Eagles had no choice but to pay Fletcher Cox

The Eagles were one of the most active teams in the NFL’s offseason. The team shelled out just over $280 million in guaranteed money. Resurrected Vice President of Football Operations Howie Roseman spent most of the first half of the offseason locking up the players already on the roster that he wanted to retain long term. Zach Ertz, Lane Johnson, Malcolm Jenkins and Vinny Curry all signed lucrative contracts that will keep them in Philadelphia until at least 2021. Other players like Brent Celek and Sam Bradford received shorter term deals to stay in midnight green. Then the Eagles went out into free agency and dished out more money. Their biggest acquisitions were safety Rodney McLeod and guard Brandon Brooks. Roseman made two big trades to move up in the draft all the way to number two overall to select who he hopes to be next franchise quarterback in Carson Wentz.

                                                    Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

After an extremely busy four months, the biggest question hovering over the Eagles wasn’t if the new-look roster would have instant success in the first year of a new coaching regime, but rather one surrounding a player who had not yet received a new contract. It happened to be the team’s best player. Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox had yet to sign his second contract and was absent at the team’s voluntary minicamp.  While Cox still had one year left on his rookie deal, and the team had the option of placing the franchise tag on him following the season, given all the other players the team locked up, it made sense to take care of Cox.

Cox fired off of a couple of cryptic tweets in the offseason after some of his teammates signed new deals. Media members that tried to contact him weren’t given much intel on the situation between Cox, agent Todd France, and the Eagles. It doesn’t take brain surgery to put two and two together and realize that Cox wanted his money. He deserved it. He got it when he signed a six-year $103 million deal with $63 million guaranteed as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday.

It was the largest amount of guaranteed money for a non-quarterback in NFL history. But as crazy as this sounds, that’s not what’s really important here. The NFL’s salary cap for 2016 increased by $12 million. The contracts are only getting bigger. Pretty soon, there will probably be a new player that signs a contract with the highest amount of guaranteed money for a non-quarterback. The New York Jets are in the middle of a contract dispute with defensive tackle Muhammad Wilkerson and decided to franchise him. Another one of the game’s upper echelon defensive players, Denver outside linebacker Von Miller, has also been franchised. Cox signing this big contract gives players like Wilkerson and Miller leverage that could make negotiations harder for the Jets and Broncos. Fortunately for the Eagles, Cox doesn’t have similar leverage since his contract set the bar.

Many of the contracts the Eagles handed out this offseason were given to players they were betting on to take the next step in their careers. Players like Ertz and Lane Johnson are finishing up their rookie deals in 2016.  Vinny Curry has never been an elite pass rusher but the team hopes Jim Schwartz’s new defense allows Curry to reach a new level. But Cox has proven to be a game-changing talent in the trenches. It doesn’t send the best message to other players on the roster if the Eagles are willing to give out contracts to players they’re banking on to take the next step but not give contracts to players that have already arrived. The ripple effect in the short term that this deal will have on the NFL and the long term organizational effect not getting a deal done could have had are exactly why the Eagles had to get this done. There was no other option.

Photo: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/04/12/fletcher-cox-60-million-guaranteed/

Ryan Howard situation isn't as bad as you think it is

The Phillies are in the midst of a season high six-game losing streak. Their offense has remained lifeless and the starting pitching hasn’t been able to continue carrying the load. The six losses have been against the teams that currently hold baseball’s top two records, the Chicago Cubs and the Washington Nationals. The early season magic that saw the Phillies win 13 out of 16 one-run games on their way to a 21-15 start has disappeared.

When the Phillies were winning, conversations sparked about what the team would do at the trade deadline if still in contention. Now, the primary topic of discussion surrounding the Phillies is about a player who doesn’t play every day and is hitting .153. It’s no secret the end is near for Ryan Howard in a Phillies uniform. His current contract includes a $10 million buyout for the 2017 season, therefore 2016 is bound to be the last season Howard will play in Philadelphia.

In the middle of May, the Phillies called up 24-year old first base prospect Tommy Joseph from Lehigh Valley as Joseph was tearing it up in Triple A. Initially, the plan was to platoon Howard and Joseph and have Howard play against right handers while Joseph got all the at-bats against left-handed starting pitchers. As Howard’s struggles continued, manager Pete Mackanin began to mix Joseph in against right-handers and some called for the Phillies to just release Howard and be done with him.

There is no doubt that for the rest of the season, Joseph is a better option than Howard at first base. However, remember those discussions about the trade deadline and what the team should do if it continues to overachieve? Well, it doesn’t look like that will be a realistic scenario regardless of who is playing first base. So that begs the question, what’s wrong with riding out the rest of the season, with Joseph starting approximately two-thirds to three-quarters of the remaining games, and mixing in Howard once or twice a week?  After all, there could be value in just having him act as a soundboard for a lot of the younger players on the roster to bounce ideas off of.

