Is it worth keeping Westbrook around next season?


While talking to a TV station in Tennessee, Brian Westbrook refuted the reports by Howard Eskin that he has decided to retire due to concussions and ankle and knee injuries. He says that he simply didn't wait long enough before coming back onto the field, causing his second concussion.

"What happened to me was that I was not completely healed from the first concussion," he said. "Even though I waited that long amount of time and passed all the tests I still wasn't completely healed...and it came back just like that. After that I had to sit out another five or six weeks just for me to be completely sure that I was 100 percent OK."

So, from what we can gather from that quote, he's saying that he's 100 percent healed from the concussions. And while he'll never be 100 percent healed from the ankle and knee injuries, he refutes any claims that the chronic pain will stop him from continuing his career.

Right now, I'm sure Westbrook is a hot topic of discussion within the Eagles' organization. He's been so good for so long that cutting him seems like an awful thing to do, but his $7.5 million salary is far too high for the production he can give them anymore.

So what do they do with him?

If it were me, the first thing I would do is attempt to convince him to take a pay cut. We'll see how much he really wants to stay an Eagle by asking him to take a much lower base salary, but high in incentives. Incentives like playing 50 percent of the snaps, playing in at least 12 games, rushing for 800 yards, receiving for 400, and 8 total touchdowns.

Some are certainly attainable, and others are not. It may be a juicy enough worm for him to take (if he's still really confident in his abilities) because it keeps him in Philly and out of a very questionable running back free agent market that has seen little to no action over the past few seasons.

Running backs 30 and over just aren't collecting the big money, or starting opportunities. A guaranteed spot here in Philly might be tempting enough to convince him to take whatever the Eagles are offering.

He will not, however, be this team's starter in 2010. I said before last season that LeSean McCoy would be more productive than Westbrook. He was, by a long shot, and has earned a chance to be this team's starter.

Westbrook would then become the third down back, a situation he's most suited for. It would take advantage of his blocking and receiving abilities -- abilities that McCoy hasn't quite acquired at this point in his career.

If the load is not on his shoulders, it's possible that he could still contribute to this team. He is still a talented player, and teams would still fear him on the field, regardless of whether or not he's the same player as he was even a few years ago or not.

He could still run away from a linebacker, or even a safety, so he's worth keeping around -- but only if the price is right. There is no way the Birds can pay him the $7.5 million. If he won't take the pay cut, then it's time that he goes. If he will, then he's certainly worth keeping around.

Maybe it's just the loyalty of seeing him in Eagle green for eight years, but something tells me Westbrook still has something left, and it would be a shame to miss out on it and see him do it in another jersey.
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The calls have been for McNabb, but is he leaving?


According to ESPN's Sal Paolantonio, the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, and Buffalo Bills have all called the Philadelphia Eagles to inquire about Donovan McNabb. There's no mention of interest in Kevin Kolb, but it's likely that they asked about both quarterbacks.

Nothing can happen until March 5th, which is the season's "official" end, so there's still a month of speculation ahead of us, but I suppose it's never too early to start.

I've remained firm in my belief that McNabb will not be traded this offseason, so it's likely that the Eagles are pitching Kolb as something of a consolation prize to any team calling about Donovan.

Any of these three teams certainly make sense for a landing spot for Kolb, but it's likely that the Eagles are asking for nothing less than a second round pick -- a price that teams may not be willing to pay.

The only thing that will help the Eagles get their asking price for Kolb is the extremely thin free agent pool of quarterbacks. The top two free agent quarterbacks are Daunte Culpepper and Chad Pennington, two quarterbacks past their glory days and who are, at this point, nothing more than a stop-gap.

A team like the Broncos probably feel as though they're a pretty good team overall, and that having a good, young quarterback in place would help them fill other need areas, and maybe even help in attracting free agents.

The Bills and Browns, however, may be more reluctant to part ways with draft picks for a guy who has only 12 quarters worth of starting (half a game against the Ravens in '08, the Panthers in '09, and then starts against the Saints and Chiefs).

The entire league seems to have resigned itself to the fact that Michael Vick will become a Ram, and I'm this side of positive that McNabb will remain an Eagle, so the only question now is what happens with Kolb?

It's something we'll be watching very closely, and should have a resolution shortly after the March 5th starting point.
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Are Trotter's days in Philadelphia over? ... Again.



Jeremiah Trotter, set to become an unrestricted free agent regardless of the status of the CBA, has been saying all offseason that he wants to remain an Eagle. He reiterated that desire to Philadelphia's CBS affiliate recently.

"I look forward to being an Eagle again," Trotter told CBS3. "I think I proved to everyone I can still play the game."

He definitely proved that he can still be effective -- starting seven games and recording 40 tackles -- but convincing the Eagles that he deserves another contract when they have all of their linebackers coming back next season will be difficult to accomplish.

Omar Gaither and Chris Gocong were set to become unrestricted free agents, but with the CBA in limbo will only be restricted free agents. So unless they're cut or someone thinks they're worth losing a draft pick, Gaither and Gocong will both be back for 2010.

That gives the Eagles, at the very least, two very good backups and really diminishes the need for Trotter. Gaither can, and has, played in the middle, so he would take the backup spot Trott is shooting for.

Not only that, but the age difference alone is going to have the Eagles leaning towards Gaither.

Based on what the Eagles have done in the past, and what my gut is telling me, Trotter is going to get a beautiful "thank you" speech from Reid, but he will not remain an Eagle.

He will, however, remain on Reid's speed dial if something were to happen again.
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Would Stewart Bradley be more useful elsewhere?


I don't mean I want Stewart Bradley moved to wide receiver or have him take over at corner when Sheldon Brown moves to safety, but should the Eagles consider moving Bradley out of the MIKE position and slide him over to SAM?

Strong-side linebacker has been a problem for this team ever since Carlos Emmons left and headed to New York earlier this decade. The Chris Gocong experiment did not work the way they thought it would, and now the Birds are once again left with no answers at SAM.

However, Bradley is a guy who fits perfectly. He's got a rare combination of size (6'4, 254) and athleticism that would allow him to not only play the run on the strong side, but able to cover even the upper echelon of tight ends.

Let's also not forget that SAM is not uncharted territory for Bradley. In fact, he played SAM linebacker at Nebraska, and it was the move to MIKE that was actually the gamble for Bradley.

But as is usually the case, a solution to one problem only brings up more problems. The obvious one being, who would then move into the middle?

It's not ideal, but if the Birds were to draft Navorro Bowman with their first round pick, they could play him immediately at WILL and move Witherspoon into the MIKE spot again. It's not ideal because Witherspoon isn't quite big enough (6'1, 235) to play middle linebacker, but he's smart and quick enough to make up for it.

Not only that, but even in a down year Brodrick Bunkley and Mike Patterson are still very good at eating up blocks and not allowing the guards to get to the second level.

I would rather see the Birds pick up a guy who can play SAM, or perhaps see Moise Fokou flourish and be able to cover the tight ends, but I just don't see it happening. For next year, the Birds could do very well with a trio of Bowman, Witherspoon, and Bradley.

Even Akeem Jordan at WILL (if the Birds don't draft Bowman) would work out just fine.

I'm drawing the line. I'm personally sick and tired of seeing tight ends gouge this defense and if it means moving Bradley to SAM to make it stop, then I'm all for it.

Will he be able to run as well as he did before the knee injury? I'm not sure, no one is, but it's a risk I would certainly be happy to see them take in an effort to stop the tight ends.
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