Eagles fans want wide receiver; will Birds take one anyway?

DeSEAN JACKSON came up huge as a second-round rookie wideout in 2008. Jackson set franchise rookie records with 62 catches for 912 yards. Add him to a healthy Kevin Curtis, along with hard-working possession receivers Jason Avant and Hank Baskett, and you have a pretty solid 2009 wide-receiving corps, despite the puzzling slide into obscurity of once-promising Reggie Brown.

But to many Eagles fans, the dominant, superstar wideout is the great white whale. These are the people who thought bringing back Terrell Owens would be a terrific idea, when T.O. was banished from Dallas a few months back. If Charles Manson could go deep, they'd be writing his parole board. They want the Birds to trade their remaining first-round pick, 21st overall, for Cardinals wideout Anquan Boldin, or they want to see a stud receiver in the draft, never mind any other possible needs.

Though team president Joe Banner carefully avoided ruling out a trade for Boldin in a conversation with reporters last Sunday, the trade for Buffalo left offensive tackle Jason Peters last week took away the Eagles' other first-round pick, 28th overall. That gave them less flexibility to address draft needs while also bidding for Boldin. Could you get Boldin for a package that wouldn't include a first-round pick? It's starting to look that way, with Cardinals general manager Rod Graves saying there have been no offers yet. So, maybe there is hope there.

The Eagles were praised across the league for nabbing Peters, a 27-year-old Pro Bowl player at a position football people consider absolutely crucial to success. Local reaction was also positive, but there were dissenting voices. Here is an excerpt from the Rob Q. Ink blog:

"The Eagles are like the stodgy parents that never give the kids what they want. 'No, you can't have the shiny toy, we're going to put the money towards college.' Problem is, it just doesn't work in the NFL . . . and the Eagles' Super Bowl trophies total proves it.

"This team needs to go get a stud receiver, and, once again, they're not going to do it. It's just their typical, we-know-better-than-everybody-else mentality at work. It really does seem like they go out of their way not to make the popular move."