Eagles 2023-2024 Season

[zambonir]

Why Bill Belichick, perhaps the greatest coach in NFL history, didn't land a job

Falcons were only team that considered him. The story also points out that if he'd been willing to give up some control he could have kept the job he already had, so he wasn't going to do that for a new job.

[VoteForKalas]

Well, looks like Belichick will still be available to the Eagles if this season doesn't work out. Or better yet, the Cowboys. DC didn't even consider him (and perhaps not he them either).

I think WSH showed interest, reports are they talked to him several times, but he was not going to bend on his authority demands and they had just hired Adams as GM.

I see no way Lurie hires him with Roseman here. They both prefer to call the shots and have the HC implement only. Belichick is not the model for that.

I doubt Dallas would hire him either unless Jerry gets very frustrated again (like he did when he hired Parcells) and decides to give up authority so Belichick can run the whole shop. With Stephen Jones already doing a lot of the work, I'm not sure that would work out.

I think the Giants are the most feasible option for Belichick. He won multiple rings there as DC, he knows the Mara family well, they have no set power source as GM or HC if the current crew struggles again next season and the team definitely needs help in all facets.

[zambonir]

Wonder why the The Athletic didn't put that Commanders report from their own writer in the story!

[andyb]

I don't buy those Commanders reports. They undoubtedly did their due diligence and made contact with him, but they were going for the GM-first model all the way. Once that decision was made (and they probably made that decision months ago as Rivera's personnel decisions were more the problem than his coaching) the die was cast against Belichick.

I am sure they talked. The Commanders wanted only a coach. Belichick probably wanted full control and short of that a contending roster immediately. Why would he have interest in a rebuilding project as bad or worse than New England at this stage in his career?

Rumors always have a life of their own, but there is no evidence (or really logic) that there was serious interest from either side.

[zambonir]

Well yeah none of the reports actually contradict each other, it all depends how you define being considered, or serious interest.

During the hiring process in Washington, Bill Belichick was considered for the job, per sources. The Commanders spoke with him and he had support from some decision makers. In the end, Dan Quinn is their choice.

— Dianna Russini ( @DMRussini ) February 1, 2024

vs.

"The Atlanta Falcons were the only known suitor with serious interest" (from the article I put in my post)

[allentown]

One must wonder how poor the quality of the Eagles DBs really is. A lot of the same guys in 2023 as in 2022 and Bradberry did well before joining Eagles in 2023. There were injuries, but most teams have injuries among their DBs. Did Sirianni's choice of Desai (then humiliating him with a mid-season benching) and subsequent firing of Dennard Wilson doom our pass defense, which was quite good under Wilson in 2022. Based upon some comments seeping out, it sure seems like a number of our DBs think so. Obviously an error not to re-sign Edwards but how much of the awful LB play was due to the scheme? The D scheme seemed awfully plain vanilla, undisguised, and yet poorly executed with too many guys not being where they were supposed to be. That seems as much on the coaches as on the players. Reddick didn't get as many sacks in 2023 and was brutalized when he dropped back in coverage, but that seems gross misuse of his talent by our DCs. I think it fair to say our coordinators and coaches were unwilling to bend their preferred schemes to match the talent on the roster.

[zambonir]

It's clearly a little bit of everything. Including a drop-off in the d-line play that normally sets the tone (and scheme) for the other two units (and normally thrived without blitzing). Certainly there will be come combination of better coaching, improvements from some players (both young and older/bounce-back) and new players.

And for sure, not promoting Wilson both pissed off the defense and made the secondary coaching worse. And Desai probably failed as much as a manager as a play caller, and didn't necessarily click with Sirianni either (after the job interview). Ironically had the Eagles lost the NFC championship game Lanning might have taken the Arizona job and cleared the way for Fangio in time last year. The tampering didn't really have an effect one way or another, it was more the extra weeks.

[zambonir]

Thought it was odd there had been a lot of talk of them playing in Europe next year and then it didn't happen. Opponent not named yet.

Eagles to open 2024 regular season in Brazil

[allentown]

a drop-off in the d-line play that normally sets the tone

Misusing Reddich in coverage will do that, as will not being able to afford to keep Jason Hargrave. Losing Edwards meant the DL had less support in the run game.

[zambonir]

No question but also Graham and Cox coming to the end I think.

[bkeich]

Unfortunately Eagles lose a home game. Was hoping they would get to be the visitor, but it was announced this game in Brazil will be a home game.

[zambonir]

Obviously they must get paid more, along with being the featured team in this early marketing. Hope it's one of the weaker opponents at least.

[allentown]

True, and the problems of the older members of the D were made much worse by the D being on the field too long. The Eagles defensive philosophy and conditioning weren't made for that. Last season and most of this season the Eagles almost always had lopsided times-of-possession in their favor. The D got stops and got off the field far more, while the O had many long duration drives that allowed the D to rest. Hargrave commented that the big difference between SF and the Eagles was the much tougher physical camp and in-season practices of SF. The D went really bad when the time-of-possession flipped against them and they had to be on the field forever, week after week. Both the O and D contributed to that flip.

[xogfog]

Eric Allen failed to make the HOF again, this is starting to reach travesty proportions.

[zambonir]

Eagles edge rusher Haason Reddick has been granted permission to seek a trade, league source confirms.

Cap considerations and compensation will need to be right for Philly to sign off. But one of Eagles top defensive players could be on the move.

— Tim McManus ( @Tim_McManus ) February 11, 2024

[Docs]

Hassan Reddick was granted permission to seek a trade. The trade would have to work for the eagles, hopefully he explores his market and the eagles are able to sign him to an extension.

[zambonir]

I feel like we've already seen how this movie ends. Howie must know he can't or won't give Reddick what he wants (or deserves) going forward cap-wise. He may not trade him for no return but Reddick's not going to take less either.

[Docs]

The same exact thing happened with Darius Slay last year, his agent shopped his client, they established his market value and the Eagles signed him to a 3 year extension. It could mean Reddick gets traded or it could be a good faith negotiation by both parties to see what the market really looks like if they disagree on the market during negotiations

[zambonir]

Yeah but Reddick is younger and more valuable and was already unhappy with his deal before this season.

Slay obviously didn't like what he found and the Eagles released and then resigned him. I just don't imagine it will happen that way for Haason. Doesn't mean it might not work out, obviously the Eagles don't even want to keep him this season at current cap # either.

[allentown]

The Eagles need to keep Reddick.