What They’re Saying About The Eagles

Here’s what the local and national media are saying about the Eagles this week:

Sam Bradford has played well as of late, and with leverage firmly on his side, he will determine his fate as a potential free agent this offseason, writes ESPN’s John Keim.

By giving up Nick Foles and a second-round draft pick in 2016 for Bradford with no conditions regarding a contract extension, the Eagles surrendered any leverage. It was an oversight borne of Chip Kelly’s new role as de facto general manager and his broken relationship with ousted GM Howie Roseman.

At the very least, according to an NFL executive with experience in such negotiations, the Eagles had the opportunity to renegotiate the terms of Bradford’s 2015 contract. Bradford’s incentive to lower his salary would have been the opportunity to move on from St. Louis and avoid a trade to a less desirable team (the Cleveland Browns were also interested in Bradford, for instance).

By failing to tie the terms of the trade to a new contract for Bradford, the Eagles ceded leverage to Bradford’s side. Bradford seized it, playing the season with the risk of injury or poor play. That risk was offset by the fact that Bradford’s career earnings will reach $78 million by the end of this season.

Mychal Kendricks‘ quote that “The Redskins got something coming to them” has made its way inside the Washington locker room, the Washington Post writes.

Those comments were posted inside and outside the Redskins locker room on Wednesday with the first sentence Kendricks’s quote highlighted, though the Redskins attempted to downplay the significance of the quote.

“We heard it, but who is paying attention to it?” defensive end Ricky Jean Francois said. “Who is giving it really any type of attention? The only people who may be giving it attention is you guys, the media, and that’s about it. Anything else, who the hell is paying attention to what this guy is saying? He says we’ve got something coming to us. We’ll be on the plane, we’ll be leaving on Christmas Day, we’ll be there [at Lincoln Financial Field] the next day after Christmas and we’ll be lined up at 8:25 [p.m.]. Everything you said on that little piece of paper, everything you said on Twitter like you’re Meek Mill, we’ll see you on Saturday night to play us.”…

“I hope what they got coming to us is displayed that given night,” Francois said. “We don’t need no excuses from both sides of the ball. I understand you’ve got to put media stuff up to get the game riled up. He did a great job. For us, we ain’t got nothing to put up. All we’ve got to put up is numbers on Saturday night and not during the week with media. Him talking back-and-forth and putting that up, what’s that going to accomplish? For everybody to know who you are or what you’re saying, and you’re going to make the game full of hype? We ain’t got time for hype. We ain’t got time for words. You play football with helmets. You play football with cleats. Words don’t do nothing.”

The Daily News’s David Murphy writes the Cowboys would never trade to get DeMarco Murray back after this season.

It doesn’t really matter what a member of the Cowboys says anonymously about Murray, because the market has already spoken. The Cowboys already decided that Murray was not worth $8 million in 2016. Granted, markets are fluid, and valuations can change from one year to the next, but seeing as though the Cowboys arrived at their valuation of Murray in the wake of his best season as a pro, it’s hard to see how that valuation would suddenly increase now that Murray is another year older and coming off his worst season as a pro.

If he wasn’t worth $8 million to them then, why would he be worth $8 million to them now?

Evan Massey of Forbes writes that Chip Kelly should take a long, hard look at Robert Griffin III this offseason.

According to a report from Ian Rapoport, the Eagles are now interested in acquiring Robert Griffin III this coming offseason. Griffin still has one more year left on his current contract with the Washington Redskins, which will be worth a cap hit of $16.2 million. Washington will likely either trade him or release him, which will give the Eagles a way to acquire him.

While there are many media members that think Griffin is washed up and done, he is still just 25 years old. He has plenty of time left to turn his career around and get back on track.

Bradford is set to hit free agency this coming offseason after making nearly $13 million. He will not be worth the contract that he is going to ask for, which is another reason that the Eagles should move on and consider other quarterbacks this coming offseason.

Here’s more on that RGIII report via NFL.com.

Per NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, the list of teams potentially interested in Griffin include theEagles, Cowboys, Texans and Saints, or whichever team current New Orleans coach Sean Payton will be with in 2016. Assuming Washington takes trade calls, or simply wiggles out of his 2016 option — which is guaranteed for injury only — and releases him, Griffin will escape a toxic situation and start his career over again.

The Eagles make perfect sense. Coach Chip Kelly will tell anyone listening that the only way to get a top-tier quarterback outside of the draft is to capitalize on an injury and move in. It’s what he did with Sam Bradford last offseason in an experiment that has yet to completely play out. It’s what Payton did with Drew Brees and what the Broncos did with Peyton Manning. Griffin’s movement skills would also bring a little more liveliness to Kelly’s offense. His injury history would be less concerning than Bradford’s, though not by much.

ESPN’s Phil Sheridan listed three Eagles he thought were snubbed in the Pro Bowl voting, including Malcolm Jenkins.

Jenkins drew some attention with that 99-yard interception return against Tom Brady and the Patriots a few weeks ago. But the most impressive thing about Jenkins is his consistency. He leads the Eagles in tackles, has forced three fumbles and is a steadying influence in the secondary. He’s also versatile, moving from strong safety to nickel cornerback with no drop-off in production.

ESPN predicts that Zach Ertz will get his first Pro Bowl nod in 2016.

Tight end Zach Ertz sought guidance from Tony Gonzalez and legendary offensive line coach Hudson Houck during the offseason. Then, Ertz tore a core muscle in his abdomen, had surgery and missed the preseason. Ertz played in pain through the first month of the season. Since then, he has averaged five catches for 53 yards per game. He currently has more catches (53) and yards (579) than Pro Bowl selection Tyler Eifert. Given a fully healthy season, Ertz’s drive and dedication could raise him to the elite level among NFL tight ends

Despite a blowout loss to the Cardinals, the Eagles still check in at 13th on Peter King’s Fine Fifteen rankings.

Moral of the story from Sunday: Don’t invite Chip Kelly and Snoop Dogg to the same Super Bowl party.