The Tight End Situation
The Eagles are now left with in a situation where Matt Schobel is their second tight end. Schobel has had some high-profile screwups as an Eagle, and even when he wasn’t missing a key block or dropping a big pass he wasn’t very productive otherwise. To put it simply, it’s not a great situation.
They brought in an undrafted rookie, and perhaps the new fullback can help out in spots. But neither is a proven solution. And for a team trying to win a Super Bowl now, it’s a big hole. The second tight end is on the field quite a bit, especially in the ever-important red zone.
So that leaves the Eagles potentially looking for solutions from outside the organization. And there is one team that is an obvious choice for the first phone call — Denver.
The Broncos has three proven, worthy veteran tight ends. Daniel Graham, Tony Scheffler, and Jeb Putzier have all been productive in the league — and all would be better options that Schobel. Scheffler and Putzier profile more as pass catchers than a blocking tight end, but Daniel Graham would be a great solution for the goal line. The Broncos also have two rookie tight ends in camp who they presumably are looking for upside.
Knowing the rosters of every team in the league is part of the job of the front office, and you can be sure they are aware of the Broncos’ excess. The questions are — how uncomfortable are the Birds in their current state, how much would the Broncos ask for one of these guys, and how much are the Birds willing to pay (and do they consider them real upgrades).
It would be nice to see a trade for a veteran before they break camp. Do you see any other teams who would seem to be good partners?
I completely agree that the Eagles need to address the TE situation by means of a trade or perhaps a free agent like Franks. There is one name people have been throwing around since we learned of Ingram’s injury and that is the Titan’s Bo Scaife. The question I have is how does a trade for a franchise tagged player work? Can you trade for one? Even if this is a viable option do we really think the Eagles would pursue it since Scaife is arguably a number 1 TE and the Eagles are in love with Celek currently? The Titans also have Jared Cook, whom they just drafted and Alge Crumpler so maybe the Titans would be a possible partner just not for Scaife. I saw a bit of Crumpler last night in the HOF game and he’s a monster. The guy looks like a slightly skinny lineman with good hands and actually has some speed. The annoucers were saying how he now loves to block but still has really good pass catching skills. He would certainly be a matchup nightmare.
Reid made a comment shortly after he annouced the injury that makes me think they’ll bring someone else in for the 2nd TE spot. They have so many DBs, WRs, and OLs that you figure they could get something done.
Potential trading partners for the Eagles Tight End situation.
The Denver Broncos are a potential trade partner but here are some other teams with an over-abundance of Tight Ends or Tight Ends that teams may be willing to part with.
Tennessee Titans - they have three good ones right now, two of them that they may be willing to trade. Those being Bo Scaife or Alge Crumpler. They drafted Jared Cook to be the Tight End of the future in Tennessee.
Houston Texans - the Texans have been having it out with Owen Daniels and have still not agreed to a contract. The birds were rumored to be very interested in Daniels during the off-season but due to him being a restricted free agent, they weren’t willing to part with the draft picks. But could Daniels have given them too much of a headache that they may be willing to part with less. I think he is their franchise player.
New Orleans Saints - They have Jeremy Shockey, Billy Miller, Darnell Dinkins, Buck Ortega and Dan Campbell. Perhaps they would be willing to part with one of them. Obviously Jeremy Shockey would be a fan favorite. and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Saints would be willing to part with Shockey seeing has he had some run-ins with Drew Brees last season.
Baltimore Ravens - Apparently there is a Tight End battle going on in Baltimore, the Eagles may be interested in that. Obviously L.J. Smith would be off the list if they attempted to trade for a Tight End from the Ravens.
San Francisco 49ers - The Niners are another team with an ongoing Tight End battle. Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker, Joe Jon Finley and Bear Pascoe.
Miami Dolphins - With Anthony Fasano as their starter and a host of others fighting for the second spot. Perhaps they may be willing to part with Earnest Wilford.
