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It goes to show how scarred you are as an Eagles fan, especially when it comes to linebackers, when your first reaction upon the acquisition of DeMeco Ryans is “Oh no, what is wrong with him.” Note, this was even before knowing about his Achilles injury, which obviously had my paranoid Philadelphia fan brain spinning further upon discovery. However, in the last couple of weeks, I have turned the corner and all I can say is wow. Ryans appears to be for real. For instance, check out this bio piece by Jonathan Tamari in this morning’s Inquirer:

Demeco Ryans is Football Jesus

Just some tidbits from the article (from the positive side):

1) People at Alabama, who have worked with student athletes for 25 years, say he is the best they have seen;

2) He graduated Magna Cum Laude from college and was an award winning scholar athlete;

3) He won every conceivable football related award in college, and not to mention the pros (Rookie of the year, and two pro bowls),

4) He went out of his way to raise money in college for Hurricane Katrina relief (meanwhile, during my time in college, I was most worried about testing how much alchohol my body could absorb without completely shutting down),

5) Every former teammate, both college and pros, has raved about the guy like he is a combination of Brian Dawkins and Mike Singletary (the player that is), to the point where he was nicknamed in both stops as “coach” and “cap”,

6) Oh yeah, he played in the SEC in college (a long running personal theory of mine, albeit not scientific, on NFL linebacking success).

Wow, that is one hell of a background check. If he was applying for a legal job, he would be the equivalent of Harvard Law School grad, who graduated in the top of class, while being the editor of the law review.

The elephant in the room is, can his Achilles hold up and can be he be the same player physically as before? I’m going to go out on a limb and say yes. First, the guy is only 27, so this bodes well for his recovery. Clearly, given his background, he will work his balls off, so this is not an issue. Given modern science, there is no reason to believe one cannot recover fully from a torn Achilles, or we certainly would have heard about it by now (See: Howard, Ryan). Also, given the Eagles’ past behavior, something tells me they would not have been willing to make such a large financial commitment to Ryans ($5.9MM this season and $6.6 next season, a lot for a LB), if they had any worry the guy would be physically done. Not to mention, I have not heard this leaked from anywhere, which if true, you imagine would be the case (eg. ”Sources sat Ryans is done, etc.”).

So, color me convinced and excited about DeMeco Ryans. He just sounds like the kind of player we are going to love in this town. A tough hard nosed prototypical middle LB with tremendous leadership skills. Just writing that makes me giddy. Given the Eagles’ other moves this offseason (re-signing Cole, Herremans, Mathis, and Jackson), you really have to tip your cap to Roseman and company for a job well done. However, the draft is only a month away, so they are only one gross over reach for a player (say, an undersized, largely uncoveted DE perhaps?) away from screwing it all up again.

No more moments like this one?

Honestly, I was of the opinion that a franchise tag for Desean Jackson (assuming they don’t work out a long term deal soon) was a forgone conclusion under the logic that the Eagles were very unlikely to allow a player as valuable as Desean to simply walk away without some compensation. For instance, they could franchise Desean and swing him to another team. However, I am not so sure anymore after taking a look at the numbers.

1. The Franchise Tag: A new nuance of the recently signed collective bargaining agreement is that the franchise has changed from an average of the Top 5 salaries at the position in the league to a much more complicated system where the number is formed by determining through the franchise tags numbers at that position over the last five years as a percentage of the overall cap figure in each of those five years. Huh? Well, simply put, the franchise numbers will be coming down across the board, but not much (at least if your consider a few million dollars “not much”, however, this is a drop in the bucket for NFL teams). To illustrate, the WR franchise number goes down from $11.4 in 2011 to $9.4 this year. So, no brainer right, lock him up? Not so fast. Let’s look at some of the numbers:

TOP 10 WR Salaries in the NFL (not taking into account signing bonuses or cap impact):

One disclaimer on the list above, it does not include the actual cap impact of a player, so there certainly could be other players making much more than this who might make it into the Top 10. Still, this is a better reflection of the potential impact, since if the Eagles franchised Desean, they would have to pay him the full $9.4 MM next year. Speaking of which, and as you can see above, this would instantly make Jackson the 2nd highest paid WR (salary wise) in the NFL. Look, I like Desean  A LOT. He is one of the most explosive players in Eagles history. But, the bottom line is that his production does not sniff that of really any of the players above (however, there are more small guys than I thought, eg. Austin, Smith, Driver for instance). Secondly, paying Desean almost $10 MM this year would get you nearly half way there in guaranteed money if the Eagles were able to sign him to a long term extension (for instance, Santonio Holmes received $24 MM in guaranteed cash last year and is comparable to Jackson in production). So, think the Eagles would be willing? Call me skeptical, given the caliber of players above and what they are making. Additionally, the following list is enlightening as well:

EAGLES TOP 15 SALARIES 2011, INCLUDING CAP HIT TO THE RIGHT

What jumps out above? (other then the fact Asante Samuel will not be back and that Steve Smith is one of the biggest stiffs ever). Well, if given the franchise tag, Jackson would easily be the 3rd highest paid player on the Eagles, blowing away the likes of Peters, Babin, Cole, and nipping on the heels of Asomugha. Something tells me this does not sit well with the Eagles. Add to this Jackson’s attitude problems, and suddenly the franchise tag doesn’t look as likely. Also, ask yourself this: Would you rather pay Desean Jackson $10 MM or Marques Colston or Vincent Jackson (or maybe even Lesean McCoy who is due for an extension as well)? Now, it is becoming even less likely the franchise tag is used. Is it still possible? Sure. But, I am certainly much less convinced then I was before looking at the numbers.

2. The Transition Tag:  This is a rather forgotten option at times, and little used by teams. Largely because you receive no compensation from other teams if someone swoops in and blows your player away with an offer. Really, it just gives you a right to match any offers. However, last season the Eagles attempted to use this on David Akers and he refused to sign, if you remember. Anyway, this doesn’t look very promising either. The transition tag uses the same formula as the franchise tag, except it is based on the Top 10 salaries at the position. The result? A whooping $1MM comes off the WR number to around $8.4 MM. So, pretty minimal impact, but perhaps more digestible number for the Eagles. Also, remember, there would be no compensation if another team blew away the Eagles with an offer to Jackson.

So, where does this leave us? Who knows, but it seems to come down to them agreeing on a long term deal. The Eagles have been very complimentary of Jackson as of late, with Reid floating complements bizarrely about his “maturity” and of being “proud of him”. Roseman got into the act as well saying “We feel fortunate to have him as a part of our team” and that “[Jackson]…has a great future ahead of him” (With another team perhaps?). This is all fine and dandy, but given their history, a long term looks unlikely, especially with Rosenhaus involved as Jackson’s agent. My take? I think the Eagles are playing it cool and are going to see what the market does with respect to Jackson. If teams are not jumping at the chance and offering huge money, I think the Eagles hope they can swoop in and pay him something much more frugal. Maybe this approach makes financial sense, but what happens if someone blows them away and strikes quick? The Eagles have the tendency to go into “wait and see” mode in these situations, and invariably teams beat them to the punch. All I know is, they better have a contingency plan in place to get another receiver if Jackson doesn’t work out, because I refuse to go back to the Na Brown era.