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.

Eagles/Cowboys Inactives: Curtis, Baskett are in, L.J. is out

If the Cowboys win, they're in. If the Eagles win, depending on how these early games end up, they could be in. Here are the inactives for today's game:

Eagles: DE Victor Abiamiri, OL Shawn Andrews, RB Lorenzo Booker, QB A.J. Feeley, LB Joe Mays, OL Chris Patrick, DE Bryan Smith, TE L.J. Smith

Cowboys: CB Alan Ball, G Joe Berger, QB Brooks Bollinger, CB Courtney Brown, LB Bobby Carpenter, RB Alonzo Coleman, TE Rodney Hannah, G Montrae Holland

Donovan McNabb gets his full complement of wide receivers for the game with Curtis and Baskett back in the lineup. Smith is the only weapon that will be missing in the game, although with the way he was dropping passes last week, I don't think the Eagles will really miss him at all.

The Cowboys will have all of their stars in the game, including Tony Romo, Marion Barber and Jason Witten, all of whom were question marks heading into the game. With this being a make or break game for the Cowboys, you had to bet all would be active.

Regardless of whether the Eagles are eliminated or not prior to kickoff, this should be a huge game. The chance to keep the Cowboys out of the playoffs should be enough to get the Birds fired up.

Eagles/Giants inactives: L.J.'s back, Booker is sitting

The Eagles and Giants announced their inactives for Sunday night's big game:

Eagles: G Shawn Andrews, RB Lorenzo Booker, FB Kyle Eckel, QB A.J. Feeley, LB Joe Mays, G Mike McGlynn, TE Matt Schobel, DE Bryan Smith

Giants: SS James Butler, RB Reuben Droughns, CB Kevin Dockery, T Adam Koets, WR Mario Manningham, DE Jerome McDougle, RB Danny Ware, LB Gerris Wilkinson

L.J. Smith returns to the line-up, pushing Schobel back to the bench. Lorenzo Booker is a surprise inactive for the Birds, leaving them with only two running backs for the night. It's hard to say that Booker has been a disappointment for the Eagles this season because he gets so few touches, but he certainly hasn't been what the team thought he would be when the acquired him. Jason Avant also returns to the field tonight after being benched last week. Kyle Eckel will continue to wait to take the field.

The Giants are without Butler which will allow rookie safety Kenny Phillips to start. With all the talk about how the Eagles would regret letting McDougle go, it's nice to see him not playing against his old team. The Giants will also allow both of their kickers to suit up, which is a strange move.

Should be a great game, here's hoping the Eagles can pull it off! Go Birds!!

Welcome back, Brian! Westbrook carries Eagles to win

(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

What a difference a healthy Brian Westbrook makes. Westbrook, who hadn't played since Week 5, returned to the field for the Eagles and gave the offense the weapon it desperately needed. Too often the Eagles rely on Donovan McNabb's arm to carry the team, but when Westbrook is healthy they can have a much more balanced run/pass attack, like they did in Sunday's 27-14 win over the Falcons.

Westbrook ran for a career-high 167 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a late 39 yard scamper to put the game away. He also added 42 yards receiving to give him 209 total yards on the day. Westbrook's effort helped the Eagles come close to a 50/50 offensive attack as the team attempted 32 rushes and 34 passes.

With the threat of the running game, the offense opened up for McNabb, who completed passes to 7 different receivers, including the returning Kevin Curtis, who caught 3 passes. McNabb finished with 253 yards through the air and also scrambled for 25 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown.

The Falcons hung tough all game, and even got on the board first. After a scoreless first quarter, rookie quarterback Matt Ryan connected with Roddy White for a 55 yard touchdown pass to give Atlanta a lead. The Eagles offense started slow but eventually found their rhythm near the end of the first half, where they added on 10 points, and it carried over into the 3rd quarter aas the Eagles added a touchdown on the first drive of the second half. The Eagles then weren't able to put the Falcons away until late in them game when they recovered a muffed punt return attempt and Westbrook took it to the house two plays later.

The win was the 100th (including playoffs) for Andy Reid in his 10 years with the Philadelphia Eagles. Reid gets a ton of crap from the fans and the media, but he has to be credited for consistently putting a quality team on the field week after week, year after year.

