe he takes a
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: hometown type discount. But again, he is, he's getting married,
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: he's got a kid on the way. He probably wants
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: as much money as he can make. He's twenty six
• 6:19
  Speaker 5: years old. He feels like he's earned that. I feel
• 6:22
  Speaker 5: like he has too. But we'll see how that injury
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: fact that injury history factors into it.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because otherwise they're going to have to explore the
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: free agent market to add another edge rusher, or they're
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: going to have to draft one relatively high to compliment
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: the group that they already have because it's razor thin.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Now this one's a little bit tougher. The Kobe Dean.
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: You and I have talked a lot about our conversations
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: with Ni Kobe Na. Kobe is the heartbeat of the
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: Eagles defense. In my estimation, he plays with toughness, tenacity.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: He's a heat seeking missile downhill. He's an excellent blitzer.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Had four sacks last season, fifty five tackles ten games,
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: ten games played, eight starts. He's battled through a ton
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: of adversity perseverance has made just as much of an
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: impact off the field in the community. It's just very
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: hard to envision a world where the Eagles are able
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: to pay to Kobe Dan because it is a luxury
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: to have three starting cowber off ball linebackers.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: It's not a necessity. And I do believe that Nikobe
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: Dan at twenty.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Five years old, is going to have considerable amount of
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: suitors on the open market.
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah, again, the injury history, We'll see how that impacts
• 7:27
  Speaker 5: what he can get on the open market. But they
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: drafted his replacement pretty much with Jahad Campbell coming in here,
• 7:33
  Speaker 5: So you know, to me, you're right.
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: He is the heart and soul of his team and.
• 7:37
  Speaker 5: The one thing he brings to that defense in addition
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: to all those things you mentioned to me, he brings
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: fun to the defense. That was one of the things
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: he talked about when he came back, is that was
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: the first thing he wanted to see was his defense
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: to have fun again, to celebrate plays, to play together.
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: He felt that there was a little something missing along
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: those lines while he was watching from the sidelines as
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: he rehabbed his knees. So you know, he's a fantastic individual,
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: great person, great player in my opinion. When he's healthy,
• 8:06
  Speaker 5: that's the big if we're a big win, I guess
• 8:08
  Speaker 5: is when he's healthy. And you know, you hate to
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: see the Dallas Cowboys out there lurking. I see it
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: a lot on social media.
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: Hate.
• 8:14
  Speaker 5: Can the Kobe Dean go to the Cowboys? And now
• 8:16
  Speaker 5: they got Christian Parker? Do they bring in Dean? Maybe
• 8:19
  Speaker 5: read Blanketship if he doesn't come back. These are all
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: positions that the Cowboys need and these are good players,
• 8:25
  Speaker 5: good people. You would hate to see that happen. I
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: would like to see Dean come back. I absolutely would.
• 8:32
  Speaker 5: He would be the one I would bat pound the
• 8:33
  Speaker 5: table for if I'm in that decision room. I'm not,
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: but I don't think they bring him.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: Back, nor do I.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: Vic Vango loves the Kobe Dean though, And you know
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: it's odd ed because two of the Eagles pending free agents,
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: and the Kobe Dean and Red blanket Ship were arguably
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: the two most intelligent players on.
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: That side of the field.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's something that that they're going to have
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: to sort out.
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: It's never it's ever gonna be easy.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: I don't know this is going to be a maintenance
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: type of offseason like last year. But you're gonna have to
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: make some difficult decisions, no doubt. Now on the offensive side,
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Dallas Goddard. Dallas Goddard had a career year last year,
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: but I think his age, being thirty one years old,
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: his injury history might drive the price down. The Eagles
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: were able to reach an agreement with Goddard last year
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: in May. It was a team friendly deal. You might
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: be able to see something similar. I would imagine you
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: couple that with the fact of his rapport with jaywhen hurts,
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: that was very evident going back to training camp, he
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: saw most of the targets and that's correlated into regular
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: season success. Kevin Patulo say what you will about him,
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: but he was the first offensive coordator that I can
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: remember under Dallas Goddard that found a way to utilize
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: him in the red zone. I have to think that
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: they're going to have to They're gonna want to work
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: something out because all the tight end except for E. J.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: Jenkins and Jeean Bell who signed reserve futures deals, they're
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: all free agents.
