Cullen Jenkins

To no great surprise, the Eagles released defensive tackles Mike Patterson and Cullen Jenkins on Monday. Age, high-priced contracts, and the expected changes in the Eagles defense made their releases a foregone conclusion. Patterson will turn 30 before next season. Jenkins turned 32 last month. Patterson was slated to earn slightly more than $4 million, while Jenkins had a $5.5 million salary, $1 million of which was to be paid in a roster bonus on March 12. Approximately $1.5 million of Jenkins' salary is guaranteed, but there is offsetting language in his contract.

Former Eagles defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins , 32, signed a three-year contract worth $8 million with the New York Giants, NFL.com reported Sunday. The Eagles, who cut Jenkins, last month would have been on the hook for about $1.1 million if Jenkins hadn't signed with another team. Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco told USA Today that receiver Anquan Boldin , 32, should not accept a pay cut. Boldin is scheduled to make $6 million this coming season. Boldin, citing "principles," said he will not slash his salary to stay with the Ravens.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Eagles coach Andy Reid uncharacteristically got into a verbal back-and-forth with one of his players when he jawed with Cullen Jenkins on the sideline during the second quarter of Monday night's preseason game against the Patriots. The argument was caught by ESPN cameras and was replayed several times during the telecast. Reid, waving his play card at Jenkins, said something to the defensive tackle, who stood up and got in the coach's face. "It's an emotional game.

MIKE PATTERSON and Cullen Jenkins were loyal soldiers who worked hard and never caused problems, but their general was exiled to Kansas City, and his replacement envisions a different type of army. The Eagles still haven't confirmed they are moving to a 3-4 front under new coach Chip Kelly. Nonetheless, Monday they began retooling for just that, releasing Patterson and Jenkins, two veteran defensive tackles who aren't hefty enough to be great 3-4 nose tackles and would seem to lack the height and power to be great 3-4 ends.

THIS YEAR'S Eagles defensive line rotation is going to look very different from what fans are used to seeing. The Andy Reid-era Eagles prized speed over size up front, whether the defensive coordinator was Jim Johnson, Sean McDermott or Juan Castillo. The phrase "high motor" came up a lot, usually with players who might otherwise be described as "low measuring tape. " Which brings us, indirectly, to Clifton Geathers, a 6-8, 340-pound defensive end and nose tackle who has gotten some first-team reps at both spots this week, in the Birds' mandatory minicamp that ends today.

THE EAGLES' 2013 draft seems to be generating high marks, as meaningless a notion as that might be before any of the prospects has even been measured for a midnight-green helmet. But last year's record still reads 4-12. If coach Chip Kelly somehow reverses that in 1 year, well, he'll be underpaid at $6.5 million a year, and it might be time for some new statuary outside the Linc. The Eagles were active in addressing gaping holes in free agency, and they corralled some exciting prospects in the draft, but in a perfect world, more of those exciting prospects would have been defensive backs or linebackers.

ALL IN. It has become shorthand for what this Eagles season is about, with the acquisition of big-name players and $230 million spent on contracts in 5 weeks. While the goal of winning the franchise's first championship since 1960 is clear, the process to get there is never easy to navigate. "Whatever it takes to try to get there, that's what we're going to do," team president Joe Banner said recently. "I want the players to feel like that's the goal. If we fall short of that, then we didn't hit the goal.

Eagles defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins found the dreaded FedEx envelope from the NFL in his locker cubicle yesterday. Jenkins discovered he had been fined $15,000 for a helmet-to-helmet hit, which happened when Jenkins sacked the Falcons' Matt Ryan in Sunday's game. Jenkins said a blocker was holding his legs as he lunged forward to try to tackle Ryan. "You're fighting and clawing to try to get to the quarterback. Really, what are you supposed to do?" Jenkins asked.

Andy Reid said Friday it was "hindsight" to suggest he could have fixed his defense earlier, and maybe saved the Eagles' season, by firing defensive-line coach Jim Washburn and scuttling the wide-nine before he eventually did so, on Dec. 3. Reid didn't say it was "wrong. " He just said it was "hindsight. " Then Reid talked about how, with the defensive line in a normal formation, and the linemen not blindly making a beeline for the quarterback, life is much easier for the safeties and even the corners.

A second former Eagles defensive tackle is joining the New York Giants. According to profootball.com, the Giants have signed Mike Patterson, who will join Cullen Jenkins on the Giants defensive line in 2013. Patterson was cut by the Eagles before the start of free agency on the same day that the team gave Jenkins his walking papers. Patterson played just five games for the Eagles in 2012 after preseason surgery to repair an arteriovenous malformation in his brain. That condition contributed to a seizure during training camp in 2011 that initially seemed to threaten his ability to continue his football career.

