Source: Ashley Fox, The Philadelphia Inquirer [ Full Article ]
With so much player movement and so many teams shelling out big bucks in free agency, it's next to impossible to remain levelheaded and unemotional about the local NFL franchise in town. More players are leaving the NovaCare Complex right now than are joining the Eagles - including, in a crazy twist, linebacker Ryan Fowler - which is causing understandably desperate fans all sorts of angst and discomfort.
Here's the thing. The Eagles would've been better off with Dont Stallworth on the roster next season, but it certainly isn't the end of the world that the 26-year-old Stallworth signed with the New England Patriots over the weekend.
Does it hurt? Yes. Is it a fatal wound? Not by a long stretch.
The Eagles honestly believe that the receivers they currently have on their roster - Reggie Brown, Hank Baskett, Jason Avant and Greg Lewis - are good enough. Even so, just because they lost Stallworth doesn't mean they won't pick up another wide receiver, either through free agency or the draft or even a trade, if an attractive one becomes available. Kevin Curtis is still an option.
"We're not in a panic mode, just like we weren't when we made the trade for Dont to begin with," Eagles general manager Tom Heckert said last night. "I know it's not what everyone wants to hear, but we have trust in these guys."
And that is a big reason that Stallworth now belongs to the Patriots and not the Eagles. Another reason, of course, is money. When Stallworth's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, began negotiating with the Eagles, he was seeking an exorbitant signing bonus - first $15 million, then $12 million, according to a league source.
The Eagles weren't willing to spend that kind of coin, especially for a receiver who missed four games because of a hamstring injury and caught just 38 passes for 725 yards and five touchdowns.
Yes, Stallworth was a reliable deep threat who last year led the league averaging a whopping 19.1 yards per catch. Yes, he was a model teammate, a good locker-room guy, attentive in meetings, effective on the field, unusually quick, difficult to cover, relatively egoless and generally pleasant to be around. Yes, Stallworth knew the playbook.
And yes, Stallworth was the big-play, deep threat the Eagles needed after Terrell Owens mercifully left town.
But, Stallworth wasn't durable. For the first half of the season, there essentially was a question every day about whether he could play. That was a problem.
These numbers didn't help. The Eagles' offense averaged 37 more yards and six more points in the four games Stallworth was sidelined than in the 11 in which he played. (After the first series of the Eagles' season-finale against Atlanta, Andy Reid rested many of his starters, including Stallworth.) And Brown had his two biggest games of the year - 106 receiving yards against San Francisco and 121 against New Orleans - when Stallworth was injured.
Although Stallworth was on record as saying he wanted to return to the Eagles - he told me exactly that after the Birds' playoff loss to the Saints two months ago - Rosenhaus turned negotiations into a referendum on respect. If the Eagles weren't willing to give Stallworth a long-term deal with a hefty signing bonus, then they obviously didn't think enough of him, the league source said, recounting Rosenhaus' stance.
The fact is, the Eagles would have agreed to a deal like the one Rosenhaus crafted with the Patriots, which is essentially a one-year tryout for $3.6 million. The Eagles, however, didn't get that chance.
The maximum value of Stallworth's contract with New England is six years at $33.1 million, according to ESPN.com. But it is back-loaded. Stallworth won't hit the jackpot until after the 2007 season - $11 million in total compensation, including $8 million in bonuses due by March 1 - and only then if the Patriots opt to keep him.
This season, New England will be without Chad Jackson, their second-round draft pick last year out of Florida who tore his ACL in the AFC title game and likely won't play this season. But in 2008? Jackson very well could be back and reclaim his position as Tom Brady's receiver of the future.
Over the weekend, I wrote that Stallworth was a big loser thus far in free agency. A week ago, Inquirer reporter Bob Brookover broke the story that Stallworth was in the NFL's substance-abuse program. Few teams showed much interest in him.
Given his $3.6 million haul from the Patriots, Stallworth definitely didn't lose. But the Eagles don't feel like they did, either. Compared to teams like New England and San Francisco, the Eagles have been quiet during free agency.
"To be honest with you, the main thing we wanted to do was get Q [Quintin Mikell] and J.T. [Juqua Thomas] done, which we did," Heckert said. "We didn't know about Dont, and the few guys we have targeted, I don't think it's over yet."
That won't exactly quiet the masses. Re-signing Stallworth would've helped, but by the time he had a realistic view of his market value, the Eagles were out of the loop. Unless they had been willing to abandon their fiscal philosophies - and we all know the likelihood of that happening - the Eagles never really had a shot, and that's too bad.
Fatal? No, but unfortunate nonetheless.
Losing WR Donte Stallworth Likely Not Fatal 
WE HAVE A HULK 
Linear Mode
