For weeks the Eagles blogosphere has been demanding that the Eagles front office sign FB Leonard Weaver.  The Eagles went into the 2008 season with no real answer to fill the void left by Thomas Tapeh, who signed with the Minnesota Vikings, and it hurt them.  We thought Tony Hunt could be the guy.  That didn’t work out.  We thought Dan Klecko could be the guy.  That didn’t work out, though it was amusing seeing a guy the size of a defensive tackle (huge belly and all) make a catch and try to run with the ball.

Well we finally have a legit FB with Leonard Weaver.  Weaver can block, run for short yardage, and even catch the ball out of the backfield.   Last season, Weaver had 30 carries for 130 yards and 22 receptions for 222 yards.  That’s quality production out of a FB.  Weaver just got a one-year, $1.75 million deal from the Eagles, but the deal could be worth as much as $2.5 million with incentives based on playing time, carries, and receptions.  Weaever even turned down more lucrative offers from other teams because he felt the Eagles were a better offensive fit for him due to the similar west-coast offense that Seattle runs.

Eagles add some versatility at fullback [Philadelphia Inquirer]

In other Eagles news, the Ravens officially announced that they have signed LJ Smith to a one-year deal.  Good ridance.

– OT Stacy Andrews will likely sign with the Eagles.  Stacy is the brother of Shawn.  The Eagles will have two beasts on the right side of the line.  Stacy is 6’7″ 342 lbs.  A deal is reached.

– If Brian Dawkins is not wearing an Eagles uniform I will be pissed beyond belief!  Dawkins is visiting with the Broncos.

– Houshmandzadeh is visiting with the Seahawks.  But, TJ is sending text messages that he wants to be an Eagle if they want him to be!

– Broncos expected to acquire Buckhalter.

– Haynesworth signs with Redskins for $100 million over 7 years.  And they still probably won’t make the playoffs.

– LJ Smith may end up in Atlanta.

I’m too distraught over the Brian Dawkins situation and severely hung over so free agency coverage will have to take a break.

Free Agency This Year Not Exciting As Last Year’s:

So pretty much all the fun has been sucked out of free agency thanks to the awful Franchise Tag, which needs to go!  The Panthers signed OT Jordan Gross to a 6-year deal AND tagged Peppers to boot.  That means the Panthers have to pay Peppers a cool $17 million.  Most people are asking, how do the top 5 DEs make $17 million?  They don’t: a clause states that the tagged player gets the greater of the average salaries of the top 5 highest paid players at that position or 120% of the player’s salary the prior year.  Peppers made $15 million last year.  That’s a nice two-year payday.  I don’t know what he’s complaining about that.

Adding TE Owen Daniels and kicking L.J. Smith to the curb doesn’t seem likely since Bleeding Green Nation reports that Daniels has been tendered at the highest level.  Although, there are some rumblings that Kellen Winslow is being shopped for a 2nd- and 3rd-round pick.  Here are some proposals.

Adding a WR like Antonio Bryant won’t happen either.  A big, physical guy with a lot of talent and upside.  He’s been tagged by the Bucs.

What are the Eagles options?

T.J. Houshmandzadeh — Houshmanzadeh will likely hit the market, but Heckerd says he’s not looking to add a wide receiver (unless he’s bluffing).  I think Houshmandzadeh/DeSean/Curtis would be a perfect combination of receivers.  Housh’s bread and butter is 5-yard catches over the middle, with a high amount of yards-after-the-catch (YAC).  With DeSean Jackson and Kevin Curtis out there as well, I don’t see how #5 cannot hit one of them at will.  With all the other potential free agents out there tagged, the Eagles have room to make one big move.  This is their big move.

Offensive Tackle Outlook:

Looks like Tra Thomas will be resigned.  Jon Runyan will test free agency, find out nobody wants him due to his age and knee injury, and he’ll likely sign late with the Eagles on the cheap. Winston Justice is being shopped, but who are we kidding, who’s going to want him unless the asking price is a sixth-round pick (maybe a fourth, please?).  Justice will probably end up being cut in August unless he gets his act together.

