Eagles/Panthers Week 1 Inactives

The Eagles and Panthers have announced their inactive players for Week One:

Eagles: RT Shawn Andrews, DE Jason Babin, WR Reggie Brown, WR Brandon Gibson, OL Todd Herremans, S Sean Jones, LB Joe Mays, G Mike McGlynn

Panthers: FB Tony Fiammetta, DT Ra'Shon Harris, QB Matt Moore, OL Duke Robinson, RB Tyrell Sutton, DE Hilee Taylor, OL Garry Williams, DB C.J. Wilson

As expected, 2/5ths of the Eagles projected starting offensive line will be sitting out this week as Shawn Andrews and Herremans deal with injuries. That forces Nick Cole and Winston Justice into the starting lineup. While Cole should do just fine, whoever lines up against Justice for the Panthers (Julius Peppers) will be licking his chops. Not very many other surprises for the Eagles, I figured they would only dress 5 wideouts and that Brown and Gibson were the odd ones out. Jason Babin, everyone's favorite preseason defensive end, will have to wait to make an impact. The Eagles did not declare a third QB because they don't have one!

None of the Panthers inactive players are surprising, nor have I really heard of any of them. Sutton is the 3rd running back and his benching means that Jonathon Stewart is healthy enough to be the backup.

Just under an hour now until the Eagles season kicks off! Go Birds!

Eagles sign replacement for Brian Dawkins

The Eagles have finally dipped back into the free agent pool and pulled in another player. Don't get too excited, however.

The Birds signed safety Sean Jones, who played for the Cleveland Browns for the last five years, to a one year contract worth 3 million dollars. Jones has played more strong safety than free safety in the NFL, but the Eagles figure to at least give him a shot to take over for the departed Brian Dawkins.

I don't know much about Jones as a player other than the fact that he has an impressive 14 interceptions and 286 tackles in 60 career games. He is clearly a playmaker who has a nose for the football.

Jones missed weeks 2-6 of last season after he had surgery on his right knee. His injury made it so few teams showed interest in Jones, and that is exactly why he wanted to sign a one year contract. Jones thinks he can put together one good season and then re-visit the free agent market to try to get a bigger contract. For that very reason, the Eagles and Jones make a good match. The Eagles already have safety Quintin Demps on the roster but they feel he might not be ready to start in 2009. Jones can hold on to the starting position until Demps beats him out, and since it's a one year contract, even if Jones loses the job in Week One, the Eagles won't lose much on their investment.

That may be it for the Eagles in free agency. They definitely won't be going after T.O. and there really isn't much else out there, so everything else the Eagles add will have to be at the draft.