Breaking: the Arizona Cardinals are finalizing a deal to trade WR Marvin Harrison, sources tell me and @RapSheet.
The team informed Harrison this morning that he will be inactive for Sunday’s game vs Detroit as details of the trade are finalized.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie on @CNN right now, asked whether this is a rebuilding year for his team:
"We are gung-ho to win big and win our division first and go from there. We couldn’t be more excited. ... Our expectations are very high.
New story: After LeBron James refuted a story about him and Joel Embiid shared by Mike Breen on Monday’s PHI-NYK broadcast, Breen told ESPN: “If LeBron says it never happened then I believe him and apologize for putting it out there" https://t.co/OR4HaNLIQR
Howie Roseman: "We weren't looking to move Cam. Obviously, the Ravens have been looking for a center... Kind of told them wasn't anything we were looking to do. Over the last 24 hours, it got to the point where we felt like it could be a win-win for them. Obviously, getting a player who's been a two-time Pro Bowl center and obviously for us, being able to get the picks we're able to get, and use that money also to sign players. Had a chance to watch Drew here play center is doing a nice job. Have a young player there.
"...I think for us, when you talk about the two and the five, moving from the seventh to the fifth. We've had success in the fifth round, plus the money, plus you Drew playing, we felt like we were getting four players for one, and just felt like for us, you know, with all these guys that we got coming up, a lot on the defensive side of the ball that we want to re-sign and want to extend, felt like that that was a good situation."
Trade: Eagles are sending two-time Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens and a 2027 7th-round pick to the Ravens in exchange for a 2027 5th-round pick and a 2028 2nd-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
Know Lane Johnson had better *statistical* seasons than 2017, but for my money that was his best season, and maybe the best individual campaign of any #Eagles player I've covered in my years on the beat.
Consider the primary edges he faced at right tackle that year, around the time NFL defensive coordinators started moving their best rushers to the left side:
Ryan Kerrigan 2x (4-time Pro Bowl, 95.5 career sacks)
Justin Houston (4-time PB, 112 sacks)
Jason Pierre-Paul 2x (3-time PB, 94.5 sacks)
Joey Bosa (5-time PB, 77 sacks)
Haason Reddick (2-time PB, 61.5 sacks)
Elvis Dumervil (5-time PB, 105.5 sacks)
Von Miller (8-time PB, 138.5 sacks, future HOFer)
DeMarcus Lawrence 2x (5-time PB, 67.5 sacks))
Michael Bennett (3-time PB, 69.5 sacks)
Khalil Mack (9-time PB, 116 sacks, future HOFer)
Danielle Hunter (5-time Pro Bowl, 116.5 sacks)
Lane allowed one sack that season -- depending upon the source -- and even that one remains up for debate. Pretty sure Jeff Stoutland graded him without having allowed a sack in all 18 games he played.
If then-49er Leger Douzable did indeed get past Lane and record a sack in Week 8 -- a serviceable player who was in the last year of his career -- he should have it engrained on his tombstone.
Lane Johnson was built different.
This conversation from my time on the beat in 2018 stands out. This was after a 32-30 win over the Texans.
Prioritizing family and mental health is never the wrong choice. Hall of Famer and all-time Eagle.
It is extremely rare to come across a player like @LaneJohnson65. Extremely rare
In the spring of 2013, I found myself on a field in East Texas working out a young Lane Johnson. I believe he was 22 years old
All these years later, to say I am proud of the career you built and the man you became would be an understatement. A Hall of Fame career. It’s been a privilege and honor to have coached you.
I am so proud of you, Lane
The Phillies are expected to shop guys this offseason with Bryce Harper and Trea Turner as potential trade pieces, per @BNightengale
(Via @975TheFanatic)
Ironic that Lane Johnson’s retirement would come days before the #Eagles were to return to London to play a game for the first time since 2018.
Here’s what happened before and after that game, as I reported in a 2021 story on Howie Roseman:
https://t.co/VJckxGpp0x
#Eagles RB Saquon Barkley is unlikely to play Sunday vs. the Jaguars in London because of the hamstring injury he suffered vs. the Rams, an NFL source said.
@RapSheet and @MikeGarafolo report it’s considered a week-to-week injury, so Barkley will avoid being placed on short-term IR.
The Eagles are now down their top 2 RBs with Barkley and Tank Bigsby (core muscle surgery) out.
Will Shipley, the only other RB on the 53-man roster, finished Sunday’s game, although he was on last week’s practice report with a foot injury.
The Eagles have three RBs on their practice squad whom they can call up:
Dameon Pierce
Jaydon Blue
Carson Steele
#Eagles RB Saquon Barkley is considered week-to-week with his hamstring injury, per me and @MikeGarafolo. It’s not considered to be a long-term injury.
Ramona Shelburne on the Sixers:
"I've been hearing Embiid's getting to the gym early, he's down to his rookie weight, this is a new Joel. Everybody's trying to kind of earn LeBron's approval and respect. I think there's an interesting quality to this now in Philly. I saw this here in Los Angeles in 2020, when Anthony Davis and LeBron James first got together for that full season, they won a championship. Anthony Davis was like trying to impress LeBron. Like, he played every game, There was a tide lift amongst the stars too with the LeBron James effect. That's what I've been hearing out of Philly so far is this sort of LeBron is one of the greatest of all time, if not the greatest, and everybody kind of wants his approval"