It’s important to remember this team was supposed to be one of the worst in baseball this year. Many prognosticators had the Phillies winning in the upper 60s or at best low 70s. Perhaps they could end up a little bit better than that, but .500 would be quite a step forward after 63 wins last season. The team is in the midst of a rebuild and the focus has been placed on developing the farm system, which is now one of the better ones in baseball. As the team continued to add prospects to its system, Joseph continued to drop down the organizational ladder by many experts who ranked prospects in farm systems. Joseph was traded to the Phillies in 2012 as a part of the Hunter Pence trade. His lengthy injury history prolonged his stay in the minor leagues and forced him to move from catcher to first base. As the Phillies replenished the farm, discussions about the future of the organization were centered around lots of prospects not named Tommy Joseph.

Yet, here we are in 2016 and the team has sold off almost all of its veterans over the last year and a half, and Joseph is getting a chance. First base was one of the positions the farm system lacked a definitive answer to and when Joseph started hot in Lehigh Valley, the timing made sense to promote him and give him a look in the majors. He will start more than Howard will for the rest of this season, and will almost certainly get a good chunk of 2017 as the team’s first baseman. That seems like plenty of time to evaluate if there’s a future for Joseph or not as the team’s first baseman so it seems petty to think Howard is blocking him.

                                                            Ron Cortes/Philly.com
Howard has seen his role reduced in the early stages of 2016.

Howard’s decline since 2011 has been well-documented. Injuries forced him to miss the first half of 2012 and the second half of 2013. When healthy, his production hasn’t been close to what it once was. Previous General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was rightfully criticized for being loyal to a fault and trying to turn back the clock by gambling on lots of veterans during the 2012-14 seasons instead of hitting the reset button. But that same argument cannot be applied to current General Manager Matt Klentak here. Howard just happens to be one of few veterans left on the roster, is untradeable, and the team doesn’t have a slam-dunk option to play every day at first base. Therefore, since Joseph’s promotion, Mackanin has played both Joseph and Howard but Joseph more frequently in hopes of him becoming that slam-dunk option or just proving to be someone worth keeping around on the active 25-man roster for years to come. Before Joseph got to Philadelphia, there were some fans complaining that Howard was blocking Darin Ruf. However, even with Howard on the roster, Ruf was given countless opportunities from 2012 to 2015 to prove to be a part of the organization’s future and failed to capitalize. So why is Ryan Howard’s presence on a team that is clearly proving not to be a contender and isn’t getting much offensive production from anyone else either so detrimental to the organization? It just doesn’t add up.

Photo: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/phillies/Struggling-Howard-sits-reflects-on-frustrating-season.html

Light at the end of the tunnel in Philadelphia sports

Think about where things were in Philadelphia sports at this time just over a year ago. The Eagles had just wrapped up an extremely controversial offseason with Chip Kelly. The Phillies were in the infancy of a rebuild that was long overdue and were in for a long summer. The Sixers finished 18-64 in a season in which neither of their lottery picks from the 2014 NBA Draft played a game. The Flyers missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons and were looking for a head coach.

At the time, the Eagles were thought to be the saving grace of the city coming off of back-to-back 10-win seasons. Except then the flurry of moves blew up in Kelly’s face and led to his pink slip. The Phillies saw their manager Ryne Sandberg resign, and while they made several trades to move the rebuild along, the team ended the season with 99 loses and an important decision to make regarding its next general manager. The Flyers took the path less traveled and hired a college hockey coach to be their next man behind the bench. The Sixers ended up with one out of a possible four first round picks in the 2015 draft and spent that pick on yet another big man, Duke’s Jahlil Okafor.

All four major sports teams missed the postseason in 2015 and subsequently there were varying amounts of skepticism surrounding the respective futures of each team. The Eagles’ coaching search led to Andy Reid disciple Doug Pederson and many felt the team was trying to recreate the Reid era that ultimately fell short of a parade down Broad Street. The Flyers started 2015-2016 slow and it looked like it would be another year out of the playoffs for the orange and black. The Sixers were on their way to the second lowest win total in a single season in NBA history and the Phillies were again projected to be one of the worst teams in baseball.

                                            Julie Jacobson/Associated Press
Sixers' coach Brett Brown poses with NBA Deputy Commissioner
Mark Tatum after the Sixers win the NBA Draft Lottery.

