Philadelphia Eagles: Castoff Eric Rowe On the Cusp of a Super Bowl Title
By Chuck Booth
Before the season the Philadelphia Eagles sent Eric Rowe to the New England Patriots for a fourth-round pick.
This trade will be labeled at the one that got away for the Philadelphia Eagles. They gave away Rowe because he didn’t fit the scheme but cornerback ended up as the team’s weakest position as the season went on. The Eagles gave Jim Schwartz too much control over his defensive personnel in a move that came back to bite them.
He got this control because if Doug Pederson being a rookie offense minded coach who deferred to Schwartz to run the defense. To replace Rowe, Schwartz brought in Leodis McKelvin and Ron Brooks to man the secondary. McKelvin will likely be cut after being largely ineffective last season while Brooks will suffer the same fate after missing most of the season due to injury.
Meanwhile, Rowe will have the last laugh as he’s on the cusp of a Super Bowl ring. While his season wasn’t pretty with the Patriots, Rowe got the job done and that’s something that no Eagles corner can say. Rowe would have been an upgrade over any corner that the Philadelphia Eagles currently have and last year he showed promise before being shipped out.
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With all the trades Howie Roseman made to acquire draft picks, this one was by far the most detrimental to the team. With the Patriots, Rowe played in nine games starting seven. In that time he was able to pick off one pass and also had eight passes defended, more than he was able to defend in 16 games started with the Philadelphia Eagles the year prior.
In the playoffs, Rowe has played sporadically but was still able to notch an interception and defend two passes. It would be the ultimate just desserts for Rowe to get a Super Bowl ring before the Eagles franchise gets a chance to hoist the Lombardi trophy.
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Rowe is the perfect example that you can’t give up on someone too soon something that the Eagles should be well aware of after the success of Brandon Graham this season. Rowe is becoming the one that got away and it will be a little more painful if he wins a Super Bowl on Sunday.