Daily Archives: June 13, 2011

Tony Dungy Speaks Regarding Plaxico and the Eagles

Posted on June 13, 2011 | 1 Comment

Tony Dungy played a big role in the comeback of Michael Vick, and was also a big reason Andy Reid trusted Vick enough to give him a chance. Vick has spoken at length about how important Dungy has been to him.

Tony Dungy was with Plaxico today for an event in New York.

So it’s only natural for Dungy to be questioned about the future of Plaxico Burress, as he was today by Mike Garafalo of the New Jersey star Ledger, and if that future is at the Linc.

“I don’t know that would be the case. He wants to be some place where he’s wanted, where he’s comfortable,” Dungy said. “I don’t think playing football is the most important thing for him now. He wants to play very badly and feels like he had two years to rest his body up, so he’ll be able to play. But just like with Mike, I think it becomes important but not the most important thing.”

Dungy noting he wants to be somewhere he’s wanted, when asked specifically about Philadelphia, could be a hint that initial reports that the Eagles were not interested are true.

The Super Bowl winning coach said that he has had discussions with Plax about what can do still do on the field.

“Plax told me, ‘I can be better. … I was banged up my last year. I was not healthy. So I haven’t been able to run and work the way I would, but I’m healed up so I can be better,’” Dungy said. “After what happened with Mike, I can’t doubt it.”

But while Dungy wants to believe in Burress, he noted that as a former coach, he can’t help but he skeptical.

“There’s something that, as a coach, tells me I don’t believe that, but I’ll have to let it play out and see.”

Whether it plays out in Philadelphia though, as remains to be seen.

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Posted in Eagles, Plaxico Burress

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Lurie: ‘Great plan in place’

Posted on June 13, 2011 | 1 Comment

Many NFL analysts are starting to see the end at the light of the tunnel that is the NFL lockout, and when it is over, Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie says the team is ready to make a quick jump into the official start of the regular off season.

Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie sees big things in the Eagles free agency plans

“Were ready to roll when the there’s a new league year, and we’re all very excited about the opportunities for free agency and whatever other opportunities exist,” said Lurie to Ashley Fox of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We’ve been ready to roll for a while. We’ve got a great plan in place, and you never know what you can accomplish, but I know we’re going to be aggressive and hopefully make the right decisions. “

Hearing that the Eagles plan to be aggressive in free agency is nothing new. It seems every year Lurie, Joe Banner and Andy Reid promise to make an impact in free agency.

Lurie went on to make what seems to be a not so subtle reference to the teams in ability to change their former franchise quarterback, Kevin Kolb.

“Its frustrating to be a team that’s poised to make some of the we want to make and not be able to. I think we’ll be very excited when the league year starts, ” said Lurie.

It will be interesting to see how much input Lurie has on the Eagles free agency plans. Usually how the show runs at the Nova Care is Reid is the football man, Banner makes it work financially, and Lurie over sees it- unless he has a problem.

The Eagles made a big splash two years ago when they signed Michael Vick, and Lurie had a big part in him coming here by letting Reid know he was ok with it. Without Luries approval, Vick would not be here. It’s hard to imagine Lurie will not have the same veto power over the signing of Plaxico Burress. It is possible the exciting move Lurie has in mind involves a discussion that he has already had with Reid or Banner regarding just that.

When the Eagles want player, they usually jump all over it from the start. It seems that once again, they are poised to make a leap towards a player they targeted when the lockout is over.

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NFL Experts predict “Mid-July” End to Lockout

Posted on June 13, 2011 | 1 Comment

Peter King, arguably the man most tapped into the NFL, released his Monday Morning Quarterback column today. In it, he gave some new details on the labor situation, all of which are extremely positive.

One hurdle has been crossed, according to King, in terms of revenue in the upcoming years. As King explains it, the owners and players could not agree on was the “backside of the salary capped years from 2011 through 2014.” From my understanding, with a new TV deal coming up, the players want the salary cap to increase with any new revenue. The owners were unwilling at first, but now according to King, are willing to do so.

NFL fans could be seeing this image again very soon, according to King.

A great sign is that the two sides now have smaller committees working on different issues, instead of a large room with everyone, including lawyers, working on everything. King writes that with issues such as workout days during the off season and health care benefits upon retirement, the “devil is in the details, and owners and players are working on getting closer on them.”

King also goes into the details of money that will be lost by missing preseason games, and he estimates it could be around 700 million dollars. The majority of that money is to the league, not to the players. King correctly points out that missing preseason games will show the advertisers that talks are going bad, and they may take their money else where. People talk about owners wanting players to miss game checks, but the owners have a lot to lose as well by this thing going into the season.

But perhaps the best piece of news is what one source told King.

“There’s a long way to go,” said one of Kings sources. “But instead of people yelling at each other, trying to score debating points, now people are sitting down and talking to each other, trying to solve a very involved case. That’s progress.”

That is indeed progress. It sounds like the two sides are finally working together, as opposed to the day the lock out started, when they were taking turns  ripping each other on national TV.

What does all of this mean? To King it means a deal being done within a month. Michael Lombardi of the NFL Network also said this morning on 610WIP that he sees a deal being done by mid July. This would allow the season to go on as planned, with nothing being missed.

And at the end of the day, what this all really means is that with each passing day, the news gets better and better for NFL fans.

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Posted in demaurice smith, goodell, lockout

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Mikell on lockout: “So Deep I Don’t Even Care”

Posted on June 13, 2011 | 1 Comment

Mikell has been one of the more vocal Eagles this off season when it comes to the lockout. As a free agent, he has a lot vested in this process since he cannot sign with another team until the lockout is lifted.

Mikell has been one of the more vocal Eagles this off season.

But you wouldn’t guess he felt that way from what he most recently said to Philadelphia Daily News.

“It’s been crazy [this offseason] but I’m not even concerned about it anymore,” said Mikell. “We’re so deep in the lockout I don’t even care. I’m just worried about staying in shape and making sure I’m ready to go.”

What Mikell said will most likely be taken out of context, as he was more trying to say he is just focusing on working out.  I’d imagine players around the league and the ones in the meeting rooms will not like to see a fellow player saying they don’t care.

But to say Mikell dosn’t care could not be farther from the truth. This quote sounds more like a man fed up with a process and union that in many ways has failed him. When I spoke to him last month at a PowerTrain workout center in New Jersey, Mikell was very open and thoughtful about what effect the lockout has had on his life.

Mikell talked about that with his wife pregnant and a possible move in his future vie free agency, his life is very much up in the air right now. The fact he cannot even talk to teams only complicates it.  He said he wished that teams would just allow players to talk but hold the pay checks, so they could know where they were going in the fall.

This situation is very possible for Mikell: Lock out ends in September, signs with a new team middle of the month, then his wife gives birth in the beginning in October. Finding new doctors, moving, learning a new play book is all something that Mikell will have to deal with in a very short time do to the lockout.

Does Mikell “not care”? I’d have to say its hard for him not to care. But with so much swirling every day in the minds of players all across the league, it has to be maddening every day to wait for the next shoe to drop.

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Posted in Eagles, lockout, Uncategorized

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