Reason #627 to Fire The Walrus

January 18, 2011

The $138 Million Mistake: Building the Offensive Line around Shawn Andrews

$138 million combined for Shawn “Getting my Michael Phelps on” Andrews, his big brother Stacy “I have a girl’s name for a reason” Andrews and Jason “Turnstile” Peters, Shawns’ best friend and college roommate.

Shawn Andrews, the 16th overall pick in the 2004 draft and heir apparent to John Runyun’s Right Tackle throne –thoroughly covered here – received a healthy (no pun intended) contract extension (seven years, $40 million), following a dominating Pro Bowl season in 2006. Andrews continued the trend the next season, going to a third-straight Pro Bowl, but then strange mental health and back issues limited him to just two games in two seasons, eventually leading to his release in 2009.

With Andrews’ mental health becoming a major distraction – he missed 17 days of training camp in 2008 for no apparent reason, grew an odd faux-hawk and, again, got his “Michael Phelps on” – and with the team already investing multiple drafts picks and chunks of cap space in him, The Walrus and The Devil thought it a good idea to surround this guy with people that would keep him in line.

Right at the start of Free Agency, the Birds snatched up Shawn’s older sister brother Stacy, ranked as one of the top-five free agents, even though he was coming off a major knee injury – it wasn’t the strongest class – for $38 million over six years. The week of the NFL draft, the team traded the 28th overall pick (they still had the 21st overall) and a fourth-round selection to the Buffalo Bills for disgruntled Pro Bowl Left Tackle, Jason Peters. The Eagles subsequently gave Peters a six-year, $60 million deal, with $24 million guaranteed, as Reid called him the best Left Tackle in football… even though Peters gave up the most sacks of any starting lineman the previous year (not a red flag for anyone?).

So what did $138 million in contracts, two first-round picks, a second and a fourth add up to:

  • Two games from Shawn Andrews, who was then cut, drafted by an UFL team (though he didn’t sign), picked up by the Giants during the Pre-season – who gave him a six-year, $32 million deal!??! – where he started seven games (and played very well) before hurting his back. Again.
  • Ten games from Stacy (two starts), who was constantly injured, forced to take a pay cut (dropping his base salary from $2.95 million to $1.15) and then shipped to Seattle for a seventh-round pick in 2011 (where he started 12 games?!). He lasted 18 months in Philly.
  • Twenty-eight starts from Peters, who has been decent (at best) at Left Tackle, and has inexplicably made the Pro Bowl each year as an Eagles (on reputation alone). Much like Tra Thomas before him, Peters gets called for holding and/or offsides WAY too often, and can be confused for a turnstile against good Defensive Ends.

Oh and by the way, the reason they invested two draft picks and a ton of money in Jason Peters, was to protect McNabb’s – and then Kolb’s – blindside. With Peters blocking Vick’s weakside, guys like Antoine Winfield, DeMarcus Ware and Clay Matthews absolutely maiming the Eagles’ Quarterback all season.

Yet another reason to Fire The Walrus.

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Posted by Chase Wexler

Reason #4,382 to Fire The Walrus

January 11, 2011

The 2003 and 2004 NFL Drafts

Sixteen picks over two drafts produced only two – yes, TWO – starters: Shawn Andrews and L.J. Smith. And we know how that ended up (Gettin’ my Michael Phelps on, gettin’ my Michael Phelps on…). Look at those two drafts though, and keep in mind, these came at the height of the Reid-era. Without getting into the ridiculous business of naming who they could have taken (hindsight is 20/20 afterall), let’s see what became of the players they did in fact end up with:

2003

  • McDougle – After trading up to get him (though not huge price), he held out for two weeks, was hit with the injury bug early, then (unfortunately) a bullet, which he (fortunately) recovered from, but then, after missing almost three full seasons, he (unfortunately) shredded his knee and was done.
  • Smith – Oy. Easily the most inconsistent football player ever not named Chris Boniol. I could easily write 1,000 words about the way this guy carried the ball alone, but I’ll spare you. Thankfully, The Walrus spared us and didn’t re-sign him.
  • McMullen – Big, strong build and (supposedly) good hands…. never showed it and bounced around the league as a special team-er.
  • Green – Showed promise early (at least more so than McDougle), but wasn’t more than a rotation guy for a year or two.
  • Bridges and Lejeune – Both hung around for a year or two as practice squad/third-string guys.
  • *Simoneau – Traded a sixth and fourth for a veteran who wasn’t worth the sixth… And somehow started for two years?!
    2004
  • Andrews – A heartbreaking story… until he became an obnoxious baby. Sure, phantom back and mental problems set him back, but he was on his way to potentially being a Hall of Famer. Damn you, Shawn Andrews, you Michael Phelps-in’ waste of talent.
  • Ware – Was he a corner? Was he a safety? Was he a football player? No, no and no.
  • Reed – J.R. Reed seemed poised to fill the big shoes left by legendary returnman Brian Mitchell, but weirdly tore a muscle in his leg hopping a fence (?) during his first offseason and never fully recovered.
  • Darilek – I vaguely remember him having to make a spot start or two, but think he was last seen in the vicinity of Reid’s mustache and hasn’t been heard from since.
  • Tapeh – Was a decent replacement for the underrated Cecil Martin and way-past-his-prime John Ritchie for a season, maybe two, but couldn’t catch the ball… deeming him useless for The Walrus’ 92 to 8 pass-to-run ratio.
  • Hall, Wynn, Clarke, Perry, Furio – May as well have been me, you and some day laborers on the practice squad.

Moral of the story: Not one of those guys was on the Eagles in 2010, and aside from the brief flashes of Andrews and Smith, not one of those guys lasted more than three, maybe four years in the NFL. If Andy hits on one of those picks, it could have put the team over the top in 2004, and if more than one pan out, maybe they don’t take a major step back in 2005. Instead they go on to lose the Super Bowl by three points and suffer on a talent-level.

Just another reason to Fire The Walrus.

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Posted by Chase Wexler