Bowen and McLane both report this morning that Saints RFA Mike Bell is coming to visit the Eagles.  Now this, this is a move I like.

As that Chris Simms post from the wayback machine indicated, I like guys who have come through the fire.  From Bowen:

Bell has had a puzzling career. In 2006, he was a Denver rookie sensation as an undrafted free agent from Arizona. He also showed the pass-catching ability that is important to the Eagles, catching 20 for 158 yards. But Bell ran afoul of then-coach Mike Shanahan, was moved to fullback and then was released in 2008. He was with the Texans long enough to injure a hamstring, then was picked up by the Saints late in '08.

There's something to be said for dudes who have come face to face with career mortality (although not, perhaps, actual mortality).  They don't generally need much external motivation.

Bell's production last year definitely tapered off after the first half, but when we faced him, I thought he was legitimately terrifying.  We couldn't tackle him.  He was like Eldra Buckley in that he hit the hole like a sledgehammer.  And unlike Buckley, he actually identified "the hole" more than 50 percent of the time.

The problem with most "big backs" is that they can't make anything happen.  If you give them a crease and they don't have to change direction, they'll get you some yards.  But you're still better off most of the time with a running back who can find his own lane and then explode through it.  Bell can bring that.  I like the visit.

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Major congrats are in order to the guys at The700Level.  Good to see the grandaddy of the Philly sports blog world going mainstream.  Nice job, dudes.

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Brian at AdvancedNFLStats is really going nuts this summer.  He's got a few posts I want to riff off of in the next couple weeks, but for today I mostly wanted to point to this announcement of his new individual player stat pages.  The LDT / Westbrook comparison is pretty interesting.

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Minor clarification on LB's magnum opus regarding the QBs:

Emotionally, would there be value, to the organization and to the fan base, from finally turning the page and embracing the future? Yes. But I don't think management really looks at it that way. They have an asset. The asset ought to be worth "X." They don't have to trade the asset. If McNabb walks as a free agent next year, they ought to get a decent compensatory pick, depending on how much money he gets from his new team and on some other factors. 

This might have been true a couple years ago (for a few reasons, actually), but not next year.  Players with more than 10 years of service are capped in terms of the compensatory pick they can return.  Call it the Alan Faneca rule.  The Eagles could get no better than a fifth for McNabb.

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If Scouts really are warning teams off of Vick because he's no longer "special," I think they're sort of missing the point.  First of all, I don't think last year was the ceiling for Vick's athletic abilities.  Give him a full offseason to keep getting his legs back and we should see the real Mike Vick next year.

The more important point, however, is that the Eagles didn't just treat him like a gimmick last year.  They made him a quarterback, and it sounds like they really worked hard to break down the flaws in his game (as a quarterback) and build him back up (as a quarterback).  If the next coaching staff can keep his head on straight, I think we'll see any loss of running ability is more than compensated for by his improvements as a passer.

In fact, this is probably one of the biggest issues when teams are trying to properly value Kolb or Vick.  The Eagles coaches have seen those guys pull off many, many reps in practice.  The other teams only get the small sliver of game action (and maybe some summer scouting) to figure out what they can do.

With all that said, I'm not at all convinced the Eagles could win a Super Bowl with Vick playing QB.  As impressive as his progression was last year, the Eagles under Andy Reid need a guy who can, if called upon, throw the ball 45 times and win you the game.  But put Vick on a team like the Jets or the Titans and you just might have something.

Sadly, neither the Jets nor the Titans are in the market for a QB right now.

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The Fokou coverage has begun.  (Still no individual post links, guys?!)

Regarding last offseason's Jay Cutler rumors:

4) The winner in all this? It has to be Chris Simms. Tell me you couldn't see this being another Drew Brees situation, where the Broncos trade Cutler, draft their QBOTF, then watch Simms play lights out all season directing what was, remember, last year's second-best offense.

Can you make bets now on the Comeback Player of the Year Award?

Today's news (from PFT):

According to Mike Klis of the Denver Post, Simms has been released.

Simms was due to earn a base salary of $2.54 million in 2010.  Last year, he earned $1.96 million.

$1.96 million, in exchange for three appearances, one start, one benching, 17 passes thrown, five completed, one interception, five sacks, and a passer rating of 15.1.

Nailed it.

One of my favorite things that happens after the NFL season is the distribution of performance-based pay for the prior year. This system rewards players who have low salaries but a high amount of playing time. It doesn't come from the individual teams, but rather from a pool that is set aside by the league.