But today, when you take a look at the state of each team, maybe you’ll conclude it’s not so bleak. After three years of tanking, the Sixers finally won the NBA Draft Lottery last night and are in position to select potential superstars in LSU’s Ben Simmons or Duke’s Brandon Ingram first overall next month. The team’s glut of bigs figures to lead to some interesting trade possibilities this summer. The Flyers overachieved to make the playoffs and pushed the Washington Capitals, this year’s President’s Trophy winners, to six games. The Phillies have been one of the more surprising teams in Major League Baseball almost two months into the season and are 23-17 through 40 games. The Eagles made a blockbuster move up in the NFL Draft to select North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz second overall in hopes of finally getting out of purgatory at the game’s most important position and having a franchise QB.

Despite a long, arduous, and painful last three years in Philadelphia sports, it looks like there’s finally hope. There’s lots of promising young players with each team. Maybe this could be the beginning of something new instead of the continuation of a very stale and despondent time for the city’s professional sports teams.

Photo: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20160518_Sixers_win_lottery__get_top_overall_draft_pick.html

The All-21st Century Kentucky Derby

In less than 24 hours, the 142^nd Run for the Roses gets underway at Churchill Downs. One year after American Pharoah ended the sport’s 37-year drought without a Triple Crown winner, the field of 20 is set for the first leg of horse racing’s marquee month. There are always debates in major sports about historic teams of today against historic teams of yesterday. This year the popular debate was the Golden State Warriors against the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls after the Warriors finished 73-9 to break Chicago’s record of most wins in a single season by one game. So with another Kentucky Derby having arrived, and considering we’re one year removed from history in the sport, it seems like a good time to look back. Here is my own field of the best 10 horses in since 2000.

                                                      David Quinn/Associated Press
Victor Espinoza aboard American Pharoah.

*The years each horse ran in the Triple Crown races are listed in parentheses.

1      American Pharoah (2015): Duh

2      California Chrome (2014): It looked like this was the horse that was going to end the drought after winning the Kentucky Derby comfortably and holding on in the Preakness after Ride on Curlin made a late charge. But it wasn’t to be at the Belmont after California Chrome ran out of gas and finished in fourth place.

3      I’ll Have Another (2012): This horse had perhaps one of the more exciting bids to win the Triple Crown narrowly edging out Bodemeister in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and coming from behind to do so at Pimlico. However, I’ll Have Another was scratched from the Belmont with tendonitis a day before the race.

4      Rachel Alexandra (2009): The 2009 horse of the year won the Kentucky Oaks and took down Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird at the Preakness. Ironically, her normal jockey Calvin Borel rode Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby. She was the first filly to win the Preakness in 85 years.

5      Big Brown (2008): He captured the first two jewels of the Triple Crown with relative ease, winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness convincingly. However, Big Brown made history no one wants to make at Belmont Park becoming the first Triple Crown hopeful to fail to finish the Belmont Stakes. Following the race, a picture showed a dislodged shoe on his right hind leg that could have resulted in Big Brown being eased.

6      Barbaro (2006): The Philadelphia-area horse claimed the Kentucky Derby going away, winning by seven lengths. However, a false start two weeks later at the Preakness resulted in a severe injury to Barbaro’s right hind leg and in January of 2007 Barbaro was eventually euthanized.

7      Afleet Alex (2005): After a monumental upset in the Kentucky Derby saw 50-to-1 longshot Giacomo come out on top, Afleet Alex rallied to win the final two legs and had a huge comeback on the final turn at the Belmont. Jockey Jeremy Rose’s only two triple crown race wins came aboard Alfeet Alex.

8      Smarty Jones (2004): This Kennett Square-bred horse looked like he would be the one to end the drought. He made a late move on Lion Heart to grab the Kentucky Derby and smashed the field at the Preakness. He was the first horse since Seattle Slew to enter the Belmont Stakes undefeated. Then Birdstone stole the Belmont Stakes and the wait for a Triple Crown winner continued.

9      Funny Cide (2003): No horse has finished with a faster time at the Kentucky Derby since Funny Cide’s 2:01.19 thirteen years ago. He would claim the Preakness as well before finishing third on a muddy Belmont Park track.

10   War Emblem (2002): The field starts and finishes with a Bob Baffert-Victor Espinoza trainer-jockey combination. The two ended the Triple Crown drought last year but got two-thirds of the way there 14 years ago with War Emblem. However, War Emblem finished a disappointing eighth at Belmont Park as Sarava at a stunning 70-to-1 took the final leg.

Now go debate who would win this race.

Photo: http://www.foxsports.com/horse-racing/story/kentucky-derby-scratch-of-stanford-leaves-american-pharoah-in-dreaded-17-post-043015