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: Is Kem Latu part of that makes the seaton.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: So I don't know whether to classify him as a
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: fullback or a tight end because they never use him
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: as a t tight end criminally, but yeah, we'll call
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: him a tight end because we don't necessarily know what
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: Sean manni and if he values that fullback position.
• 10:06
  Speaker 5: Yeah, absolutely right, Yeah, they have to do something at
• 10:10
  Speaker 5: tight end, whether it's got a deal done with Dallas.
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: Dallas is thirty one, like you mentioned, he's going to
• 10:15
  Speaker 5: want this could be his last contract.
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: Who knows.
• 10:16
  Speaker 5: He won't look at it that way, but he's got
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: to start thinking about it. I need a three year deal.
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: I need something to get me to him thirty four
• 10:22
  Speaker 5: years old. I need more than the ten and a half.
• 10:25
  Speaker 5: I think it was that the Eagles paid him on
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: a one year deal, and that's what I'd be looking
• 10:29
  Speaker 5: for from Dallas Goddard. That's what I'd be telling my agent,
• 10:32
  Speaker 5: and I don't think the Eagles would go three years whatever,
• 10:34
  Speaker 5: forty eight million something like that. You know, there's going
• 10:37
  Speaker 5: to be some tight end openings depending on what Travis
• 10:40
  Speaker 5: Kelsey does in Kansas City. Maybe Kansas City tries to
• 10:42
  Speaker 5: bring him in. You know, there are gonna be other
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: teams out there looking for a tight end, and the Eagles,
• 10:47
  Speaker 5: if they lose him, they're probably not bringing Grant Cauca
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: Taraback either he's a free agent right.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: I probably would bring Grant back, but with the understanding
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: that we're going to have a different role for you.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: You're not going to be used as an inline blocker
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: because I do think that he can help from a
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: receiving standpoint. He's not going to cost a lot, but
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: I think he's better sued to be a third tight
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: end rather than a two.
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and the Eagles signed two tight ends and free
• 11:10
  Speaker 5: agency last year. They signed Kylon Granson, who was a
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: part of this team mostly on special teams, good special
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: teams player, and Harrison Bryant, who they ended up trading
• 11:19
  Speaker 5: to the Houston Texans after Camp. I believe it was
• 11:23
  Speaker 5: or Doran Camp anyway, but they signed two free agent
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: titan they need to address the tight end position. Maybe
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: Calcuatara is part of that mix, but I think you
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: need to go out and you need to draft one.
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: You need to find the next Dallas Goddard who can
• 11:34
  Speaker 5: be here for ten years possibly or whatever it was
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: Dallas was here they drafted in the eighteen eight years,
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: nine years. They need to find that guy, and I
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: think this draft they will do that. Early in the draft.
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: There are some good players at that position they can
• 11:48
  Speaker 5: bring in and develop and give Sean Mannion something to
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: work with a tight end, and maybe they go out
• 11:53
  Speaker 5: and sign one that might be a little cheaper, maybe
• 11:56
  Speaker 5: like a Calkatara. But yeah, I don't think God it
• 11:59
  Speaker 5: will be bad. I think he's going to be looking
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: for something more. He took a team friendly deer last year.
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: If nothing materializes, who knows, maybe he comes back, but
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: I think something will. He stayed healthy all year, didn't
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: have any injuries, didn't cost him any games, so you know,
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: he's a guy. I think on the open market it's
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: going to attract some interest.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: And he did look clearly emotional after that final game,
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: knowing that that may well have been his final game.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: So we'll have to wait and see how that all
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: plays out, and then very quickly. There's two players on
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: the offensive line that aren't going to get enough recognition,
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: but they are very valuable when you really zoom out
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: and look at this roster as it's currently constituted, and
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: that's Fred Johnson and Brett to Fred Johnson started nine games,
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: if you're including the playoff game against the forty nine ers.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: I think he did a really nice job, a serviceable job.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: He's twenty eight years old. There may be a team
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: out there that now sees enough out of him that
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: maybe they want to give him a starting opportunity. But
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: as that swing tackle roll in Philadelphia, he was vital.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: And then Brett to what can you say about him?
