Takeo Spikes out, Stewart Bradley in.

As you probably have heard, the Philadelphia Eagles released LB Takeo Spikes. Takeo is on the Howard Eskin Show as I write this and he has said some interesting things. He said the Eagles came to him last Friday when free agency started and asked if he would be willing to take pay cut. He was due to make $5M, and he was asked to take a $3M pay cut. Takeo said he slept on it and got back to Andy Reid on Saturday and told him that he wasn't going to take a pay cut. That's interesting cause Saturday was when the whole ddebacle with the depth chart happened. I actually toke a screenshot of the Eagles Website depth chart early Saturday morning cause I knew it didn't look right. The depth chart, pictured to the right, has Akeem Jordan at WLB and Omar Gaither at MLB. But Takeo said when he talked with Andy Reid, he was told that Stewart Bradley will likely take over as MLB and Omar will be shifted to WLB. Takeo went on to say that he has no hard feelings and he appreciates the way that Andy Reid handled the situation. Andy first tried to trade Takeo but when they couldn't unload him they released him less then one week from the start of free agency. Takeo was glad [1] that he was released now and not during training camp like Jeremiah Trotter, cause there are a number of teams thought to be interested. He said during this whole process he was really surprised at how much Andy Reid kept in contact with him and is happy with the way the Eagles handled it. It was probably best for all parties involved to part ways. This will give the Eagles some more cap room for if they make a trade, and its still early into free agency, to were Takeo can still find a place to play and make the money he deserves. Eskin is reporting that there are three teams that have been in contact with Takeo's agent, the Patriots, Browns, and Jaguars. With that, Stewart Bradley looks to be the Eagles new starting MLB. That means Omar Gaither will shift back to his old position at WLB. Bradley would be an upgrade from Gaither at the MLB spot. Bradley is listed at 6-3/255, compared to Gaither who is listed at 6-1/235. This will be better for Gaither. Akeem Jordan will be the back up to both Gaither and Bradley. I think the Eagles young LB core could be very good next season. If Stewart Bradley can perform like he did at the end last season, they should be a fun group to watch.

originally posted on: www.ihatephilly.blogspot.com .