Smith, Buckhalter, Considine on the move, Dawkins next to leave the Eagles?

Day one of NFL Free Agency is always filled with rumors and speculation about where each player is going to land. The Eagles have signed only one player so far but there is plenty of news about players who are leaving town. So far, the Eagles have either lost or are close to losing L.J. Smith, Correll Buckhalter and Sean Considine. There is also word that Brian Dawkins is off visiting another team.

L.J. Smith is expected to sign with the Atlanta Falcons. The Eagles never had any intention of bringing back their former "franchise tag" player. Smith was nothing but a disapointment in his years in Philly, he was so full of promise but he just couldn't hang on to the ball. Brent Celek is currently the starting tight end.

Correll Buckhalter is also expected to leave town and sign with the Denver Broncos. Buck wants a chance at a starting gig and should get a chance to compete for one in Denver. The Eagles had some interest in bringing Buckhalter back, but only at the right price. You can bet the Broncos offered more years and more money than the Birds were willing to offer. The Eagles are now left to search for a backup running back. There are rumors that Derrick Ward of the Giants may come in for a visit.

In a move that won't upset any Eagles fan, safety Sean Considine has set up a visit with the Jaguars. It will be the ultimate move of addition by subtraction, anyone who watched Considine play last year knows that he is just not a good football player.

Finally, there was also some bad news for the Eagles. Free agent safety Brian Dawkins was offered a one year deal by the Birds but he has yet to accept it. Instead, he is on his way to Denver to visit the Broncos. Dawkins is likely seeing if he can get a multi-year deal and he may also be putting pressure on the Eagles to up the offer. I would still put my money on Dawkins returning to Philly for one last season.

There is no other word on any players the Eagles have interest in. You can bet they are talking to several free agents but they are very good about not letting word leak out until they are ready to sign.

Heckert: Eagles to target offensive line, not wideouts

While all the rumors about Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmandzadeh coming to the Eagles are intriguing, they're only rumors unless the Birds actually do something about it. Ever since the Eagles had the T.O. experience, they have been hesitant to go out and acquire a big name free agent wide receiver. It appears that will be the case again this offseason, at least according to GM Tom Heckert.

Heckert sat down for an interview with Fox 29 and laid out the Eagles plans for the offseason. He said the number one priority for the Birds is to "figure out the offensive line situation", whether it's through the draft or free agency. The team has two aging, unsigned tackles and will need to find a way to build for the future while still protecting Donovan McNabb next season.

The only other area of need that Heckert said the team will address is at backup running back. With Correll Buckhalter likely out the door as a free agent, the Eagles will need to find someone else to get 5 touches a game when Brian Westbrook is healthy and be able to carry the load for those 2 games that Westbrook misses every year. Lorenzo Booker is not the answer for the Eagles and they know it, so I would look for them to draft a running back with one of their first round picks.

The line and the running backs were the only needs addressed by Heckert, meaning the wide receivers aren't a priority for the Eagles. Heckert even said that with the drafting of DeSean Jackson last year, the team has already gotten all the receiver help it needs. I hope you are all comfortable with another year of Jackson and Kevin Curtis as the main targets because that looks like all we are going to get.

While none of this news comes as a shock, it's still disappointing. The Eagles saw what having a top wideout did for the Cardinals and you would think they would do everything they could to give Donovan McNabb that kind of weapon. Unfortunately, they just don't view wide receivers as being as important as other positions. They are simply happy with the depth they have at wideout and aren't concerned with adding top-end targets. McNabb has proven that he can flourish no matter who he is throwing to so the Eagles feel like they don't need to waste their resources on playmakers on the outside.

None of the statements made by Heckert completely rule out the Eagles acquiring a wide receiver this offseason. Even if the Birds were going all-out in searching for a wideout, this wouldn't come out and say that was an area of need. The Eagles have always played things close to the vest so Heckert is likely not playing all of his cards in this interview. He stuck to the more obvious needs that everyone already knew about and kept any other thoughts to himself. That's just the Eagle way.

Watch the Heckert interview for yourself:

Eagles/Browns Inactives: Brown still benched

The Eagles and Browns have announced their inactives for Monday Night:

Eagles: OL Shawn Andrews, WR Reggie Brown, RB Correll Buckhalter, QB A.J. Feeley, LB Joe Mays, OL Chris Patrick, TE Matt Schobel, DE Bryan Smith

Browns: S Hamza Abdullah, LB Beau Bell, CB Travis Daniels, LB Kris Griffin, RB Jerome Harrison, DL Santonio Thomas, TE Kellen Winslow, OG Scott Young

For the Eagles, all of their inactives are the same as last week except Correll Buckhalter returns to the lineup to replace Lorenzo Booker. Wideout Reggie Brown still can't find the field. The fact that he doesn't play special teams makes him useless to the Eagles.

The Browns will be without Kellen Winslow, one of their top receiving threats. The rest of the players are no-names to me.

The Eagles pretty much control their own destiny if they win out. They have to take care of business against a weak Browns team this week and then we can really start talking about playoffs. GO BIRDS!