That means you can bet your last dollar that the Eagles will be targeting an OT in the draft.  I say they package their 2 first-round picks to get the OT that they want.  Or I’ll take Michael Oher AND Beanie Wells.  Please NFL Draft Gods!  More on the OT draft outlook coming later.

Fourteen. Fourteen freaking dropped balls. That is almost 3 dropped passes a game. That means 2-3 at Week 6. So, am I surprised? No, and here’s why.

The Eagles front office has set this team up for disaster. By bringing back Donovan McNabb for this season, the Eagles basically told the whole league, “We are going to throw the football”. What the Eagles didn’t do, however, is go out and get somebody for McNabb to throw the ball to (a la any #1 wide receiver and/or any other TE other than LJ Smith). So now Eagles fans are basically stuck watching a form of two plays on offense. Either, (A) our sub-par wide receivers get covered and/or drop balls, or (B) we watch 12th string RB turned FB, Tony Hunt, create phantom holes for our runningbacks to not run through. On the defensive side, Eagles fans also watch a form of two plays. On one hand, we watch the opposing runningback, who always has the luxury of a real NFL FB as well as a TE who blocks, run for 100+ yds (I don’t need to hear that bull of us leading the league in run defense anymore…seriously, how long will that last?) or, we can all watch a real NFL TE catch (“catch” being the keyword here) for 100+ yds and set up camp in the middle of our defense, because for some reason we don’t like to cover the TE…ever!

The front office and Andy Reid should be ashamed of themselves not only for the play calling gaffes and the ridiculous roster decisions (I mean, I think we all could have done without Greg Lewis this year), but also for not realizing the urgency to get a #1 WR.  The days of coasting through the NFC East and getting into the NFC Championship with WRs like Stinkston and Trash are over.  Every NFC East team has tooled up and now all have what we in Philly crave, a legit wide receiver and a TE (oh yeah, they also have a FB).  The Cowgirls have Owens and Witten, the VaGiants have Burress and Boss, and the Redskins (don’t have a clever name for them…yet) have Moss/Randle-El and Cooley. To have a team like our Eagles, that is so dependant on the pass, not have a premier WR, is nothing short of infuriating.  Its absolutely despicable, not to mention a slap in every Eagles fans face, to be the laughing stock of the NFC East at the end of Week 5, when simple moves in the off season could have made Philadelphia “Title Town, USA” with both a World Series and a Super Bowl under our belts. It’s just awful.

– Jay Vaidya (Please feel free to comment and vent your anger as well)

The Eagles On The Clock [Bleeding Green Nation] — Kiper thinks the Eagles will go for Jeff Otah, or a WR or S.

Eagles Draft Round Up [Philadelphia Inquirer] — A list of names on the Eagles’ radar for the 1st round.

Eagles 2nd and 3rd round draft targets [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Inside the Iggles is campaigning for James Hardy in the 1st round and Chris Johnson in the 2nd round.

I’m going to jump onto the James Hardy bandwagon.  At 6’6″, he is just what the Eagles need to solve their offensive red-zone woes.  James Hardy is scheduled to visit the Eagles on April 7th [Yardbarker].  They also interviewed him at the combine, so they are very serious about drafting him with their 19th pick.

Just as long as it isn’t Malcolm Kelly. [Yardbarker]

Devin Thomas’ stock is rising.  Check out his profile.  He’s another option the Eagles could consider.

Right now my WR Draft Board is looking like this. [All Philadelphia Sports]

LJ Smith Getting An Extension? [Inside the Iggles]

The Cowboys Making A Play For Pacman [Iggles Blog]

This guy still thinks the Eagles will get Chad Johnson [Yardbarker]  Although the chances of a trade look better now than they did weeks ago, I don’t see if happening; however, there’s always a chance in the NFL.

Grading The Eagles Offseason: A for Asante [Eagles Eye]

Defensive Shakeup Two Years In Making [PhiladelphiaEagles.com]

Kris Wilson Adds Athletic Ability, Speed To Offense [PhiladelphiaEagles.com]