Eagles to bring in Fargas, Baskett for visits; is Tomlinson next?

It looks like business is starting to pick up for the Eagles. Fresh off the signing of Marlin Jackson yesterday, the Eagles have announced that two more free agents will come to Philly for a visit on Friday: RB Justin Fargas and WR Hank Baskett.

Fargas is a 7 year NFL veteran, having spent all of his years in Oakland. He has put up pretty solid numbers throughout his career, including a 1,000 yard rushing season in 2007. He was non-tendered by the Raiders after they said he failed a physical, so there are certainly come physical issues surrounding him but Fargas would be a solid backup running back if healthy. He might not be a great fit with the Eagles since he doesn't have great hands out of the backfield but if the Birds want a veteran who is more than willing to share the load with LeSean McCoy, Fargas could be their guy. Oh, and Fargas is the son of Huggy Bear from the original Starsky and Hutch, so there's that.

As for Baskett, his visit with the Eagles might simply be to sign a contract. The Eagles know Baskett and he knows the offense so there probably isn't much to discuss between the team and player. Look for a Baskett signing announcement to come tomorrow. With the recent trade of Reggie Brown, Baskett would slot in as the 5th receiver on the depth chart.

If those two names don't excite you, Peter King is reporting on Twitter that former NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is considering a visit to the Eagles sometime in the near future. Tomlinson recently wrapped up his visit with the Vikings and is looking for other teams to visit and Philly is believed to be on his list. While Jeff McLane of the Inquirer reports that there is no visit set up between the Eagles and L.T., Tomlinson would be a perfect backup running back for the Eagles if he was willing to take a lowball contract and have only a limited number of carries. With better opportunities in the league where L.T. would get more money and playing time, don't count on him signing with the Eagles even if a visit is arranged.

Why LaDainian Tomlinson will not be an Eagle

It all seems to fit perfectly, doesn't it? The Eagles have announced that they will release Brian Westbrook, meaning they will likely want to bring in a veteran running back to backup LeSean McCoy. Hmm, veteran LaDainian Tomlinson was released by the Chargers yesterday. Putting two and two together, the Eagles want to replace Westbrook with Tomlinson, right?

Wrong. While I'm sure there will be rumors flying around for the next few weeks that the Birds will pursue L.T., don't count on him putting on an Eagles uniform next season for two reasons: age and money.

Age: While Tomlinson is a very different running back than Westbrook, what sense would it make for the Eagles to replace their recently released 30+ year old running back on his last legs with another 30+ running back on his last legs? There are entire books written about running backs and how they fall off once they get over 30 and have thousands of carries under their belt. If the Eagles wanted to take a risk on an old RB, wouldn't they just try to sign Westbrook back first? It's just not in the Eagles style to sign someone who is past their prime in the NFL.

Money: While L.T. wasn't nearly as effective last year as he had been throughout his career, given that he had 12 touchdowns last year, there is no doubt that he could still be a solid goal line back. The salary he is going to look for next year, while significantly lower than what the 7 million the Eagles owed Westbrook for 2010, is way too much for someone who would only get the ball in very specialized situations. While the Eagles struggled (like always) at the goal line and in short yardage situations last year, even they aren't going to spend millions of dollars on a specialist.

Barring the market for him dropping so far that he is willing to sign for 1-2 million dollars, L.T. won't be signing with the Eagles. Look for the Birds to first re-sign Leonard Weaver, who acted as a backup RB last season anyway, and then pursue a cheap veteran as an emergency option. It just doesn't make any sense that the Eagles would get rid of a franchise-favorite RB like Westbrook due to his age and productivity and replace him with the equally old and unproductive Tomlinson.