This year, for example, Macho Harris earned $314,565 in performance-based pay, which exceeds the $310,000 he made in salary. Only seven players league-wide got more.  The top 12 are:

John Sullivan, C, Minnesota $397,555
Zack Bowman, CB, Chicago $355,355
Gary Guyton, LB, New England $349,437
William Gay, CB, Pittsburgh $325,607
Josh Morgan, WR, San Francisco $325,421
Carl Nicks, G, New Orleans $317,313
Donald Thomas G, Miami $316,577
Macho Harris, S, Philadelphia $314,565
Orlando Scandrick, CB, Dallas $306,209
David Hawthorne, LB, Seattle $306,091
Dashon Goldson, S, San Francisco $303,763
Josh Sitton, G, Green Bay $300,622

So congratulations to Macho.

Not much for today, but just a few thoughts:

Baskett -- Would love to see him come back.  HIs most important role would obviously be on special teams, where the Eagles were pretty darn good in four of the five phases already.  But with April on board, I'm in favor of giving him all the ammunition he needs to go from good to great. 

Also, I love those training camp stories about how this year, finally, will be the one where we throw the fade in the red zone.  Without Hank, we were going to miss out on those.

Fargas -- It would honestly be really nice if the Eagles would consider signing some free agents off of teams I might willingly have watched the last few years.  Nothing about his stats really jumps out.  Not a big pass catcher, but I guess with Reno v2.0 we're all stocked up there anyway.  I'm sure Tommy will have something interesting to tell us about him if this ends up moving forward.

Reno v2.0 -- I like the Amendola comparison, but hear me out on Mahe.  Hall is a hybrid running back / wide receiver (like Reno), was a not all that explosive seeming returner (like Reno), and runs something in the neighborhood of a 4.6 40 (also like Reno). 

Also, it made for a better headline.

Ray Edwards -- Not totally sure what I think about the prospect of going after the Vikings LDE.  It's a little hard for me to understand why the Vikings only tendered him at the first-round level.  You'd think a 25-year-old defensive end coming off a hot stretch of games like that would be worth the max tender.  It's almost like the Vikings are inviting teams to take him off their hands.

I think the key moving part here is Brett Favre.  If he retires, the Vikings go into scramble mode.  That's when we send them McNabb for some package including Edwards.

Ok, not really.  Kinda seems like it, though.

Nice to have a serviceman on the roster with a non-checkered past, for a change.

(Thanks to Kyle for the tip.)

This isn't one of those posts about how the Eagles haven't really done much so far in free agency so we are doomed doomed doomed.

At the moment, though, it sort of looks like your starting SAM linebacker for 2010 is going to be Moise Fokou.  At the very least, unless they draft a stud in the first round, he's going to be in the mix.  The question is if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I didn't bother learning much about Fokou after the Eagles drafted him last year.  Seventh-round picks have a high washout rate on teams with talented rosters and I certainly didn't foresee the chain of events that saw him taking over the starting spot by the end of the season.

Fokou has impressed the coaches with his work ethic:

"He's worked hard," Reid said of Fokou. "Even when Chris was healthy, he worked in there during practice."

"Moise is one of the first in and last to leave," Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said. "He's done a heck of a job preparing himself for this challenge."

He's also a very good special teams player.  He was third last year in special teams production and tied for the team lead with 20 tackles on punt or kick coverage.  This is perhaps not surprising given his college experience:

Although he has been very impressive as a first-year linebacker in camp so far, Fokou's presence on the roster may depend on his ability to contribute in special teams. And that's something he has a lot of experience with, having led Maryland's special teams in tackles in both 2007 and 2008.

I remember a few years ago when either Reid or Harbaugh said they thought linebacker was one of those positions where special teams success was a good indicator of future performance, because the skill set -- getting off blocks and making plays -- was similar.  (Not sure if they still believe this after some of what we've seen the last couple years with a few other guys.)

There's another interesting quote in that last article:

Fokou rose up the depth chart to become a star his last two seasons, including a senior campaign in which he was the only ACC player with at least 75 tackles (77) and five sacks (5.0).

"I think I'm a good cover guy," Fokou said when asked to describe his game. "I think I'm a good speed pass rusher. I'm a decent guy in the run. I have a couple good qualities that I can bring to the defense and as long as I know my assignment and don't do a lot of thinking out there and just react, I think I can make a lot of plays this year."

Good cover ... good rush ... "decent" against the run.  So much for athletes who aren't self-aware.  But in a division with the Giants, Cowboys and now a Shanahan running game, can the Eagles afford a SAM who isn't stout against the run?

It's a legitimate concern, given Fokou's stature.  He's only 6-1 and weighed 233 at the combine, but now the Eagles are listing him at 228.  It's always tough for rookies to keep their weight up, but that's going the wrong direction for a guy who:

"Lacks the bulk scouts prefer on the strong side and needs to add both upper- and lower-body strength."

