The Eagles roster has been set.  A.J. Feeley was released this morning.  Fenuki Tupou has been placed on IR.

The loss of Stewart Bradley now becomes glaring on the depth chart with a few new names at the LB position.   Here’s a good read on rookie LB Moise Fokuo, Fokou who? Word is also going around that Macho Harris may have the starting FS role over Quintin Demps.

It’s also good to know that Danny Amendola and Jack Ikegwuonu have been added to the practice squad.  The practice squad also includes guards Paul Fanaika and Mike Gibson.

Quarterbacks (3) – Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick

Running Backs (3) – Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy, Eldra Buckley

Fullback (1) – Leonard Weaver

Wide Receivers (7) – DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, Jason Avant, Jeremy Maclin, Reggie Brown, Hank Baskett, Brandon Gibson

Tight Ends (2) - Brent Celek, Tony Curtis

Offensive Lineman (10) - Jason Peters, Todd Herremans, Jamaal Jackson, Stacy Andrews, Shawn Andrews, Nick Cole, Max Jean-Gilles, Winston Justice, Mike McGlynn, King Dunlap

Defensive Lineman (9) – Trent Cole, Brodrick Bunkley, Mike Patterson, Victor Abiamiri, Chris Clemons, Juqau Parker, Jason Babin, Darren Howard, Trevor Laws

Linebackers (6) – Chris Gocong, Omar Gaither, Akeem Jordan, Joe Mays, Moise Fokou, Tracy White

Safeties (4) – Quintin Mikell, Quintin Demps, Sean Jones, Macho Harris

Cornerbacks (5) – Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown, Joselio Hanson, Ellis Hobbs, Dimitri Patterson

Specialists (3) – David Akers, Sav Rocca, Jon Dorenbos

The Eagles axed 4 players from the 2008 draft: Bryan Smith (DE), Jack Ikegqwuono (CB),  Lorenzo Booker (RB), and Mike Gibson (OG).  Jason Babin, who is a former 1st-round pick, is essentially replacing Bryan Smith.  You can say that Jack was bumped by the acquisition of Ellis Hobbs.  Lorenzo Booker has been replaced by Eldra Buckley.  I hate to see 3 draft picks wasted, especially the 3rd-rounder used on Bryan Smith, but the players the Eagles kept are much better than the players cut.

Danny Amendola (WR) was unfortunately cut, but he might stand a chance to make the practice squad if he can make it through waivers.  The Eagles have thus far kept 7 wide receivers and Brandon Gibson has not been cut, which indicates he’ll likely make the final roster, which means that Hank Baskett or Reggie Brown will be the odd man out since the Eagles will need to get down to 6 WRs.  Neither Baskett or Brown has been formally cut as of yet.  The Eagles have DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Kevin Curtis, Jason Avant, Brandon Gibson, Hank Basket, and Reggie Brown on the roster.  Not so thin at receiver anymore, right?

Matt Schobel (TE), Dan Klecko (DT), and Kyle Eckel (FB) are other mentionable cuts.

As of now, A.J. Feeley is still on the Eagles roster since Michael Vick is exempted from the 53 man roster until he is eligible to play in week 3.  It’s safe to assume that the Eagles are likely talking to the Patriots about sending Feeley to the Patriots for draft considerations.  Since Matt Cassel was traded to the Chiefs, the Patriots are without a quality backup for Brady.

We’ll post the full 53 man roster once it’s finalized.

Most Eagles fans are extremely frustrated with how the Eagles have handled free agency this offseason.  Notably, letting Brian Dawkins go, who to my surprise is going to be the highest paid safety in the NFL as far as cap numbers are concerned.  I guess you can’t blame the Eagles for having to let him go to greener pastures.

I’m still waiting for the Eagles to do something besides sign Stacy Andrews.  We could have boosted the receiving corp with T.J. Houshmandzadeh, but the Eagles clearly had no interest in him and they would be paying a lot of money for guy that is just a bit of an upgrade over Jason Avant. Houshmandzadeh signed a 5-year, $40 million ($15 guaranteed) contract with Seattle.

