Other free agents are seemingly falling over themselves to answer the phone when the Eagles call. If this is the big train pulling out of the station, they wouldn't mind being onboard.
From the outside looking in, the reaction sounds like unsatisfied snippets from a Zagat's review.
Rob Ryan, the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys, called the Eagles the "all-hype team," as if he would have turned down Asomugha. Donovan McNabb took it all in and told an interviewer that the Eagles, for all their moves, "have more problems than people are looking at."
They are right, of course, that the season stands in the way of a Super Bowl, but most of the criticism is little more than simple jealousy. Andy Reid, while enjoying the new additions, felt the need to tamp down some of the rhetoric, reminding everyone that "dreams aren't reality," which is far from breaking news to Eagles fans.
What the Eagles have done, however, is a lot more than the sum of their showiest transactions. Getting Asomugha, trading for Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie, and signing Young, defensive end Jason Babin, and defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins has received almost all of the attention, and rightfully so, but some of the quieter moves may actually be the ones that make the final difference this season.
In all, the Eagles have completed more than 50 transactions in less than a week. Wednesday was a relative lull in the roster storm, with just minor additions and subtractions to disturb the calm. Some of the moves in the last week have been wheel-spinning exercises as the front office scurried to fill the 90-man roster. They signed rookie wide receiver Keith Carlos last Friday and waived him on Monday, which means only the guys at Bernie's had a worse weekend.
Between the high-profile trades and signings, and the transactions designed only to pad the roster and absorb the training camp reps, there is the real meat of what the Eagles have done. Without much fanfare, the team has brought in veterans at some key spots that needed strengthening, and those players might have as much to say about this season as anyone else.
The four signings that stand out at the moment - under the radar but overdue in some ways - are offensive tackle Ryan Harris, running back Ronnie Brown, guard Evan Mathis, and wide receiver/returner Johnnie Lee Higgins.
A couple of others could be added to the list. Veteran safety Jarrad Page will fight for a job and provide some depth at that position. Akeem Jordan, the only unrestricted free agent retained by the Eagles, will do the same at linebacker. If you wanted to add Donald Lee, entering his 10th year in the league as an effective blocking tight end, that's fine, too. But as you look at the roster, even as it changes incessantly, Harris, Brown, Mathis, and Higgins stand to be key components.
Harris gives the Eagles insurance at both tackle positions and, more to the point, has the ability to take the right side starting job from Winston Justice. He is only 26 years old and says he is recovered from the inside and outside, high and low, left ankle injury that sidelined him in Denver last season.
"I'd have been better off if I broke it. I'm back now, though," Harris said Wednesday. "Any time you can come to a playoff team, you want to be part of that. I just wanted to jump at the opportunity.
Mathis is with his fourth NFL team since entering the league in 2005, but his journeyman stature works for him in this case. He can play on either side of center and gives the Eagles a reliable Plan B if rookie Danny Watkins is slow to develop or if Jamal Jackson has a setback that forces Mike McGlynn back to the center position. Mathis gives them depth at a position where it is sorely lacking.
Higgins, who will be 28 next month, was used occasionally as an extra receiver in Oakland, but he was used mainly as a punt returner, with 115 career returns and an 8.5-yard average. DeSean Jackson was counted on as the main punt returner last season, at least until he declined to catch warm-up punts in Chicago in late November. Jorrick Calvin returned punts toward the end of the season. Given Jackson's current situation - he's not here and, if he returns, he doesn't want to catch punts - landing someone like Higgins was a vital piece that couldn't be overlooked.
Brown is an intriguing addition because there doesn't seem to be that much opportunity at running back behind LeSean McCoy. Brown has some interesting skills, though. He shared time with Cadillac Williams at Auburn and with Ricky Williams in the pros at Miami, and says he is willing to do split the load again, even if it's not with a player named Williams.
With the Dolphins, Brown helped implement the Wildcat offense, and it's not hard to imagine the Eagles' offensive schemes being tweaked to take advantage of Brown's skills as they mesh with those of quarterback Michael Vick.
"With so many people here with so much talent, you don't know what anybody would be doing," Brown said. "That would be exciting."
It would, like so many things that might happen this season. The mistake would be to focus on only the obvious excitement, the stuff that makes the covers of magazines. The Eagles keep making moves that land only in the back pages, but those could turn out to be the best reads of all.
Contact columnist Bob Ford at bford@phillynews.com and read his blog at http://www.philly.com/postpatterns
