"During the off-season, every day I think something's going to happen," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said yesterday at the NFL owners' meetings. "I go into the office every day thinking that. But the process just isn't that quick on anything."
Promoted last month, Roseman didn't exactly step into the most fertile of off-seasons. The new league rules reduced the unrestricted free agent pool, and labor uncertainty beyond 2010 has forced some teams to curl into a fetal position.
The Eagles have signed three unrestricted free agents, signed one restricted free agent to an offer sheet, and made a trade. But even the team would acknowledge that acquiring Marlin Jackson, Chad Hall, Hank Baskett, Mike Bell, and Darryl Tapp was hardly going to be enough to satisfy the team's critics.
Roseman said that he anticipated some movement in the next few weeks. He has a reputation for being a gambler. And for good or bad, coach Andy Reid doesn't always know when to fold them. This is the team, after all, that signed Michael Vick fresh out of prison.
But save for one of their three quarterbacks being traded, there really isn't a transaction the Eagles could make that would compare with last year's trade for tackle Jason Peters. They had an extra first-round pick to expend, and the team doesn't think it has a need this year as great as it did last year at left tackle.
That hasn't silenced what the Eagles believe is a vocal minority of critics. Not even the white noise emanating from the quarterback situation can drown out what that critics see as remaining roster flaws. The Eagles, however, see it their way.
