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I don’t know what they are planning on doing with the D-line, but the one thing I’m 100% certain of is they cannot leave it alone.

If I had to guess, Juqua Thomas will leave during FA and McDougle will be cut. I would also expect at least one of the tackles to move along (not Bunkley or Patterson, but someone). Since they’ve spent so much on the defensive end position (3 huge contracts in 3 years for Kearse, Cole, and Howard), I’m going to look at pieces that may fit at the DT position in FA.

These guys might not be the best out there, but I’m picking them to highlight for specific reasons…potential value and skill sets. They need a #3 or #4 DT to rotate with the Patterson, Bunkley and whoever else they decide to keep. They won’t spend a ton of money, so I’m looking for value here and hopefully some size.

Cory Redding
This is probably a moot point because I would guess he’ll command good money if he hits the market.

However, he’s 6’4” 290 (26 years old) and can play both the end and tackle positions. I think he played primarily the tackle spot last year and turned in his best season with 47 tackles and 8 sacks. He’s got the versatility the Eagles like and could play DE in heavy formations, providing a stout presence on the edge. In pass rushing sets, he can slide inside just like Howard did.

I have a feeling that he’s a bigger, younger version of Howard, so for Redding to come on board, it might mean Howard’s gone (I know…hold your tears). That would be highly unlikely, I guess.

Rien Long
Long is an interesting player. He’s got great size (6’6” 300 lbs.) and has been a good pass rusher from the position (8.5 sacks in the previous 2 years…tons of sacks in college). However, he ruptured his Achilles last year in training camp and missed the entire season.

The Titans will almost certainly let him walk because of the injury and the fact that they have a few DTs that will need to be worked out over the next couple years.

To me, this could be a great “bang for the buck” guy. He could be a low cost signing that adds some height and ability to the d-line and could pay off. I have no idea what his price tag would be, and the Achilles scares me (it seems like they are really, really tricky injuries to come back from), but if he looks like he’s going to be healthy, I think he could be worth a shot.

Robaire Smith
I thing Smith is another Titan who could be a nice fit in Philly. He’s got a little more size (6’4” 310) and has some pass rush skills, though they seem to have diminished.
He’s 29 years old and I look at him as a back of the rotation guy, but he is fairly stout and would be a good low-cost addition on the line, IMO.

Terdell Sands
This is a favorite of mine, even though I realize it’s unlikely. Sands is an interesting case. He was a pure project coming into the league and spent his first 3 seasons basically watching. The last 3 years, he’s been slowly maturing into an impressive player at the DT position as a rotational run specialist. He’s the 3rd tackle behind Sapp and Kelly, but he’s been playing more and more snaps. Last year he had a career high 41 tackles and chipped in with a sack, INT, and 3 batted balls.

He’s 27 years old and the reason I think he’ll be free is the Raiders have a really good tackle name Tommy Kelly who is a restricted free agent. Kelly registered 133 tackles, 12 sacks, and 7 forced fumbles in his first 3 years and he’s going to be the focus of the Raiders.

The best thing about Sands is his size- 6’7” 335 lbs. To put that in perspective, he’s a little bigger than John Henderson (not the player Henderson is, obviously). He’s 8 inches taller and 40+ lbs heavier than Patterson

I think the Eagles should make a strong push for this guy. He would be a great rotational guy, goal line, and short yardage guy for a reasonable price. Because he’s used to playing in a rotation, he wouldn’t have to adjust and because he might not be considered an every down player, other teams may not throw big bucks at him.

I think he’s a great risk/reward player and hope the Eagles will consider him despite his “plus” size.

Under the radar…Corey Simon
I know…

BUT, he will be released by the Colts. IF he’s healthy and IF he has his weight reasonably under control, why not consider bringing him back for a low-cost deal in the mold of Trot, Barber, Chad Lewis, etc? He could provide a good locker room signing and a good bang for the buck as a rotational player coming off the bench for a good price.