On the injury front, L.J. Smith was knocked out of the game with a concussion after Lawyor Milloy nailed him well after a play was over. I would expect the NFL to fine Milloy for the hit, but that is little consolation to Smith, who may miss a week or two recovering.

The Eagles are now back above .500 at 4-3 on the season. Unfortunately, being in the best division in football, everyone else is still above .500 and the Eagles are still in last place. Both the Redskins and Cowboys won today, so all the Eagles could do was keep pace. The Birds will need to start winning some divisional games if they want to catch up and contend for the playoffs.

In all, it was a good win for the Birds. It was nice to see Westbrook come back and have such a huge impact. The Eagles now have a two game winning streak that they will look to extend against the Seahawks next week.

Eagles/Redskins Inactives: Westbrook, Smith to start

The Eagles and Redskins have announced their inactives for today's game:

Eagles: DE Victor Abiamiri, G Shawn Andrews, WR Kevin Curtis, QB A.J. Feeley, LB Joe Mays, G Mike McGlynn, TE Matt Schobel, DE Bryan Smith

Redskins: QB Colt Brennan, S Justin Hamilton, OT Stephon Heyer, DE Rob Jackson, OT Chad Rinehart, CB Shawn Springs, SLB Marcus Washington

As had been hinted at all week, Brian Westbrook will play. He's not 100%, but he's still better than Correll Buckhalter at 75%. L.J. Smith is back in the line-up, too, although his return won't make that much of a difference. The Eagles might have the worst group of tight ends in the league even when L.J. plays. To make room for the two returning players, Matt Schobel and Joe Mays are back on the inactive list. Victor Abiamiri is supposedly getting closer to returning so it should be interesting to see if the Eagles bench Chris Clemons when Abiamiri is ready.

The Redskins have one surprise inactive in Marcus Washington. He will allow the Eagles to run the ball a little more effectively. Shawn Springs is the other big name that's out as he injured himself against the Cowboys.

Enjoy the game, GO BIRDS!

Eagles/Bears Inactives: McNabb in, Westbrook, Smith out

The Eagles and Bears have announced their inactives for tonight's contest:

Eagles: DE Victor Abiamiri, G Shawn Andrews, WR Kevin Curtis, QB A.J. Feeley, G Mike McGlynn, DE Bryan Smith, TE L.J. Smith, RB Brian Westbrook

Bears: WR Earl Bennett, G Dan Buenning, QB Caleb Hanie, DT Tommie Harris, DB Craig Steltz, DT Matt Toeaina, OT Chris Williams

The Eagles are smart to rest Westbrook for this week and hope he is ready to go next week against the Redskins. Correll Buckhalter will start and should be adequate enough to do some damage against the Bears. Losing L.J. Smith isn't a big blow, Brent Celek is not as good in the passing game but he's a much better blocker. Donovan McNabb will suit up, as if there was any doubt that he would play against his hometown team. With all the injuries, Joe Mays finally gets his chance to see some action. We'll see how he does on special teams.

For the Bears, Devin Hester is playing and the Eagles will try to kick away from him at all times. There was some question as to whether WR Brandon Lloyd would suit up, but he's ready to go.

Enjoy the game, GO BIRDS!

Eagles Slap L.J. with Franchise Tag

Maybe the Eagles are making good on Donovan McNabb's call for more playmakers. The teams leading receiver from the tight end position for the last 5 years, L.J. Smith was given the franchise tag by the Eagles today, ensuring that he will be an Eagle next year. The Eagles will be returning this "playmaker", who had a whopping 22 catches and one touchdown in an injury riddled 2007 season, at a price of about 4.5 million. L.J. probably isn't happy with this, as he figured to garner some interest, and a multi-year deal, from other teams looking for a tight end this offseason.

While this might not be a popular move, bringing L.J. back into the fold makes sense at this price. Scouring over the possible free agent tight ends, there isn't much out there to get excited about. The tight end position is very important in the Eagles offense, so at least they will have a guy they can trust who has had some success in the system in the past. The Eagles seem to be gearing up for one last good run with all of their veterans in place, so this move makes sense from that angle. For those that are disappointed with having him another year, name some possible tight ends that the Eagles could have acquired instead. He is the right player at the right price, and will most likely be gone after next season. Let's hope he returns to his 2005/2006 form, and starts finding the end zone more often.