Wanting Eagles to lose remaining games won't accomplish anything

THE "DON'T ruin our draft position by winning" silliness is starting to pile up a little too deep in some Eagles Nation outposts.

You're pretending to be devastated because the Birds won Sunday to get to 5-8? You think the bottom falling out, plunging into utter hopelessness, would be a healthy thing, if it allowed the team to draft some savior you saw play a couple of times on TV? You want a roster full of guys who give up, knowing you can't possibly replace more than a third of them in one offseason?

Taking a quick glance at the NFL standings yesterday, I counted nine teams with four wins or fewer, heading into last night's action. Even if the Eagles finished 4-12, they weren't going to get to draft Andrew Luck. They almost certainly weren't going to get to draft Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. Yes, it's great that you remember how they ended up with Leroy Keyes instead of O.J. Simpson, back in 1969, because the Birds won a meaningless game at the end of the season. This isn't like that. We are talking here about the difference between drafting, say, sixth and 11th. Whoopee.

Last year, sixth to 11th was the difference between Julio Jones and J.J. Watt. For that, you would like to see Michael Vick go down in flames, even though the Eagles have committed serious money to him next season? You would like to see the young guys like Nate Allen who have been up and down finish miserably, leaving no hope they will become what they were drafted to be? You would like to see the Eagles prove they are so deeply flawed, they can't possibly contend next season with a different defensive coordinator, a linebacker or two, a safety, and a full offseason of preparation?

If that's the case, then, frankly, I think you're nuts.

But I don't think this is really about a handful of draft slots. I think the "it's best to lose out" crowd is really worried about the return of Andy Reid.

That's a reasonable concern, if you don't think Reid is the guy to fix this mess.

But as amazing as it sounds, I'm not sure even losing the final four games would have ensured Reid's departure. So much is wrapped up in giving him 1 more year - the Vick experiment, Howard Mudd, Jim Washburn, a bunch of money. Andy is coming back, it sure seems. He still has to win a Super Bowl to get another contract, and the window for that to happen is now down to 2012, exclusively, but firing him now would bring on decisions elsewhere the front office isn't ready to make yet.