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: He's a survivor as I would like to call it,
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: because he's persevered.
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: He's been an NFL limbo.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: It was year seven and he played just under four
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: hundred snaps and I thought he did a really nice job,
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: especially in that Giants game playing center. He ended up
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: being their first off the bench at center and guard.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: Twenty nine years old. Jeff Stouton loves him. If I'm
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: the Eagles, both of those guys, certainly Brett Toath would
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: be no brainers.
• 13:21
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and Brett does play a lot of positions on
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: that line, and really, other than Matt Pryor and those
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: two guys, it was a pretty young offensive line as
• 13:30
  Speaker 5: far as the depth goes with the Eagles this year
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: when you factor and Drew Kendall and Willie Lampkin, and
• 13:35
  Speaker 5: you know Miles Hinton and Cameron Williams, who.
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: I thought played pretty well at right tackle.
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: When he came in in the last game of the season.
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: So he's someone to keep an eye on. But yeah,
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: I'm not sure either one comes back again. I mean,
• 13:49
  Speaker 5: I would like to see them bring Toth back because
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: of that versatility. You know, he's a warrior. He competes
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: every play. And Fred, I'm not too short. I think
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: you can do better than Fred Johnson. I know he
• 14:01
  Speaker 5: had a pretty good year, but I think they would
• 14:02
  Speaker 5: try to look to upgrade at that position and maybe
• 14:05
  Speaker 5: let Fred move on to you know, try to become
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: a starter again like he did when he left last
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: year to go to Jacksonville. Didn't work out and he
• 14:12
  Speaker 5: goes traded to bring him back, but I think he
• 14:14
  Speaker 5: moves on.
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: Maybe Tooth comes back.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: Well, we're gonna get into some Super Bowl conversation coming up,
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: but you're listening to the Pro Football Report, presented by
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: a BCWSA right here on fourteen ninety WBCBN one oh
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: seven point three FM and seen live at wbcbsports dot com.
• 14:31
  Speaker 6: Hey, it's that time of the year that everyone's trying
• 14:34
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  Speaker 1: We now return to Chicki's and Beats for the Pro
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Football Report presented by BCWSA. Once again. Here are your
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: hosts from inside the Birds Andrew did check O.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: Welcome back in Andrew Dechecko, joined by my fellow Eagles
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: Beat reporter Ed Kratz who covers the team for Sports Illustrated.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: We are broadcasting live inside Chickis and Peach, which is
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: inside Parks Casino. And while we got to a lot
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: of the stayer goes, probably the most important or the
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: most relevant stay or go that you and I both
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: get a ton of questions about Ed before we get
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: to the Super Bowl talk is AJ Brown? Will AJ
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Brown stay in Philadelphia or will he be playing elsewhere
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: next season? So the way that I'm looking at it,
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: I don't know if it's tenable. I just don't know
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: if you can afford if you're the Eagles. And we'll
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: look at it from ajside too, If you're the Eagles,
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: can you go through another season with a player who
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: might not be happy playing this style of offense if you're
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: not going to be able to get him eight or
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: nine targets a game, which is what Aj. He wants volume,
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: and I don't know if this offense is equipped to
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: get him the volume that he's looking for. Can you
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: deal with another year of an unhappy player with cryptic
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: tweets and things like that. We've covered Aj since he's
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: been here, great guy, great teammate, But if he's not happy,
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: he's not happy. And if you're Aj Brown, you want
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: to go somewhere where you feel like your skill set's
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: going to be maximized and valued. And I don't know
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: if that'll be here in Philadelphia because I just don't
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: know that they're going to be a high enough volume passing.