I still think the Eagles have to go after Seattle FB Leonard Weaver.  Weaver was set to visit New Orleans, but that trip was canceled after Weaver was informed that he would be a backup to Karney.

This rumor has Reggie Brown being traded to the Rams for Tory Holt.

Here is a great video on what the Eagles approach may be in the upcoming days.  Here are the highlights:

– Eagles were interested in Patriots CB James Sanders, but he resigned with the Patriots.

– Eagles may sign a veteran safety for one or two years until Quintim Demps is ready.

– Bills CB Jabari Greer may be targetted by the Eagles.

– If the Eagles pick up Greer, that may lead to Sheldon Brown moving to safety.

– Tra Thomas visited the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the Eagles said that he can go out there and see what his value is, but they’re prepared to match any offer than he receives since they need a starting LT next year.  As you can imagine, most teams aren’t willing to may much for a 34-year-old tackle.

– Eagles may try to trade for Anquan Boldin, but the Cardinals would demand a CB.

– There’s a lot of solid WR talent in the draft.  The Eagles could get a guy outside the first round.

– Eagles need a TE.  Bo Schaife was their guy — he was franchised by the Titans.  Don’t look for the Eagles to go after a TE in free agency.  They like 3-4 guys in the draft.  Brandon Pettigrew is the guy they want, but 3-4 teams are interested, so they would have to trade up to get him.

From the Desk of Jay Vaidya

I purposely arrived late at camp today (around 8:30am) so that  I could go through the trials and tribulations of parking far away and making the long walk with other Eagle fans to the Lehigh practice field.  Today, Saturday July 26th, marked the first day that the entire Eagle team (including RB Brian Westbrook and CB Lito Sheppard) practiced in full contact drills in front of more than 15,000 passionate and die hard Eagle fans.  As I sauntered through the crowds making my way to the main practice field where the offense was going through some drills, I stopped and talked to some of the Philly faithful about their thoughts on this glorious day.  “I’m here with my boys to finally see some hitting.  We have all waited long enough to see some football,” said Dave of Wilmington, DE.  The nest was surely a buzz. Angela from Philadelphia added, “This is my first year ever coming to camp.  It reminds me of a Woodstock-like concert.  There are so many people here.  My boys and husband are happy that they are able to see some of the new players on the team.  This Eagles camp is probably the best professional training camp in the country.  Don’t you think?”

Angela could not have been more right in her assessment of Eagle camp.  Eagles training camp is not probably, but definitively the best NFL camp in the nation.  Where else can you find passionate fans in the tens of thousands, driving up to 5 hours from their homes in places such as Virginia Beach (VA), Wilmington (DE), Lancaster (PA), Harrisburg PA), etc. just to see some guys they cheer for on weekends practice?  I mean…we’re talking about practice.  Not the game, not the game….but practice.  (Thanks again for those words A.I., you are truly missed)

