PhillySportsJunkie.com

 After lying dormant for nearly a month, the National Football League is back.  The scouting combines have begun and the draft is close enough to discuss.  Most relevant is the start of free agency, beginning tomorrow (Friday) at 12:01AM.

Now the Philadelphia Eagle fan-base can look to the future instead of pursuing a collective lobotomy after watching the New York Giants raise the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XLII.  The nightmares will begin to subside.

On the surface it seems free agency is set to be a disappointment. 

One by one the studs have disappeared by virtue of the dastardly franchise tag.  Kansas City DE Jared Allen, the NFL sack leader, was locked down.  A player the Eagle reportedly had major interest in, Seattle CB Marcus Trufant, was tagged.  Ditto Baltimore LB Terrell Suggs and Dallas S Ken Hamlin.  You get the point.

New England and Chicago unrestricted free agent WRs Randy Moss and Bernard Berrian are expected to resign.

Not only that but two popular trade targets – Cincinnati WR Chad Johnson and Arizona WR Larry Fitzgerald – have been publicly taken off the market by their respective GMs.

Who is left?  Patriots CB Asante Samuel, WR Donte Stallworth and a collection of mid-level talent featuring Antwan Odom, Justin Smith, Travis LaBoy, Gibril Wilson, and Andre Davis.  Here’s a challenge – name all of their respective positions and teams.  Miss any?  The point is that they are not carrying any team to the Promised Land.

The more important point is that none of it matters. (more…)