Another Eagle moves on: Tra Thomas signs with the Jaguars

While it certainly won't have the impact of the departure of Brian Dawkins, the Eagles have lost another veteran leader today. Tra Thomas, who had been an Eagle since 1998, signed a three year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Thomas went to Florida State and is a native of Florida so the move will be a homecoming for him.

The writing had been on the wall for a while on this one. The Eagles essentially broke off talks with Thomas at the beginning of free agency and were clearly ready to let their left tackle move on. Thomas is still an effective football player, but at age 34, his skills are only going to degrade. The Birds were never going to give Thomas a 3 year deal at that age, so he was smart to look elsewhere.

The Eagles now have a hole on their offensive line. Who will play left tackle? There is some though that Todd Herremans or Shawn Andrews could move into that role. Of course, the Eagles could also address the tackle position at the draft, but there is no guarantee anyone they draft will be ready to play right away.

The Birds continue to lose veteran leaders on the offense and the defense. With Dawkins and Thomas already gone and Jon Runyan not likely back, the team will have a serious void of quality leadership. It will be up to the young guys to step up as the Eagles move into another phase of development.

With the Eagles so quick to drop veteran players when they get just past their prime, one also has to wonder how soon they will ship Donovan McNabb out of town.

Eagles to bring back Dawkins, Thomas

After their free agent possibilities took a major hit yesterday, it was nice to get some good news on the Eagles front today. According to Andy Reid, the Eagles are closing in on re-signing veterans Brian Dawkins and Tra Thomas. Reid believes that deals will happen for both "in the next few days".

Both players are unrestricted free agents. After learning that Jordan Gross, the best available free agent offensive lineman, signed a long-term deal with the Panthers, the Eagles had no choice but to bring back Thomas. With Jon Runyan coming off of major surgery, the Birds would have had two glaring holes at the offensive tackle position. Thomas will turn 35 next season but he is still an effective player when healthy. I would expect him to sign a one or two year deal.

Bringing Dawkins, a 7 time Pro Bowler, back for another season also makes a lot of sense. He is the vocal leader on defense and played extremely well last season. Many thought that the Eagles would let Dawkins go because that has been their tendency with players on the other side of 35, but given his Pro Bowl play last season, he needs to be back with the Birds for at least one more year.

The Eagles are left with three possible unrestricted free agents: Jon Runyan, Correll Buckhalter and L.J. Smith. Buck and Smith are as good as gone, Runyan is still up in the air.