Hey, Eagles, Don’t Give Fans the “Dream Team” They Think They Want

What Chip Kelly and Howie Roseman can learn about team-building from the Baltimore Ravens.

Come Tuesday, the NFL marketplace will be open for business, with a variety of offerings available to teams willing to write fat checks and guarantee eight-figure sums. Need a cornerback? There are plenty of options. How about a safety? Right over here, sir. Tight ends? How many do you need?

It’s an enticing lineup, and each choice comes with his own salesman, ready to extol the virtues of making a significant contract offer. It’s just like spending time in the Marrakech Bazaar and haggling with the various vendors over their wares, only high-test coffee replaces the sweet tea, and you can’t get a starting offensive tackle for a third of the asking price.

Since the Eagles have so many needs, it would make perfect sense for head coach Chip Kelly and GM Howie Roseman to load their shopping cart. Fix up that defense with some new faces. Add a talented player or two on the other side of the ball. Find a punter. Before you know it, the Birds will be a playoff team and the stench of the past two seasons will be long forgotten.

Maybe if you live in Dreamland …

As tempting as all of that may sound, accumulating a bunch of free agent resources will be a big mistake. Forget that it was a huge bust two years ago, when fans were whipped into a frenzy by the arrivals of Nnamdi Asomugha, Jason Babin and Cullen Jenkins. What’s more instructive is to pay attention to how the Baltimore Ravens were built and copy that model instead.

The Ravens were not interested in accumulating superstars and big names. Instead, they wanted football players who fit into their culture and were able to contribute to the team’s progress. An examination of their 2012 roster reveals a preponderance of draft choices in key positions and only three starters who were signed as unrestricted free agents. The Ravens needed several years to reach the top of the NFL summit and suffered some serious disappointments along the way. But because of a franchise-wide philosophy that allowed them to build a strong foundation of talented players with characteristics that fit their style of play, Baltimore kept moving ever forward.

It was no shock that the Ravens won the Super Bowl, because from owner Steve Bisciotti, to GM Ozzie Newsome, to assistant GM Eric DeCosta to head coach John Harbaugh, the team marches ahead together. There is a clear definition of various roles and a commitment to selecting players that will help them rule their neighborhood, the AFC North, and move on from there. The Eagles had that for a while under Andy Reid, but once he started having too much control and making decisions about things with which he wasn’t too familiar, like defense, things began to unravel.

The best thing the Eagles can do in the next six-plus weeks is define their identity. What do they want to be, and how do they want to become that? Then, set about accumulating assets that will help in that pursuit. It can’t be about creating excitement or building fan enthusiasm. The best way to make your customers happy in the NFL is by winning games, not creating “Dream Teams” or signing up alleged stars. Use the draft to add players that fit your needs and values and then make smart, occasional purchases on the market to fill in gaps—again with people who belong.

The Ravens’ 2012 roster had 33 draft choices on it, all but three of which (Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs) were chosen from 2006-12. Twenty-two of them were from the past three drafts, and eight were chosen last April. Thirteen more Ravens were undrafted free agents, demonstrating further the talent Newsome, DeCosta and their staff have for identifying and selecting college players capable of playing at a high level in the NFL.

That is how the Eagles have to approach their rebuilding process. The team does have some assets, and several of them are homegrown. But the goal must be to develop franchise standards for choosing players and then pick those who can fit the model. If that includes a couple of free agents, that’s great, but shopping in that aisle should be done carefully, and purchases made only when the fit is perfect.

Success won’t happen immediately. But as the Ravens have shown, a sound approach and an adherence to a set philosophy can pay off handsomely. The Eagles have a chance to develop their own way of doing business, now that Roseman has taken over the GM spot, and Kelly is on board. It would be great to see them approach the coming weeks and months with a sound, temperate methodology, rather than a rush to sign “big names” who don’t fit their culture. Eagles fans want some excitement, and that’s understandable. But bowing to the desires of the masses, rather than doing what is right, landed the franchise in this predicament in the first place.

It’s time to work smarter.

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SUCKER PUNCHES

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