THIS YEAR'S Eagles defensive line rotation is going to look very different from what fans are used to seeing. The Andy Reid-era Eagles prized speed over size up front, whether the defensive coordinator was Jim Johnson, Sean McDermott or Juan Castillo. The phrase "high motor" came up a lot, usually with players who might otherwise be described as "low measuring tape. " Which brings us, indirectly, to Clifton Geathers, a 6-8, 340-pound defensive end and nose tackle who has gotten some first-team reps at both spots this week, in the Birds' mandatory minicamp that ends today.

THE MUSIC Howie Roseman was happiest to hear from the Eagles' practice field this spring wasn't Nicki Minaj, Lupe Fiasco or even the Lumineers. It was the sound of Eagles players trumpeting their excitement over new coach Chip Kelly's changes. Roseman, who spoke to reporters yesterday at Lincoln Financial Field after participating in a Rothman Institute panel discussion of "The Impact of Sports," was asked if Kelly's loud, frenetic practices were as big an adjustment for him as they were for reporters, accustomed to the more staid style of 14-year coach Andy Reid.

THE EAGLES and the Giants exchanged players this offseason. Not formally, of course, but New York signed Eagles free-agent defensive linemen Mike Patterson and Cullen Jenkins, and the Eagles signed former Giants first-round safety Kenny Phillips. It will be interesting to see which organization had a better read on the other squad's talents. Patterson, a smallish defensive tackle, didn't fit the Birds' new defensive scheme. Jenkins just seemed to be wearing down at 32, and seemed expendable to a rebuilding team.

THE EAGLES' 2013 draft seems to be generating high marks, as meaningless a notion as that might be before any of the prospects has even been measured for a midnight-green helmet. But last year's record still reads 4-12. If coach Chip Kelly somehow reverses that in 1 year, well, he'll be underpaid at $6.5 million a year, and it might be time for some new statuary outside the Linc. The Eagles were active in addressing gaping holes in free agency, and they corralled some exciting prospects in the draft, but in a perfect world, more of those exciting prospects would have been defensive backs or linebackers.

ATHLETIC DIRECTOR Jay Jacobs says Auburn is reviewing allegations of rules violations in the football program during its 2010 national championship season but doesn't believe they're credible. Jacobs issued a statement Thursday in response to a report a day that quoted former Auburn players Mike McNeil and Darvin Adams alleging they received or were offered money from coaches. McNeil also says he had a grade changed to stay eligible. Also, ESPN reported Thursday that the 2010 Tigers were gripped by an epidemic of synthetic marijuana use that led to a rash of failed drug tests and a decision at the highest levels of the university's athletic department to keep the results confidential.

A second former Eagles defensive tackle is joining the New York Giants. According to profootball.com, the Giants have signed Mike Patterson, who will join Cullen Jenkins on the Giants defensive line in 2013. Patterson was cut by the Eagles before the start of free agency on the same day that the team gave Jenkins his walking papers. Patterson played just five games for the Eagles in 2012 after preseason surgery to repair an arteriovenous malformation in his brain. That condition contributed to a seizure during training camp in 2011 that initially seemed to threaten his ability to continue his football career.

A change was inevitable, and more moves are still to come, but with two broad strokes the Eagles made over their defense. The first brush began two weeks ago, when defensive tackles Mike Patterson and Cullen Jenkins were released. It continued on Tuesday, when Nnamdi Asomugha was cut, and a day later, when his counterpart at cornerback and in crimes against defense, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, signed with the Broncos. But the canvas was repainted when the Eagles signed eight free agents - seven of whom are defensive players - in a span of 48 hours last week.

When he looked at the team he inherited from Ray Rhodes in 1999, Andy Reid was appalled by the lack of talent on the offensive side of the ball. "The cupboard was bare," he said a few years later, after restocking well enough to make the Eagles a perennial playoff team. Lo these many years later, Chip Kelly has begun trying to rebuild the team he inherited from Reid. This time, the cupboard was bare on the defensive side, and Kelly has already gone about addressing that. That first offseason, Reid simply had to add inventory: wide receivers Torrance Small and Charles Johnson, offensive linemen Lonnie Palelei and Jeff Dellenbach, tight end Luther Broughton, and stopgap quarterback Doug Pederson.

The changes on the Eagles defensive line started two weeks ago when Mike Patterson and Cullen Jenkins were released. Which defensive scheme the Eagles will use has not been disclosed, but the cuts were the first steps of a transition. Expect the Eagles to play a 3-4 or a 4-3 under scheme, which is a hybrid of the 3-4. That means the Eagles need a nose tackle, and they'll have a defensive end/outside linebacker who's primarily a pass rusher but also would drop into coverage. The Eagles have only three sure linemen on the roster: Fletcher Cox, Cedric Thornton, and Antonio Dixon.