While I was sitting on the couch playing Call of Duty: Black Ops for the eighth time over spring break, Howie Roseman was wheelin’ and dealin’ in the Eagles’ front office. To be fair, some of the wheelin’ and also a portion of the dealin’ came before break started, but I’m pretty sure he was still busy last week. Regardless, the best team in the NFL (you can’t tell me otherwise!) acquired a few new, much-needed pieces during free agency. Here’s a quick breakdown of what the biggest moves were and what their implications are going forward:
Brandon Brooks (G, Houston Texans)
This was it. The one every fan’s been waiting for. In my previous write-up, I mentioned that the guard position was the team’s weakest, and that it was imperative to address it via FA or the draft. It was addressed during FA, and in a big way. Brooks was signed to a 5-year, $40 million contract with $21 million guaranteed.
I absolutely love this signing. For one, Brooks is a young guy. He’s only 26 years old and coming off his rookie contract, which means the Eagles will have him locked up through his prime. The contract is also relatively cheap, with relative being the operative word. Kelechi Osemele, the top free agent guard from the Ravens, got paid $12 million a year. Granted, his new team, the Raiders, might be expecting him to kick over to left tackle at some point, but it’s still elite money, even for the tackle position. The market sets the value, and in terms of the market, the Eagles got a steal.
With the signing, the team is free to focus less heavily on OL in the draft and attack other positions of need. Granted, plenty of help is still needed, but Brooks should at least make our line competent in the short-term. The key issue now is depth, since every player behind Brooks is fortunate to even have a job in the NFL, to say the least. Drafting a guy in the later rounds to learn behind the current O-line and serve as a rotational player when needed seems like the best strategy at the moment.
Rodney McLeod (FS, Los Angeles Rams)
It’s pronounced “Mc-Cloud” just to get that out of the way.
Rodney McLeod, playing for the Rams vs. the Redskins on Dec. 7, 2014.
The 25-year-old ex-Rams safety was signed to a five-year, $35 million contract by the birds on March 7. The only criticism for Rodney is that his last name is spelled weird. In terms of football stuff, well, he’s really good. Over on the Rams, they had McLeod playing at the “angel” position, meaning he was the last line of defense for, um, the defense. McLeod played really deep, about 20-30 yards back from the line of scrimmage on some plays, and was able to react to whatever he saw. This put his excellent instincts on display. He has a nose for the ball, whether it’s stealing it from a receiver on a deep route or shooting down into the box to force a fumble, and he displays great range in playing sideline to sideline.
There are no real flaws in McLeod’s game, but perhaps his best and most infamous skill is his ability to hit hard and not shy away from physicality. There was one play in particular where the Broncos’ Emmanuel Sanders laid out to catch a ball deep and was absolutely flattened by McLeod. It was a clean hit (McLeod led with the shoulder) and Sanders still had to be escorted back to the locker room for a medical evaluation.
Finally, McLeod is an exceptional tackler. I don’t have any quantitative stats to back up this statement, but from what I saw the Eagles were one of the worst tackling teams in the league last year. There could be five defenders standing between the ball carrier and the goal line and I would think to myself “that’s a touchdown” before proceeding to watch each one of those defenders mildly bump into the opposing player and look shocked when he made it in for the score. So yeah, McLeod’s tackling ability is a very good thing. There are even some fans heralding him as the Next DawkinsTM, and McLeod himself said during his introductory press conference that he aspired to be like the Eagles great. Being compared to a future Hall of Famer is a lot to live up to, but I’m sure the young safety will do his best.
Vincent Behe is a Saucon Valley resident and Eagles fan. He is an undergraduate student at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, where he is majoring in history.