In fact, this is probably a good place to get into his scouting reports.  Here's the complete NFL Draft Scout analysis:

Overview:  A former walk-on who transferred after one season at Frostburg State, he immediately made an impression on the Maryland coaches even during his NCAA mandated transfer season, earning scout MVP accolades twice. Played sparingly behind Erin Henderson at weak-side linebacker in 2006, but switched to the strong side in 2007 and started the next two years there, registering 84 tackles, seven tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles in 2007 and emerging as the only ACC defender to record more than 75 tackles (77) and five sacks on the year. Despite his experience there, lacks the bulk scouts prefer, but his athleticism and secure tackling make him a potential immediate special teamer and an intriguing developmental prospect for the weakside.

Positives: Athletic build with room for additional muscle mass. … Fluid athlete at his best in space. … Good initial quickness. … Gets good depth on his pass drops and shows some light feet and fluidity changing direction. … Good straight-line speed. … Able to break down in space and make the secure tackle. … Wrap-up tackler who flashes some explosion as a hitter. … Good effort in pursuit. … Strong hands to rip away the ball. … Good timing on the blitz. … Can evade blockers in space and has a good short burst to close. … Excellent special teams player who led Maryland in special teams tackles in both 2007 (17 tackles) and 2008 (13 tackles).

Negatives: Raw and relies on his athletic ability at this point. … Marginal instincts. … A step slow to react and has some wasted motion as he finds the ball. … Lacks the bulk scouts prefer on the strong side and needs to add both upper- and lower-body strength. … Doesn't use his hands well to disengage from blocks. … Struggled to distinguish himself amid the talent at the Senior Bowl.

Here are his combine test results.  Note the decent speed/agility scores, but also the abysmal performance in the bench press.

The SI.com review is similar, with again the scary note: "Marginally instinctive, shows hesitation in his game and late to react. Rarely makes plays in coverage."

After a few years of watching the "marginally instinctive" Chris Gocong -- who, like Fokou, is an intelligent dude off the field -- that's a little unnerving.  Especially since the book on the Eagles' linebackers seems to be "run counters and draws all day."

Just for comedy's sake, here's one more:

"Linebacker probably is the Eagles' strongest position on defense. Special teams will be his only ticket onto the roster. A potential practice-squad guy."

So, here's the thing.  If this were still a Jim Johnson defense, I'd feel pretty comfortable suggesting that we might be looking at the next Ike Reese.  Fokou could be a standout special teamer and an effective nickel linebacker who can run and blitz.

But this is not still a JJ defense.  It's a McDermott defense.  And something I finally realized after the season was almost over is that he's not the same kind of coach JJ was.  JJ was a pressure coach, McD's more about coverages.

It's the same point Sam keeps hammering away at any time someone brings up our linebacker draft history.  We know the kind of players JJ saw as fits for his scheme and how important he thought linebackers were to the overall success of the defense.  We don't know how McD sees the same issues.  If he's going to ask those guys to do different things, we're going to see the Eagles start moving to different kinds of players out there. 

Fokou might just be the type of player McD wants.  Sure, he's smaller than a traditional SAM, but if you have Bradley next to him and the two big eaters in the middle (and maybe even Abiamiri at the point at LDE) that might not matter as much.  There would be a loss against the run, but if the result was actually being able to cover a tight end, that could be a pretty substantial net gain.

That is, of course, the March version of the story.  Everyone's an optimist -- okay, almost everyone -- in the offseason.  It might also be that Fokou's a tweener with bad linebacker instincts who can't get off blocks and should really focus on being a top-flight backup who can play a couple positions and excel on special teams. 

I guess we'll know in about eight months.

UPDATE -- From the editor of philly.com:

Folks: Writing from Philly.com - yep, there is indeed something out there, and it's not restricted to Philly.com. We've heard reports of several large sites dealing with malware this week, all of the variety that Derek indicates. We've been aggressively investigating all morning - shutting down ad networks, scraping through code to ensure that it's not anywhere else. The good news is, we believe we've found and (of course) eliminated the problem ads. We will absolutely keep up the same level of vigilance. If you see anything, e-mail us at feedback@philly.com. We take this EXTREMELY seriously and value your readership. Thanks - and watch your back - as I said, there are other sites out there that are dealing with the same thing...

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Original post:

A couple days ago, I mentioned the awful computer issues I was having.  I didn't want to say anything publicly at the time, but all my problems seemed to stem from a visit to philly.com on Sunday morning.

Just now, I tried to open up that site, and here's the warning my browser gave me:

Trust me, folks, this is not something you want on your computer.  Be careful with that site until they get this sorted out.