My Take on Trotter

Having time to process it, I think the Eagles were penny-wise and pound foolish…again. Please excuse the following lengthy rant.

 

I agree with all of Besty’s points – the most obvious that apparently NO ONE else is talking about is that for a defense that everyone was so concerned was undersized, you’ve now got a middle LB at 235 lbs. Even given Trotter’s lost 9 lbs, Gaither is 20 lbs.!! lighter than Trotter.

 

My only question would be regarding Trotter’s pride? Did he not want to be a backup? Did he not want to restructure? Was there an issue with him playing special teams? Did the Eagles even offer either of those possibilities to him before cutting him loose?.

 

I find it interesting that among all that talk last year about our defensive line being inadequate at stopping the run, there was not much talk about Trotter’s performance. Now that the decision is made we get Rich Hoffman and Les Bowen telling us that “Rumors started last winter that when the coaching staff reviewed film of the 2006 season, the biggest surprise was how slow Trotter looked, and how much teams had really targeted him in their game-planning. Officially, the word was that Trotter needed to lose weight, and that if he did, he would more or less split the job this season with smaller, quicker second-year linebacker Omar Gaither, who probably wouldn't start, but would play most passing downs.” (Bowen) Really? This a question for reporters. Bowen’s article suggests that he heard these “rumors” 6 months ago. Then again, it could read that Bowen is now merely publishing the Eagles’ coaching staff’s revisionist interpretation of Trotter’s play to justify the decision. Which do you think it is? And if Bowen heard the rumors last winter, doesn’t he have some sort of obligation to report it? It’d be interesting if his articles back then focused solely on Dhani Jones and Darwin Walker and the d- line and if they make any mention, even subtly to Trotter or the interior linebacker play.

 

And we get Rich Hoffman and the numbers don’t lie. “In 2005, teams threw at the Eagles on first down 38 percent of the time. In 2006, that went up to 47 percent of the time - a very big leap. The result was first down last year became the

Eagles' worst down, by far, when you look at the yards they allowed.”

 

Fine. I get it. Trotter was becoming a liability. But he would have been a nice security blanket if all these new LBs – and I include Spikes in that group – can’t play. Plus, AT THE VERY LEAST TROTTER COULD HAVE PLAYED IN GOAL LINE SITUATIONS.

 

And really, was a slow Trotter any worse than Kirkland or Barry Gardner? I would think Trotter’s presence in the locker room would be enough to justify $2.6 million this year. This is a team that in theory is a super bowl contender. I understand the move a lot more if this team were rebuilding and you were just cutting dead wood. God forbid Gaither or Spikes go down, or Gocong can’t play. Then we’ll see the likes of Tank Daniels and Matt McCoy in there. And Daniels is a perennial practice squader who the coaches “like” just as they did with Mike Labinjo and Greg Richmond, two other Trotter heirs apparent that never panned out.

 

(for this same super bowl contender reasoning, I think it would insane to get rid of Kelly Holcomb and keep Kolb as the #3 starter. Your “injury-prone” starter is coming of a torn ACL. If he goes down, you have AJ Feeley, which is as capable a back up as you get these days in the NFL, but then Kolb, an untested rookie is the backup and the Eagles are then scrambling to pull someone off the waiver wire – remember Omar Jacobs? On the positive sign, maybe they could re-sign Detmer, who could also hold for Akers. And why Feeley isn’t holding for Akers is a whole other email exchange for another day). Why not put Kolb on the practice squad and keep Holcomb as insurance? The man has played in playoff games, while Kolb hasn’t even played in a real game yet.

 

The fact is that since they drafted Trotter, middle LB has been a disaster when he wasn’t starting. Would the Tampa championship game have turned out different if he were playing instead of Gardner and Kirkland? Perhaps. Gardner, Kirkland, Caver, McCoy, Simoneaux, Jones, Wayne, #57 whose name escapes me – it’s the one position the Eagles do not evaluate well

 

Plus, Trotter’s relationship with the Eagles has been star-crossed for years now. Yes, Trotter was unrealistic to seek Urlacher and Ray Lewis type money after his first contract, but let’s face it, Reid really screwed him by franchising him and then removing the tag in early summer after most teams had filled their LB needs. There is a fine line between making hard personnel choices among aging veterans, and completely undermining them. Trotter’s return was a feel good story capped off by his pro bowl selection. Why put a damper on that feeling among the other players and the fans? (don’t discount the fans’ affection for Trotter, which I think Reid should have at least taken slightly into account. Sure, it’s a business, but it’s also a sport played on emotion, keeping Trotter – particularly if he could make a couple of plays a game – would have helped with that, certainly at the Linc).

 

Finally, sadly, his waiver is the continuation of Reid’s MO. One that I think is too often short-sighted. For instance, why cut Hugh Douglas, a clubhouse leader and McNabb booster, when you knew you were going to have trouble with TO in year 2? His worth in maintaining some order in the locker room would have been more valuable than the contributions he could have made on the field. And as an active player, his credibility would have been more enhanced than the “ambassador” role he played when he punched out TO mid way through the season.

 

Same thing with Ike Reese. A special teams leader, fan favorite, and Reid-disciple. Why not throw him an extra million or use the veteran exemption on him to keep him in Philly? Maybe he really wanted to try to be a starting LB, but I think if the Eagles had made even a halfway fair offer, he would have stayed. Sure the Eagles have a reputation for not overpaying old players, but giving each of these guys something would have gone a long way to blunting some of those criticisms and showing the locker room that the Eagles reward loyalty and leadership on occasion.

 

 Same thing with Trotter now.

 

All I know is that Tiki Barber said that Jeremiah Trotter was the guy that always hit him the hardest and left him most sore after games.