Morning Phil-Up: Where Have Former Eagles Landed?

Where The Ex-Eagles Have Landed – Birds 24/7

Tim McManus of Birds 24/7 wrote a piece chronicling where various ex-Philadelphia Eagles have signed during the off-season.

What really stands out to me here is that the three former starters in what was a terrible Eagles’ secondary last year have all been in demand and found homes either with quality teams or franchises desperate to overpay them.

Cary Williams was scooped up early in free agency by the Seattle Seahawks. He signed a three-year deal worth $18 million where he’ll replace Byron Maxwell as a starter. Williams is a good fit for Seattle; he has plenty of big-game experience, and will be a nice compliment to Richard Sherman and the Seattle safeties.

Bradley Fletcher just agreed to a one-year deal with the New England Patriots. Fletcher really cost the Eagles with some terrible performances (and the Eagles are actually just as much to blame by keeping him on the field) and now Fletcher goes out to New England where he’ll compete for a chance to replace Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner. Yikes. Good luck with that, New England. Also of note is that the Patriots took Patrick Chung off of the Eagles’ scrap heap last year, so it will be interesting to see if they can have some similar success with Fletcher.

Finally, Nate Allen signed for that whopping contract worth $23 million with the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders had a ton of money to spend, but no quality free agents wanted to go there, opening the door for an adequate safety like Allen to cash in. The former second-round pick will always be looked at as a disappointment in Philadelphia, but he did lead to the team with four interceptions a year ago and the team currently has been unable to find a suitable replacement for him.

Spring Training Observations – CSNPhilly

CSNPhilly’s Jim Salisbury put together a number of notes and observations surrounding the progress of the Phillies several weeks into Spring Training.

Outfielder Odubel Herrera may have been the biggest surprise early in camp. Herrera, a Rule-5 pick up from the Texas Rangers, has been batting over .350 and seeing regular starts in the outfield and at second base. He looks like he’s making a strong push to make this roster.

The Phils have had a number of candidates emerge to take the fifth starter job. Both Jerome Williams and David Buchanan appear to be locks for the rotation at this point with Cliff Lee on the disabled list, but Kevin Slowey, Joely Rodriguez, Chad Billingsley, and Paul Clemens are all possibilities for the final slot.

One scout has said that Ryan Howard has looked better this year. The scout said the former slugger has been moving better and swinging the bat well.

The Eagles Are Not A Finished Product But… – The 700 Level

Chip Kelly has taken a lot of criticism for how he’s handled the off-season, but defenders of the head coach have stated that the fans should have patience until the off-season is complete.

However, while it is fair to point out that the draft needs to occur before properly evaluating how much progress a team has made, there’s no doubt that Kelly’s moves have been full of question marks.

The biggest problem is that Kelly has seemingly been unable to address one area without creating a hole at another position. For example, Kelly may have acquired linebacker Kiko Alonso, but he created a hole at running back in the process by trading LeSean McCoy, prompting the team to go out and address the running back position by signing DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews.

No matter how whether someone looking at this team wants to put a positive or negative spin on the off-season moves, Chip Kelly has put this team in a position where they’ve now got more holes than what they finished the 2014 season with.

Have The Sixers Gone Soft? – Philly.com

It has been another long, trying season for the Philadelphia 76ers.

In the second year of the organization’s tanking initiative, losing can take a toll on the players and coaching staff over the course of a year.

The Sixers looked a little gassed last Monday in a match against the Boston Celtics, falling 108-89. Brett Brown himself ripped the team for not going out and competing to their fullest, one of this embattled franchise’s lone positive trademarks.

However, there are going to be nights like that every now and then, especially during the final few weeks of the regular season.

The Sixers should be commended for how hard they’ve fought as a whole over the course of the year. It’s a credit to the players and the coaching staff for keeping their heads up and finding ways to go out, fight, and steal some games here and there.

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