If the Eagles are as close to a return to their NFC East-leading perch as they claim their finish made them, if things are looking up because they beat the Cowboys and Saints and Bills after the playoffs shimmered and evaporated from view, then there is only one off-season move needed.
Go get Randy Moss.
No hemming about chemistry, no hawing about the price tag.
Sign Moss, a free agent when he's done carrying around the Lombardi Trophy in a month or so, and you're back in the Super Bowl.
If Andy Reid and Company project Donovan McNabb to be almost back to normal at the start of camp in July and close again to elite status after an off-season devoted to rest instead of rehab, then Moss can do for McNabb what he did for Tom Brady and the Patriots' offense this season - make an already-productive unit into a historic one.
Or, at the least, do what The Player did around here in 2004.
Let's not get revisionist, because it ultimately ended badly; that year, Terrell Owens was everything he said he would be, and the Eagles' offense was everything it wants to be today.
If the Eagles' front seven has the potential that Jim Johnson and Reid claim it showed in the second half of the season, and if there are no more questions at safety, then Moss would do for the Eagles' defense next season what he's done for New England's defense this season - turn every opposing offense into a one-dimensional unit, hopelessly behind and easy to defend.
Unless, of course, the Eagles have overrated their personnel, and when has that ever happened?
"I think they've got some issues up front, and I don't know if they can fix them," a veteran personnel man who did not want to be identified said yesterday. "They gave up 49 sacks [fifth-worst in the league] with a guy who's supposed to be mobile at quarterback. . . . The reality is they've got to fix the offensive and defensive lines."
Our anonymous bird dog counts Trent Cole as the only impact player on either side of the line of scrimmage at the moment; finds Shawn Andrews, Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley solid; and doesn't think much of any of the heirs apparent (Winston Justice, Max Jean-Gilles and Victor Abiarimi) at their respective O-line and D-line positions.
If true, then the Eagles have a lot more problems than they have money (Sports Illustrated's Peter King recently projected they would have $17 million in cap room next season) or draft picks.
Moss still would be worth the risk.
