Dawkins Signs with Denver

Its official. Brain Dawkins, the heart and soul of the Eagles, is gone.

After some speculation that the deal might not go through, Philly.com has received confirmation from Dawkins agent that he has signed with the Broncos. The deal is believed to be a 5 year deal, with 7.2 million guaranteed. 

The Eagles will spin this in their favor, saying that they did not want to pay that much for a 13 year veteran, and that 5 years was to long of a deal for an older player. The Eagles have done this in the past, with players like Jeremiah Trotter, Ike Reese, and Hugh Douglas. They are in the process of doing this with Jon Runyan and Tra Thomas. 

But this is different. This is Dawkins.

You don't let Dawkins walk. You just don't. To make matters worse, gcobb.com has reported that someone in the organization said something to Dawkins that made him upset, and made him test the free agent waters. 

If this is true, it is an example of the disrespect that the Eagles have shown Dawkins. While he is up there in age, it is a fact that he was 1 of only 2 Eagles to make the Pro Bowl last year. Joselio Hanson got taken care of by the Eagles. But they can't take care of Dawkins?

Andy Reid and Joe Banner need to go. This is exactly the type of arrogant, horrible move that has plagued this team. The Eagles have 48 million in cap space, and you tell Dawkins that you don't want to resign him. I believe Dawkins wanted to resign here. The amount of disrespect the Eagles showed him to have him sign in Denver must have been huge.

Dawkins does not want to be in Denver. How many times do athletes stay in 1 place all of their career, then go to another team and succeed. Look at Brett Favre. Allen Iverson. Emmit Smith. Hugh Douglas. 

Dawkins will not have a good year in Denver. That will make the Eagles say that they made the right move by letting him go. But thats not that point. It just shows the way the Eagles operate. Its a sleezy move. 

This casts a dark cloud over the franchise. Do the Eagles really think that the signing of Stacey Andrews is supposed to excite the fan base? So far, the Eagles have lost Brain Dawkins, Correll Buckhalter, Lito Sheppard, LJ Smith, and Sean Considine. 

Their only addition has been Andrews. 

With Dawkins gone, and the status of Jim Johnson up in the air, the Eagles defense will be very different this up coming season. Dawkins was the heart of the team, but especially the defense. 

How can McNabb feel about this? The report earlier in the week was that he wanted the Eagles to build a winner, and that obviously has not been their goal during the first few days of free agency. The vast majority of the top free agents are gone. T.J. Housemanzadeh is the only big name free agent left, and aparently the Eagles have told him that they are not interested. 

So goes another exciting off season under Andy Reid. He has managed to take all of the momentum and hope built up by the late season run by the Eagles and squashed it. He better have another move up his sleeve, because if I'm McNabb, and they Eagles don't do anything else, I want out. Its that simple.

This is a stupid, arrogant, jackass move by Reid. Its that simple. 

I still expect to see a lot of Dawkins jerseys in the stands this season, especially when the Broncos visit the Eagles.