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: Attack that's going to be able to fulfill what he's looking.
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: For, or an aggressive passing attack.
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: You know, we mentioned earlier it's a conservative approach Nick
• 19:31
  Speaker 5: Sirianni lakes to use, and I don't think AJ was
• 19:35
  Speaker 5: really happy with that. And an unhappy Aj was an
• 19:38
  Speaker 5: unfocused AJ. That's why I think he saw the drops
• 19:41
  Speaker 5: that we saw from him a very uncharacteristic. They probably
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: should have won the game in La against the Chargers.
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: Dropped the pass in the end zone late in that game.
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: And that game, by the way, was the last time
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: AJ talked to us. And usually, you know, he's one
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: of the more outgoing players on the team. He'll talk
• 19:54
  Speaker 5: once a week, he'll talk after games. But he didn't
• 19:57
  Speaker 5: talk to us after that game. And what was that
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: December December eight.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: It went into December ninth because it was about midnight
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: in the Sofi Stadium locker room.
• 20:05
  Speaker 5: Yeah, so he just shut us out, like he just
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: wondered if you know he had already checked out at
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: that point, and then we saw some drops against the
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: forty nine ers in that playoff loss. So yeah, I think, listen,
• 20:14
  Speaker 5: if AJ's not going to be happy, you don't want
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: to go through that drama again that he brought with
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: his social media. You know, some of the things he
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: said on Twitch. I guess it was.
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: There was some stream or something twitch stream.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know anything about Twitch, but you
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: don't want to be airing out dirty laundry.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: You have to keep that in house.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: And certainly that was something that I believe earlier in
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: the season that it was a big story or a
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: big talking point.
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: I think that's kind of the next issue to tackle
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: here in the offseason. I listen, you know it's going
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: to be a big hit that you're going to take
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: salary cap wise, dead money wise. I think you wait
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: till after June first. It kind of lessens both of
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: those things. And maybe if he comes for OTAs, at
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: least you get to see how he is in OTAs
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: and you get to see what shaw Manion is doing
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: with him in OTAs. Maybe he's happy, but you can't
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: endure a season like that. And I suspect that you
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: know they're probably going to try to get rid of him. Uh,
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: and then you know that's a Hall of Fame receiver
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: right there in the making, And now what are you
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: going to do? I mean, the receiver position is a
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: blind spot for Howie Roseman. He got it wrong with
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: Jayalen reg Or, Josh Huff, jj Ortega Whiteside, John High Tower,
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: Quez Watkins.
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: And Nyas Smith and Nyas Smith.
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: I mean, maybe Johnny Wilson comes back and gives you
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: something that they seem pretty high on him before he
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: got hurt last year. But he did get DeVante Smith right,
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: kind of a no brainer. Heisman Trophy winner. They moved
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: up to get him. Great pick. But it's been hard
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: for Howie and his staff to identify receivers. And there's
• 21:41
  Speaker 5: some good ones in the draft. Are they Hall of
• 21:43
  Speaker 5: Fame caliber? Like AJ Brown? We don't know.
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: Losing Aj would hurt, That's for sure. He'd leave a
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: big hole on that wide out position.
• 21:51
  Speaker 5: So I think they're gonna do everything they can to
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: make it work, and but I don't think it's going to.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: That's that's well said.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: And in my mock draft go mock Draft one point zero,
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: which you can grab one inside the Birds dot Com,
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: I had them taking a wide receiver in the second round,
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: that being Omar Cooper junior from Indiana I had.
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: I had the same pick I had.
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: Omar Cooper is a third in my first mock draft
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: Eagles only, I had them taking him in the third round.
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: But I think his stock is going up. I don't
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: think he'll be there in the third round. I have
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: the Eagles. I love Omar Cooper. I think he's a
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: really good player.
• 22:22
  Speaker 5: Eagles like drafting players lately from national championship caliber teams.
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: You have Miami and Indiana.
