It's been known that the Raiders have been using Derrick Burgess as trade bait. One rumor has him moving to the Pats for a back up quarterback and an OL prospect. With the recent defensive shake up with the Stewart Bradley injury, the Eagles have aquired former MLB Matt Wilhelm (former MLB of the Chargers) along with DE Jason Babin (former first round pick of the Texans in 2004).
Babin is an interesting choice due to him being used primarily as a LB with the Texans (where he had his most success and sacks). He feels that his natural position is at DE and the Eagles seem to be interested enough to find out what he can do. What makes this move even more interesting is how the Eagles anticipated Victor Abirmairi being the starting RDE. But with his recent pectoral injury, along with last years wrist injury (coincidently during the same time of year) he is being labled as a possible injury prone player? Perhaps the Eagles are having flashbacks of Jerome McDougle or they are just not satisfied that Juqua Parker, Chris Clemons or Abiramiri can be "the man" to start opposite of Trent Cole. While all 3 have shown flashes of being productive, none of them have made a big enough leap to make a firm hold as the projected starter. With that news...
Burgess is a former Pro Bowl DE who is very familiar with the Eagles organization. He was the starting RDE and was very productive (last game with the Eagles was the Superbowl vs the Pats). The Eagles let Burgess hit the FA market and he moved on to be a Raider. Now that the Raiders have been perrenial "basement dwellers" and unable to develop their own young players, they are looking to move Burgess in an effort to build through youth and possibly a weak point (quarterback). With the recent addition of both OL Jason Peters, Stacy Andrews and the return of Shawn Andrews, the Eagles have a little more flexability at the OL position. Winston Justice, while not very adequate at LT (proven by Osi) was moved back to his natural position RT. He has been getting quite a few reps during training camp and could be used during the pre-season to showcase his talent. This could be an interesting move in that the Eagles would be willing to part with Justice and perhaps another player (Hank Baskett) to the Raiders in order to obtain the services of Burgess. I know..I know..you are screaming HANK BASKETT!!?!? But yes, this could be a reality. Why? WR Brandon Gibson.
Who you say? Well he is the overlooked WR we drafted this year along with Maclin. He is being compared to former WR Cris Carter (trust me, I will have to see it to believe it myself). But if he is anywhere near the type of player that Cris was, Baskett will be expendable. Sure, many of you are calling for Reggie Browns head, but the truth is that he has been playing very well during camp and even though he never lived up to the #1 receiver, he is a fantastic #4 WR any way you cut it. With the recent addition of TE Cornelius ingram, I think the Eagles will find a way to put him in the "Baskett" role (i.e the fade pattern). Ingram has been extremely impressive thus far and looks to be the "real deal". He was used heavily in the spread offense and creates huge match up problems when used in the slot or flexed out wide. Thus, where does Baskett fit in with an already deep WR corp? My thoughts are if Gibson can be groomed and used as the 5th WR, and Ingram is used as our primary red zone threat, .we no longer need Hank.
Many people have grown to like Hank (myself included) but he only has a few big plays a year and is never consistent. He is already our 5th best receiver with the additon of Maclin and a healthy Kevn Curtis/Reggie Brown so it would be more wise to keep a WR with more potential (Gibson) and look to shop Hank along with either a draft pick or back up player for an established veteran such as Burgess.
The move on paper looks to make sense, but will the Eagles make it happen? Or will they hope that Abiramiri stays healthy and makes the strides they think he can make? Or are the Eagles bold enough to give a former player and proven pass rusher another shot in Philly? Either way, this is just another rumor and an interesting thing to ponder as the pre-season nears.
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