Daily Archives: July 7, 2011

Burress on coming to Eagles: As soon as they will have me

Posted on July 7, 2011 | 1 Comment

Sometimes, all you have to do is ask.

For weeks, speculation swirled around Plaxico Burress and the Eagles. While reports stated that Burress was very interested in coming to Philadelphia, he had no stated publicly thats where he wanted to be.

Responding on his verified twitter account (icon above), Burress teased Eagles fans once again

Until now.

Responding to a tweet from @JonDon323 (run and follow him), Plaxcio let the world know via his verified Twitter account that if the Eagles want him, he’ll come.

“As soon as they will have me!” @plaxico (Plaxico Burress) responded when asked how long into free agency he will wait until he signs with the Eagles. The fact that Burress responded is particularly interesting seeing as ever since he signed up for the social media tool, he has been inundated with requests from fans to say he wants to play for their team. This is the first time he has responded.

  1. Plaxico Burress
    plaxico As soon as they will have me!RT @JonDon323: @plaxico how many minutes after the lockout are u going to wait to sign with the @Eagles ? 07 Jul 2011 from Osfoora for iPhone

At the end of the day, it is just a tweet. But throw in the fact that Burress seems to of had a Phillies hat glued to his head since he was released, and one of two things is going on. One, Burress is completely set on coming to play with Mike Vick, and has launched a full fledged campaign to get here. Second, the former Giant is completely messing with Eagles fans at the direction of agent Drew Rosenhaus.

But if you take him at his word, it appears Plax is ready to wear midnight green- if they’ll have him.

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Posted in Eagles, Plaxico Burress, rumors

Report: Redskins won’t cut Haynesworth

Posted on July 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

Albert Haynesworth wants to come to Philadelphia. By all reports, Jim Washburn wants him to come to Philadelphia. But the reunion in the making may not be as simple as some expected.

Haynesworth would bring an edge to the Eagles defense it sorely lacks

Tim McManus of PhillySportsDaily.com reported today that the Washington Redskins have no plans of cutting Haynesworth, simply because “that will give him what he wants.”

“They are not going to cut him,” said a source to McManus. “If the Eagles or anyone else wants him it is going to have to be by trade. Because if they cut him, that’s giving him his way.”

It is all well and good for the Redskins to play tough and act like they won’t let Haynesworth get his way, but in reality, the Redskins will cut  him before they bring him back for another year.  By letting it leak that the team has no intention of cutting him, they are attempting to drive up an already dry trade market.

Could the Redskins end up getting some compensation for the former Pro-Bowler? It’s possible. But the chances of a team trading for Haynesworth without him wanting to play there are slim. He showed what a mess it can be if he is playing in a system or situation he is not a fan of. A team would be foolish to bring him in against his wishes.

The Redskins will try not to block Haynesworth from going to the Eagles without getting compensation, and may request more from the Eagles then they would from a non-division rival. But Joe Banner and Andy Reid are no fools, and know that the Redskins will eventually be forced to cut ties with their former prize off-season acquisition.

Once they do, if the Eagles are interested, they will get their man for a discounted price without giving up any picks.

Which is why they are the Eagles, and the Redskins are the Redskins.

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Posted in Eagles, haynesworth, rumors

Time for Goodell, Smith to make a deal happen

Posted on July 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

After two days of meetings that included only the legal teams for each side, the big players come in today.

Roger Goodell, DeMaurice Smith, assorted owners and players will enter the negotiating room on Thursday with one goal in mind: get a deal done.

Goodell and Smith need to make a deal happen

While in theory that has been the goal all along, negotiations up until a few weeks ago were all about posturing, not backing down, and flexing muscles. But with the first pre-season game a month away, and the first training camp less then 3 weeks away, the time has come to get serious and make a deal.

One source close to SI.com said that a few months ago, the two sides were “not even in the same stadium.” But after working through each issue bit by bit, the sides are now “in the red zone, driving, with the goal line in sight.”

Can the momentum be messed up on it’s way in for the score? “Absolutely,” cautioned the source.

It is estimated by Albert Breer that from the day the deal is done to the day the contract is signed will take 14 days. While the lawyers worked over the last few days to cut down some of that time, not much could be done without a deal in place. One interesting note was that it appears training camp rosters will be increased to as many as 90 players, 10 more then last year.

If the two sides needed anymore reason to make a deal by Friday, then the planned vacation of U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan on Saturday should be extra motivation. Boylan is a major reason that talks did not break down last week, when both sides nearly stormed from the table during the 13 hour negotiation marathon. Once Boylan is on vacation, he may not be their to keep talks going if they once again reach a boiling point.

If negotiations do reach that point, it will be up to Goodell and Smith to push through and convince their side that the time to make a deal is now. If they can do that, the NFL could leave this lockout without taking the major PR hit it will if even a single pre-season game is missed.

The two sides have taken enough time off since the lock out started. There is no reason that negotiations should not go through the weekend, or however long it takes until a deal is done. If the sides are as close as reported, then the work needs to be done to hammer it out and make it official. There is a thin line between being close, and the sides becoming frustrated with each other for not making the final compromise to get a deal done. If negotiations go into late next week, that point may be reached. Once that point is reached all momentum will be lost, and the pre-season becomes in serious jeopardy of being missed.

So when the two sides meet tomorrow, they need to do so with a mind frame that the time for playing games has passed.

Get a deal done- and now.

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