The first thing I saw as I reached the stands to watch the actual practice was Donovan McNabb throwing a dart across the middle to a cutting Hank Baskett in stride for a 15 yard gain.  McNabb looked great and poised, and so did this year’s probable receiving corps of Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown, Greg Lewis, Jason Avant, Hank Baskett, as well as new comers DeSean Jackson, Shaheer McBride, and Bam Childress.  Not only that, but our secondary looked great as well.  Led by Brian Dawkins, the corners and safeties also put in great work picking off and deflecting numerous passes from our QBs (this is not to say that the QBs played poorly).  For example J.R. Reed made a great read on a McNabb to Curtis route and jumped the route to pick of Donovan and take the ball back 20 yards.  This play was then immediately followed up by a delayed handoff to Brian Westbrook, who received a clamorous cheer from the gallery as soon as he touched the ball.  B-West was cutting and weaving past the linebackers and headed directly for the secondary before he decided to get out of bounds on many of his touches.  What followed was truly amazing.  Fans began to stand and yell comments from the gallery such as “Don’t worry Brian, we will pay you”, “Don’t hold out on us Brian”, “We need you Brian”, and “We love you Brian” for about 3 minutes after his 7 second run.  This got me thinking.  Should the media saturate the airwaves with talk of holdouts by Lito Sheppard and Brian Westbrook (as once reported here by me) along with contract disputes, rather than talk about other more pressing issues (i.e. what to make of an offense who struggled to score touchdowns in the red zone) surrounding the team and the players who are content with their roles on the 2008 Eagle squad.  So, to get an idea of what Eagle nation thought about this issue I decided to ask some fans for their thoughts on the subject and then relay their thoughts to you the reader.  What I found was that there were two schools of thought regarding this matter.  On one hand we had Eagle fans that were fed up and disgusted with the media who at times made more of these distracting contract issues then the players themselves did.  Conversely, on the other hand we had fans that were adamant that contract “hoopla” is important for fans to know about and discuss as part of Eagle nation.   “I’m tired of all this contract stuff,” complained Joe of Malvern, Pa, “If I hear that garbage on TV or the radio, I simply switch the station.  Fans shouldn’t have to worry about that stuff.”  When asked specifically about the B-West and Lito contract disputes Will of Lancaster, PA replied, “The media makes more of it than they do.  It’s all infuriating.”  Rob of Bethlehem, PA agreed with Joe and Will but also added, “All these NFL guys are way overpaid.  I honestly don’t think any of them are worth even a million dollars.  I mean, it’s a million dollars we are talking about here!”  Not all fans, however, saw the media’s role as “distracting” to the real issue at hand; getting to the Super Bowl.  “The players and the media are only as noticeable as the fans want them to be,” explained lifelong Eagle fan Nate L. of Sicklerville, NJ, “Take a look around.  How many #5, #20, and #36 jerseys do you see walking around?  We (the fans) all pay upwards of a $100 for tickets and jerseys and most other Eagle paraphernalia, and take more than 3 hours plus a week cheering on the team during the regular season.  Don’t you think, especially in today’s economy, that that money could be spent in other places?  But no, we the loyal Eagle fans see ‘being a fan’ in a different light.  In a way, through spending our hard earned money on the Eagles franchise, we become shareholders of this company called the Philadelphia Eagles.  When they win, we win.  When they lose, we lose.  It’s a mindset and a lifestyle each one of us has chosen.  Therefore, when asked should the fans care about contract ‘stuff’ and the media’s role in telling us about that ‘stuff’, I think we the fans must have a say, and be fully briefed on what is happening.  In a way, these players are being paid with our money.”

It was now 10:15am, and I turned away from the practice field to take a minute in the shade to reflect on what I had heard from you, the Eagle fans, and also gather my thoughts and then jot them down in a notepad.  My attention was then suddenly taking away by the joyous yelping of young Bird fans playing in the designated play section located about 100 yards away from the practice field.  Every little kid’s face I observed playing on the moon walk, participating in kick, pass and punt competitions, or simply eating Italian ice was one of delight and happiness.  This is what it should all be about I thought, Happiness.   These kids probably cheer our team, the Eagles, just as hard as you and I.  When we (adults) concern ourselves with contract disputes, what player said what, and who is hurt or not, we take away the element of happiness from our lives.  Rather than concern ourselves with the above mentioned distractions, we should all learn from the children and just enjoy.  We have a great team and a great fan base, and that alone should make us all happy.

– Jay Vaidya

(Thanks to every fan and person that took time out of their day to stop and talk to me.  I learned a lot from you guys and appreciate it.)

QUICK EAGLE NOTES:

– Shawn Andrews is still a no show at practice, citing personal reasons.  There is no word on when he will arrive at Lehigh.

– Asante Samuel’s practice was cut short when he re-aggravated his hamstring.  This injury has plagued the $10mil a year Pro-Bowl cornerback ever since his arrival in Philadelphia.  No further information was given about this injury.