Chicago Bears - Forgive me if I am mistaken, but I believe that the Bears still have Desmond Clark and if not he is a free agent that the Eagles could have. But if they need to trade for him and if the Birds want him he could probably be had on the cheap.
I know a lot of these “what-ifs” are crazy talk. But I am just throwing them out there. Because there is no clear-cut way to go here. There is no gotta have tight end out there that the Eagles can just go out and grab for a small fee. If they want a good tight end then they will have to pay for it. And we all know that is just something that they do not like to do.
The odds are that Brent Celek will be the starting tight end, and if he continues to play the way he did at the end of last season I wouldn’t mind him remaining the starter. Now as far as the Eagles number two - it will most likely be someone who is currently on the Eagles roster.
Bubba Franks is still out there in free agency. But he has trailed off a bit since he played with Favre in Green Bay.
Badger — Scaife signed his one-year franchise tender. Which, to my knowledge, now means he’s just like every other player — traded without any “franchise tag” repercussions.
Bill — Well done. A few thoughts –
I don’t think the Texans are at all willing to part with Daniels, who they see as a big part of their future.
The thought of Shockey in Eagle green makes my blood boil.
The tight end battle in San Francisco is pretty pathetic. I really enjoyed what the Football Outsiders crew had to say about Vernon Davis this year:
Davis’ skill set entering into his fourth season boils down to being a poor man’s Jim Kleinsasser. Davis was supposed to be a terrifying downfield threat against linebackers and safeties thanks to his 4.38 40-yard dash; instead, his NFL average of 11.0 yards per catch puts him behind such noted speed demons as Brent Celek and Desmond Clark. On the bright side, he is just as muscular as when the Niners fell in love with him.
On Vernon Davis, to be fair he really hasn’t had a Quarterback who could get him the ball. Plus he’s been on a team that lacked leadership. So I would expect his growth to be hindered due to these aspects.
If you take Davis off of the Niner’s four years ago and put him on the Eagles for the same four years you have a different player all together. Probably the player the scouts assumed his speed, strength and abilities would make him.
Thanks for the reply.
Hey Bill — I agree with this:
Plus he’s been on a team that lacked leadership. So I would expect his growth to be hindered due to these aspects.
That team has been an absolute mess, no doubt.
But I don’t necessarily agree with this:
On Vernon Davis, to be fair he really hasn’t had a Quarterback who could get him the ball.
As someone who has had the “privilege” of watching almost every Niners game (I watch games on Sunday with a buddy who is a Niners fan), I can tell you that every 49ers fan can easily recall several instances of VD dropping easy, wide-open, crucial balls. It’s really been a problem.
Now, I think your point about leadership might have an affect here as well. Maybe on a decent, veteran team the guy is more focused. Who knows. But he’s definitely had some opportunities.
No leadership, no reason to practice catching those balls.
Now I know that he has messed up and dropped plenty of easy passes in the open field. But that happens. Not only on a team with poor leadership, but a team that has poor quarterback play. Now unfortunately the Niners had both for quite a while. But I also saw streaks of top tier Tight End potential from Davis. And don’t get me wrong that doesn’t mean I think he is a top Tight End or even close to being one for that matter.
Had there been a leader influencing Davis from the day he was drafted, I truly believe that we’d be seeing an entirely different Vernon Davis.
Now don’t get me wrong. I tend to turn my head at players like Davis who believe their own hype coming into the league and don’t deliver on their abilities. But there is just something about him that makes me say if he had someone to guide him then he’d be alright.
It’s only four-years in. Maybe it’s not too late? After all Mike Singletary looks like he has plenty of Leadership to spare. And what was his first memorable act as coach?
He tore Davis a new one. And Davis apologized shortly afterwards. So maybe with Singletary being the new Head Coach the 49ers will see a new revamped Davis.
Eagles are signing Tony Curtis TE from Dallas.