With Houshmandzadeh and Ward signed, Eagles continue to be free agency spectators

As two more players the Eagles were rumored to be interested in get signed, you begin to wonder what exactly the Birds plan to spend their money on. All the reports out there say the Eagles have over 40 million dollars to work with under the cap, yet the Eagles continue to sit on their hands as all the quality free agents get snatched up.

Not that the Eagles should necessarily pursue some of these players given the prices some teams are paying. T.J. Houshmandzadeh, a receiver who would have looked nice in an Eagles uniform but wouldn't have been the playmaker Donovan McNabb wanted, signed with the Seahawks for 5 years and 40 million dollars. Derrick Ward, who the Eagles could have used as a backup to Brian Westbrook, signed with the Bucs for 4 years and 17 million dollars. Both teams overpayed, especially the Seahawks. Housh is a quality recevier but he is already 32 years old and never had much speed to begin with. Ward would have been a solid backup with the Eagles, but not at that price. He will get a chance to start in Tampa and could excel.

So, what does that leave for the Eagles, who were never really all that interested in Housh or Ward? With the departure of Brian Dawkins, the Eagles could look at bringing in another safety, like former Raven Jim Leonhard. The rest of the defense appears set, so the Eagles could also look to upgrade their offensive line and get a backup running back. Then again, they may just look to get those players in the draft and save their money. Of course, there is always that pipe dream that the Eagles can bring in a top wide receiver, but that will have to happen in a trade and there has been little talk about Anquan Boldin recently. Marvin Harrison is probably the best available free agent wideout but if the Eagles really wanted him they would have signed him already.

So what will the Eagles do with their extra money? Probably nothing, which makes the idea that they couldn't find the money to pay Brian Dawkins that much more frustrating. As Eagles fans, though, we should be used to all of this by now.