Head Coach Search.

[PhillyGreen]

Let's look at the desirability of these NFL jobs...

Dolphins. $2.4M in salary cap space. Committed to Tannehill at QB.
Eagles. $24M in salary cap space. No starting QB signed.
Browns. $34M in salary cap space. No starting QB signed.
Titans. $43M in salary cap space. Good young QB.
Bucs. $52M in salary cap space. Good young QB.
Giants. $46M in salary cap space. HOF QB still in his prime.
$49ers. $51M in salary cap space. which includes a very cuttable Kapernick at $11M.

Really, the Eagles job is probably the 2nd least desirable job out there. Three of the teams are arguably set at QB and 4 of the teams are in excellent position to reshape their roster. Explain to me why an Adam Gase would choose the Eagles over the Bucs, Giants or Titans? Definitely over the Dolphins, but the 49er and Browns jobs may even be better at this point.

While we do not have Bradford signed as of yet we have the trump card of being able to use the franchise tag. To be honest for an offensive minded coach the Eagles may be one of the best options because they will be able to decide why they want at QB. And if we are being honest not one team you listed has a QB that is what I would consider a major upgrade over Bradford.

 

[deerpathdave]

While we do not have Bradford signed as of yet we have the trump card of being able to use the franchise tag. To be honest for an offensive minded coach the Eagles may be one of the best options because they will be able to decide why they want at QB. And if we are being honest not one team you listed has a QB that is what I would consider a major upgrade over Bradford.

I think most coaching candidates would prefer Mariota, Manning or Winston over an unsigned Bradford.
- Manning 4400, 35/14
- Mariota 2800, 19/10
- Winston 4000, 22/15
- Bradford 3700, 19/14

If you use the Franchise Tag on Bradford, you use up every dollar of cap space and you still have no guarantee he will be back for a third year.

Being able to decide who they want at QB?? Well if they want Manning, Mariota or Winston, they will go to those teams. If they prefer Bradford or one of the highly sought after Free Agents they may prefer one of the teams with much more cap space.

 

[iceman42]

Typically I tend to stay away from coordinators who work on the same side of the ball as the HC, but I am really starting to like Matt Patricia, despite him being with the Pats. Seems like a smart (former engineer) and personable guy. Could hire him and likely keep Shurmur to keep the offense continuity, I dont think Patricia would want to be to involved from a personnel point of view.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/patriots/2015/12/how_matt_patricia_engineers_patriots_defense

 

[deerpathdave]

Let's face it, this is now an undesirable job.

- Meddlesome management.
- Likely little say in personnel.
- Poor amount of Cap space.
- No QB signed and the options are unremarkable
- High expectations. They just fired a guy that went 26-21.
- Not a high draft position
- No 2nd round pick.

You may take the Eagles job over Cleveland, San Francisco or Miami as those situations are fairly messed up as well, but the Giants, Tampa and Tennessee jobs look way better.

 

[Rey]

We can open up a lot more cap space ...Demeco Ryans is done, R Cooper - see ya, B Celek - did a really nice job thru his career, but not worth keeping at his cap number. Then you have Jason Peters who is no longer worth what he makes. He looked like a shell of his old self and we can simply move Lane Johnson to LT and look for RT in free agency or the draft. I think Peters could prolong his career at Guard ... but not at his current cap #. Heck, we can also drop Dirty Sanchez and bring in a cheaper backup ... assuming we franchise Bradford.

 

[deerpathdave]

We can open up a lot more cap space ...Demeco Ryans is done, R Cooper - see ya, B Celek - did a really nice job thru his career, but not worth keeping at his cap number. Then you have Jason Peters who is no longer worth what he makes. He looked like a shell of his old self and we can simply move Lane Johnson to LT and look for RT in free agency or the draft. I think Peters could prolong his career at Guard ... but not at his current cap #. Heck, we can also drop Dirty Sanchez and bring in a cheaper backup ... assuming we franchise Bradford.

Yeah...and then it looks like a total rebuild going on. Someone will take the job and they will have some promise, but the candidates with choices are probably not coming to Philly.

 

[Rey]

Yeah...and then it looks like a total rebuild going on. Someone will take the job and they will have some promise, but the candidates with choices are probably not coming to Philly.

Not a rebuild if the guys you are letting go don't offer much ... out of the guys I mentioned letting go of, only Peters gives you much of anything and it would have to be in a move to Guard as he was pretty bad at Tackle this past season.

 

[northeastphillyguy]

The coaching situation is getting interesting at this point. Heard Hue Jacks

 

[northeastphillyguy]

The coaching situation is getting interesting at this point. Heard Hue Jacks

Sorry guys! Got cut off. Hue Jackson will be available for interviews on Sunday. Eagles need to get on a plane and talk to him.

 

[PhillyGreen]

I think most coaching candidates would prefer Mariota, Manning or Winston over an unsigned Bradford.
- Manning 4400, 35/14
- Mariota 2800, 19/10
- Winston 4000, 22/15
- Bradford 3700, 19/14

If you use the Franchise Tag on Bradford, you use up every dollar of cap space and you still have no guarantee he will be back for a third year.

Being able to decide who they want at QB?? Well if they want Manning, Mariota or Winston, they will go to those teams. If they prefer Bradford or one of the highly sought after Free Agents they may prefer one of the teams with much more cap space.

I could see your point about Mariota and Winston because they are rookies. Eli IMO has always been vastly overrated but I do think he is a good QB....just not great. Bradford started the year horribly and he put up some respectable numbers late to get him with overall decent numbers for the year. I would still rate Manning slightly higher but not by much. Bradford made it trough a season with his knees intact and I think that will bode well for his confidence.