• 22:28
  Speaker 5: You could pick players just from those two programs at
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: every level of the draft and it will be a
• 22:32
  Speaker 5: fine draft in my opinion. But I think Omar Cooper
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: is somebody to keep an eye on to possibly replace
• 22:37
  Speaker 5: AJ Well.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: You know what they say, my friend good minds think
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: of like, yeah, great mind somebody. Well, there's no Eagles
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Keys to the Game to prepare for this week, but
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: we're going to talk about the Super Bowl ed and
• 22:49
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• 23:02
  Speaker 2: and I have covered a lot of players in this
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: Super Bowl if you think about it.
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: Milton Williams on the Patriots, I didn't cover Mac Collins.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: You did.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: Then you have Christian Ellis who I did cover. Josh
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: job on the Seahawks. I got to know quite a
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: bit because when I did my rookie Diary series with
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: Eli Rix in twenty twenty three, Josh Joe locker right
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: next to him, so we oftentimes gotten a lot of conversations.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: So it's it's kind of cool to see him now
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: starting for the Seahawks and thinking back to some of
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: the chats that we had in the past. He was
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: a special team stalwart for the Eagles and now that
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: he's starting. But Milton Williams is the big one here
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: for the Patriots. You've covered him from from day one.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: What were your impressions or fondest memories from your conversations
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: with him.
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: Milton was the guy that really kind of kept to
• 23:45
  Speaker 5: himself in that locker room. You know, his locker was
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: kind of there was separated by kind of a pillar
• 23:51
  Speaker 5: that's in the in the locker room from the rest
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: of the defensive linement. So he really you didn't see
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: him interact a whole lot with his teammates, but when
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: you talk to him, he was a great guy to
• 23:59
  Speaker 5: talk to, a bright guy to talk to. You know,
• 24:01
  Speaker 5: he was an easy guy to like. And then he
• 24:04
  Speaker 5: really came on strong, obviously at the end of the
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: Super Bowl season and landed a big deal with the Patriots.
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: The Patriots had never played a paid a player anymore
• 24:13
  Speaker 5: in their history than they did Milton Williams to sign him,
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: and he's paid paid big dividends for them.
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: It was interesting.
• 24:19
  Speaker 5: I think Milton said at Super Bowl the media night
• 24:22
  Speaker 5: or Monday night that the Eagles didn't make any offer
• 24:24
  Speaker 5: to him, that they just kind of let him walk,
• 24:26
  Speaker 5: And I think that's just because the Eagles knew that
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: they weren't going to be able to afford to bring
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: him back at what had nothing to do with his
• 24:32
  Speaker 5: play or the type of person he was, But you know,
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: he was a good locker room guy in my opinion.
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: Didn't always see him interacting with his teammates, kind of
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: kept to himself, but a little bit of a loaner maybe,
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: but when you talk to him, you know, he would
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: light up and he would give you good answers.
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: You know, I thought.
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: I asked him, I said, you know, are you going
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: to take a hometown discount to come back?
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: And he said, I don't know if I would go there.
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: That was his chance at a big paid.
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and he never got that hometown offer anyway, so
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: it really didn't matter.
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: But yeah, I like Milton and.
• 25:01
  Speaker 5: It'd be great to be really cool to see him
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: win the Super Bowl with the Eagles last year and
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: another super Bowl with the Pats kind of like what
• 25:07
  Speaker 5: we saw from le Garrett Blunt and Chris Long when
• 25:10
  Speaker 5: they were Super Bowl champs with the Patriots in twenty sixteen,
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: signed here as Eagles in twenty seventeen and won a
• 25:16
  Speaker 5: super Bowl with the Eagles. So they did it, you know,
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: way back when, and now Milton has a shot to
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: do it this year.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: You know, it just dawned on me that there's another
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: Seahawks who was a former Eagle.
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: I remember Brady Russell who.
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: Was in training camp with them with the Eagles maybe
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: a couple of years ago.
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: He was a tight end.
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: Yes, I do remember that name.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: But the Seahawks ended up making him a fullback and
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: he's on the Seattle Seahawks.
