Eagles Having A Busy Week
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They started off the free agent period very slowly and didn’t make and splashes in the first few days. They watched stars like Tomlinson, Thomas Jones, Anquan Boldin and Julius Peppers switch teams but were waiting to make their moves. Well that time has come because, even though it’s only Wednesday, the Eagles have had a very busy week.
It started Tuesday by signing Saints RB Mike Bell to an offer sheet. The Saints have seven days to match it but it doesn’t seem like they will. This is a huge addition that will bolster their running game if Bell stays healthy. He is a stud RB who has slipped under the radar for the past few seasons. Last year he was part of the 3 back system in New Orleans along side bigger names like Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas but still led the team in rushing attempts. He is a big powerful back who can also read holes very well.
Their next move was to trade for reliable DE Darryl Tapp. They sent Chris Clemons and a 4th round draft pick to the Seahawks for their starting end. Tapp may be little known coming from a poor Seattle team but he played in all 16 games for the past 4 years and is very skilled. He was drafted 4 years ago and has 18 career sacks. He is young and should be a good presence on this D-Line.
The latest news today is the release of former Pro-Bowler but often injured Shawn Andrews. Andrews had EXTREME ups and downs as an Eagle. The downs started in his rookie season when he missed the year after breaking his leg. After that things were looking up and it looked like the 12th overall pick it took to get him was paying off. He was one of the top lineman in the NFL and made back to back pro bowls in ‘06 and ‘07. Since then his passion for the game has been question. It seemed like he didn’t want to play anymore and his actions are backing that up. On top of that he missed all but 2 games over the past two years due to injury.
As much as I wanted to see him return to his level from 2006 and 2007, this move had to be made because he hasn’t helped the team in 2 years. He says he wants to continue playing so that will tell us if this was a good or bad move.
