Philadelphia Eagles: 2 Responses to 3 huge comments by Doug Pederson
Well, no one expected that roster turnover wouldn’t be brought up.
Love in Philly can come easily if you suit up for the ‘Birds’. You don’t have to be the most gifted athlete. You don’t have to make the Pro Bowl every single season. All you have to do is throw on that green helmet, throw on those shoulder pads and that jersey, and play like your life depended on it.
Do that, and you’ll never be forgotten by Eagles fans.
That’s why Brian Dawkins is loved so much. He’s probably the best example of what it means to ‘bleed green’, but you can’t forget about Nigel Bradham either. In 58 games as an Eagle, ’53’ racked up 348 total tackles, five sacks, three forced fumbles, two picks, and 22 pass breakups. Still, despite all of that being said, to free up cap space, the ‘Birds’ decided to use an out that they had in his contract and move on.
Naturally, Spadaro asked Pederson about the decision. Here’s some of Coach’s response.
"It’s all about evaluation. It’s all about how we can construct our roster, and we sometimes we have to make tough decisions. We’ve done this now the last four years, making these types of moves and these types of decisions. We thank Nigel obviously for what he did. He helped us win a championship a couple of years ago. He’s been a valuable player for us. I do feel really good about our young players. I thought T.J. Edwards made a big step forward last year, so we’ve got to look at that as well, but everything is in the best interests of the Philadelphia Eagles."
1. Here’s the good news about that.
Bradham’s release frees up about $4.5 million in salary-cap space. Hopefully, that money gets reallocated into the reworking of other deals that have to get done, particularly the one that belongs to Malcolm Jenkins.
What does this mean for Bradham you ask? Well, not a whole lot other than what you’d call a minor setback. He won’t be unemployed long.
2. Here’s the bad news.
Unfortunately, the ‘Birds’ lose their best linebacker, and there isn’t anyone on the current roster that appears to be ready to step into his role. Philly needs to draft an inside linebacker, but until that happens, the questions about why this team undervalues the position will continue to be asked.