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: So look at that Brady Russell there you go. Yeah.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: So, but I have to ask, what was it like
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: covering Mac Collins because he's sort of taking on the
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: life of its own, walking around with no shoes on,
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: doing the Warriors call for the movie Warriors that he's
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: walking down the corridor during the NFC.
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: Championship game or the AFC Championship game. Rather, what was
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: he like?
• 25:57
  Speaker 5: He was a different cat. There's no question he would
• 25:59
  Speaker 5: talk a lot about snakes. He was a big exotic
• 26:02
  Speaker 5: pets owner, Like he had this collection of snakes, and
• 26:05
  Speaker 5: you try to talk to him sometimes after a practice
• 26:09
  Speaker 5: in the locker room because I got to go back and,
• 26:11
  Speaker 5: you know, check on my snakes.
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: But you know, he's that kind of guy. You know,
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: he's a free spirited guy.
• 26:16
  Speaker 5: And I got to be honest, I'm really surprised that
• 26:19
  Speaker 5: he is still in this league. And when we talk
• 26:22
  Speaker 5: about the blind spot, how he has her receivers. Here's
• 26:24
  Speaker 5: one that came i think in the fourth round from
• 26:27
  Speaker 5: North Carolina. They didn't really take the time to develop him.
• 26:31
  Speaker 5: Got rid of him pretty quickly. And I remember an
• 26:32
  Speaker 5: interview with him where he talked about liking his role
• 26:34
  Speaker 5: on special teams and he's fine being a special teams
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: player if that's what his NFL career calls for. And
• 26:40
  Speaker 5: I remember the fans thinking, we don't want a guy
• 26:42
  Speaker 5: that doesn't want to get on the field as a receiver.
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: Get rid of them, but they did.
• 26:46
  Speaker 5: And he's been with several teams, and now he's with
• 26:49
  Speaker 5: the Patriots, and you know another reason, maybe if you're
• 26:52
  Speaker 5: not a Pats fan from the Tom Brady days, maybe
• 26:55
  Speaker 5: another reason to root for the New England on Sundays,
• 26:57
  Speaker 5: Milton Williams and Matt Collins, this free spirited receiver from
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: North Carolina.
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: All right, very quickly.
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: Now we have to go through our Super Bowl picks,
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: because I'm gonna take the Seattle Seahawks. And I don't
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: know if this game is gonna be I don't know
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: if it's gonna be a nail bier, but I think
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: Sam Donald's really gonna put his stamp on his standing
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: in the NFL pantheon of quarterbacks and rise and elevate
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: his game on the on the grandest of stages. I
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: think he's gonna throw for a few touchdowns in this game.
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: I have them winning.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: I don't know if I have a score, but I
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: like the Seahawks over the Pats this weekend.
• 27:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I you know, listen, I'm I'm tempted to play
• 27:34
  Speaker 5: Devil's advocate, but I can't find a reason to take
• 27:37
  Speaker 5: the Patriots. To be honest, I think Seattle's gonna win
• 27:39
  Speaker 5: this game, and they're gonna win it.
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: Big, big.
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I really think so. I think their defense is
• 27:45
  Speaker 5: very good. I think Sam Donald now is so close
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: to the finish line. After being written off as a
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: bust with the New York Jets the third pick over all.
• 27:53
  Speaker 5: The Minnesota Vikings let him out the door to go
• 27:55
  Speaker 5: sign with Seattle.
• 27:56
  Speaker 4: That cost their GM a job. Yeah. So I'm gonna
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: to go with the Seahawks, and.
• 28:01
  Speaker 5: I think that they're gonna win by I'm gonna say
• 28:03
  Speaker 5: maybe two touchdowns at least.
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: Wow, well Ed, I appreciate you joining me.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: That was a lot of fun. We have plenty more
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: conversations to get to this offseason. I want to thank
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: everybody for sticking with us for.
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: WBCB offseason long.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the Pro Football report presented
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: by BCWSA right here on fourteen ninety wbcb I one
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: O seven point three FM and seen live at wbcbsports
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: dot com. Catch you next season,