I think some of you are selling Bradford short but then again the starting Eagles QB is most of the time one of the most hated people in Philly.

 

[deerpathdave]

I could see your point about Mariota and Winston because they are rookies. Eli IMO has always been vastly overrated but I do think he is a good QB....just not great. Bradford started the year horribly and he put up some respectable numbers late to get him with overall decent numbers for the year. I would still rate Manning slightly higher but not by much. Bradford made it trough a season with his knees intact and I think that will bode well for his confidence.

I think some of you are selling Bradford short but then again the starting Eagles QB is most of the time one of the most hated people in Philly.

I agree with most of what you say here especially with Manning. What makes Manning special is not his skill as much as his durability. He hasn't missed a game in 12 years, which provides some stability as well as giving him a tremendous level of accumulated experience. Its probably reasonably to get another 3-5 years out of the guy.

 

[Rey]

Bradford's #'s would have been a heck of a lot better if not for the insane amount of "easy" drops our receivers had this year. It seems like every game our receivers were dropping balls that were perfectly placed. We are in desperate need of a go-to receiver ... our top receiver Jordan Matthews was the main culprit in dropping catchable balls. Ertz was another guy who finished strong, but for most of the season had bad hands ... and more often than not it was wide open ones that would have gone for really good yardage. Nelson dropped "at least" 2 in the end zone that I can remember.

 

[Northern Eagle]

What does that mean? By all accounts Patricia has earned the respect of his players at every position he's coached. He's smart, he's been studying Belichick, and his defenses have been in the top ten in points almost every year. They tend to be good in the redzone. Sounds like he can lead people because the people around him always believe in him.

Patricia seems like a sexy name right now because he comes from New England. I remember the same hype around McDaniels before he got the Denver job - I guess I'm just a bit nervous about NE assistants; not many of them have amounted to much as Head Coaches when they're away from the tutelage of Belichick.

Plus Lurie is always biased towards offensive guys, I'd be really surprised if they hired a defense-first coach.

 

[deerpathdave]

Bradford's #'s would have been a heck of a lot better if not for the insane amount of "easy" drops our receivers had this year. It seems like every game our receivers were dropping balls that were perfectly placed. We are in desperate need of a go-to receiver ... our top receiver Jordan Matthews was the main culprit in dropping catchable balls. Ertz was another guy who finished strong, but for most of the season had bad hands ... and more often than not it was wide open ones that would have gone for really good yardage. Nelson dropped "at least" 2 in the end zone that I can remember.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Eagles should go all in on Bradford. I just happen to think the best coach to get the most out of Bradford may have been the one they just fired. The guy was 26-21 with 4 different QBs and had invested a year in teaching Bradford the Kelly system.

Now as they go about this Head Coaching search, I was hoping they had a rabbit in the hat that they had already figured out...maybe Sean Payton coming here with Drew Brees, or Gase with Peyton Manning...But as the week transpires, it seems they are doing a thorough traditional search. The end result of which is likely to be that they get their 2nd, 3rd or 4th choice which in all likelihood will be someone with much less of a resume than the guy they just fired.

So they are left with a 2nd choice coach, and the job of trying to convince Bradford or an even less interesting option to come work with him.

 

[Sparky]

Seems to me that Lovie may be the character guy Lurie was talking about.

It also seems Tampa has their man and it may be Chip. Seems strange for them to fire Lovie out of nowhere.

I guess I was wrong about Chip and Tennessee...

 

[DutchBird]

Seems to me that Lovie may be the character guy Lurie was talking about.

It also seems Tampa has their man and it may be Chip. Seems strange for them to fire Lovie out of nowhere.

I guess I was wrong about Chip and Tennessee...

Chip to Tampa?!

The best explanation I have heared (and which Rey suggested to be likely) is that Tampa does not want to lose its current OC (Kuetter), who seems to be very popular (based on interview requests), in part because they want him to continue working with Winston. So the idea is to fire Lovie, and have him replaced by Kuetter, so Kuetter can continue his work with Winston.

Mind you, one of the things that is acknowledged by pretty much every reasonable observer as well as Bradford (for example) is that for the development of a QB stability with the staff he works with is very important. New OC's / HC's every season is the exact opposite of what is good for them.

 

[eaglesnut]

Patricia seems like a sexy name right now because he comes from New England. I remember the same hype around McDaniels before he got the Denver job - I guess I'm just a bit nervous about NE assistants; not many of them have amounted to much as Head Coaches when they're away from the tutelage of Belichick.

Plus Lurie is always biased towards offensive guys, I'd be really surprised if they hired a defense-first coach.

Patricia is his own man. Previous Patriots' guys won't have any bearing on his results.

11 of the teams in the playoffs are in the top 12 in points against. Only McCarthy, Reid, Arians, Kubiak and O'Brien come from the offensive side of the ball. And of those guys 3 have long time successful defensive coordinators running their defenses - Wade Phillips, Romeo Crennel, Dom Capers. Do you see any longtime successful DCs available?

 

[Sparky]

Lovie Smith

 

[iceman42]

Seems the BGN report of Gase being in for a 2nd interview on Saturday to be bogus .. possibly floated by his agent ... at least there is a bunch of denials coming out.

 

[deerpathdave]

Seems the BGN report of Gase being in for a 2nd interview on Saturday to be bogus .. possibly floated by his agent ... at least there is a bunch of denials coming out.

It doesn't look good to have a 2nd interview with a guy that is going to take a job elsewhere. You want to leave the impression that whichever guy you hire was your first choice...even if it is your 3rd or 4th.