Eagles Rumors

From GCobb:

According to a source with inside knowledge of the Jeremy Maclin negotiations, the deal could be done as early as today.

The time seems right, with more first rounders signing each day — Steiner may feel more comfortable with his position.

Update:  Apparently Maclin is in Philly, waiting for the deal to be finished, and will be at the first practice session after it’s official.

Update 2:  Lots of injuries, let’s review them.
Shawn Andrews (Back) — Could be serious
Jason Peters (Quad) — Likely not serious
Kevin Curtis (Thight) — Likely not serious
Asante Samuel (Hamstring) — Could be serious
Victor Abiamiri (Pec) — Serious (out until mid-August)
Brian Westbrook (Ankle) — Serious (out until at least mid-August)
Macho Harris (Ankle) — Likely not serious
Trevor Laws (Hamstring) — Likely not serious

Think that’s everyone, though the way they are falling we may need to update often.

Update 1:  LeSean McCoy working with the first team.  Booker, the second.  Bravo.

Today is the first full-squad practices with real, live hitting.

No word yet on whether Shawn Andrews and/or Jason Peters will be ready to go.  Both guys missed most of practice yesterday (back issues for Shawn, quad issue for Jason).

Brian Westbrook continues to workout on the field.  Yesterday he was joined by Victor Abiamiri, who is recovering from that pectoral strain.

Jeremy Maclin continues to miss practices.  It is getting very difficult to imagine him making an impact early in the season.  The number of first-round picks who have signed has climbed to 12.

LeSean McCoy has entered 2009 training camp as the #3 running back on the depth chart — behind Brian Westbrook and Lorenzo Booker.  We would be surprised if he remains behind Booker by the time September hits.

Full squad practice sessions should begin this afternoon, as all veterans are required to report today.

We’d like to make a “sort-of” correction as well.  After re-reading our post, we realized that yesterday we made it seem like the rest of the O-line was somehow choosing to wait until today to report.  That is not how this works.  The first few days of camp are for rookies and selected veterans, and others are truly not wanted.  The coaching staff wants to get an extended look at only the new faces, as well as getting those guys started so they are mildly competent when the vets report — and less time is wasted.

Today we look forward to seeing if Westbrook continues his rehab work on the field.  It will also be nice to see that rebuilt offensive line practicing together.

The camp battles we talked about last week begin in earnest now.  Exciting times.

Jim Johnson lost his battle with cancer today.  He was 68.

Hired as the defensive coordinator in 1999, his squads were consistently near the top of the NFL — playing an exciting and aggressive style that was great to watch.

My guess is that to many of the Eagles fans who visit us here, Johnson was the only DC they’ve watched.  It will truly be a new era in Philly.

Multiple camp reports indicate that Westbrook is working out for a second consecutive day, and has even extended the regimen to include lateral and agility drills.

That Westbrook is able to do this on back-to-back days at this point, without noticeable pain or a limp, is a great sign.

After morning practices, Andy Reid updated the media on Jeremy Maclin’s situation — “no progress” is the phrase he used.

So far only four first-round picks have signed.

Stacy Andrews is practicing today with the first-team offense.  A very, very good sign.

McNabb is practicing today, but most of the O-lineman (Peters, Herremans, Jackson, Shawn Andrews) look to be waiting until Wednesday to report.

Nothing new to report regarding Jeremy Maclin’s contract situation this morning, though both sides continue to say nice things about each other (yippee).

One of the major stumbling blocks could be agent politics.  As you probably know, where exactly a player within a round is drafted has enormous impact on his salary.  A player drafted at #19 (like Maclin) “should” receive compensation that is slightly less than #18 but slightly more than #20.

Since only three first round picks have signed, the entire process has ground to a halt.  Agents do not want to make the mistake of working out a deal that makes them look bad in a week.

And since the Eagles have opened camp so early (only the Bills opened before them) — it puts Maclin’s agent Jim Steiner in a tough spot.

Andy Reid stated today that Brian Westbrook could be practicing with the team at full capacity by mid-August.

The impact can’t be understated.  Having Westbrook at somewhere close to 100% is absolutely vital to this offense, and he simply wouldn’t be if he didn’t get to practice until September.