Guys with The HIV, can't play DT in the NFL man, cmon!~

Just to update this thread (I know the suspense is killing all of you):

- Sands has reportedly signed a 4 year $17 million deal to stay with the Raiders. This is beign reported by the Bills version of Spuds, so I'm not sure what the deal is.

- Redding will reportedly be franchised by the Lions, but nothing is official.

Also, Simon almost certainly has HIV.

The real question there is whether he got it the old fashioned way or if he was pounding turd cutters.

I'm not going to s[eculate, but he used to wear a lot of turlenecks.

Um, what?

Where'd you find this out?

I'm not sure it's been officially released anywhere and I don't know when/if it will be. I just have a pretty solid feeling that's the case.

If you want some circumstantial evidence:

- He was being poked and prodded by doctors in Philly before he left. One of the issues they said he experienced was enexplained fatigue.

- He entered this season with Colts in pretty good shape. I saw pics of him showing up at training camp and he had lost a great deal of weight.

He got hurt, but was mysteriously put on the non-football injury report with a "mysery illness". He never publicly commented on it. His agent never spoke of it. The Colts never said a word about it. However, they are refusing to pay him due to this illness.

- The main explanation of his condition out there is "polyarthritis", which is arthritis of 5 or more joints. Polyarthritis, in my research, is almost exclusively tied to HIV.


Just think about this, though. They gave him a HUGE contract. I think he got a $12 million bonus or something?

Compare that to the Eagles. Say the year after they signed Kearse, they simply put him on the non-football injury list with a mysterious illness and NO ONE would talk.

Eagles fans would go crazy, but what could possibly be so odd that a star player with a big contract could get shelved without pay and no one (the team or player) would have a single word to say about it?

And they didn't think "hey...he'll be back next year". They IMMEDIATLY traded a second round pick to bring in Booger Macfarland.

I'm just connecting the dots here, but I think it's possible.

Engaging the possibility (if it is indeed true), I don't expect the NFL not to cover this up, but I gotta wonder if even people in the locker room know about this. If any of this got public, that would be a Pandora's Box o' stuff.

Still, it's not uncommon for someone to get signed to a huge deal and then vanish after not making an expected impact (and I thought he showed up for camp wearing the 9 and 7 they pulled off the USS Arizona).

But if Poly-a is caused by HIV, then it leaves the mind to wonder.

And hiding drug abuse issues is a whole different level than hiding someone with HIV, especially considering the mindset of some of the players.

His teamates seem to be in the drak, too.

The thing with drug abuse is I think it would have come out by now. He would have tested positive, he would have been arrsted, he would have entered rehab, etc.

I'm open to any solution that makes sense, but there are some interesting paths pointing to HIV.

I think that's a huge assumption. There are many things besides HIV that cause the very few symptoms we think or know he had.

Not saying it's not true, but I find it hard to believe that it wouldn't have been made known somehow by now.

Polyarthritis is just good a guess as any.

Also, he has a grievance hearing coming up soon. It would be weird if he filed a grievance if he has HIV, b/c then it would get out (which would make the point of hiding it moot).

But, again, who knows. There's nowhere near enough information to make any guesses.

A couple of teammates have indicated it was arthritis, and that was the offical word, so that's my best guess.

He's chock full of diet AIDS and you know it.

In all honesty, it's big leap...no doubt.

If I told you the Eagles were investigating where investigating HIV while he was in Philly, cut him, and he was basically cut without pay 1 year later from the Colts after severe polyarthritis, you would have to say it's a reasonable assumption.

Not sayign it's enough to make claims that he absolutely hyas the HIV, but enough to make a logical person raise their eyebrows.

I didn't know the Eagles were testing him for HIV

Well, let's just say this dog can hunt-

But I thought we weren't gonna bring this up nesecarily, FD? Am I recallin this wrong?

I know what you're goin to say, that I mentioned it early on (as a joke) so I guess whatever- cat's outta the bag, so t'speak I dunno.

No biggie.

The suspicion of HIV is not a new one or one made without signifigant support from reliable outlets.

How's that?

Seth, can we talk offline?

Wait.....Seth and FD got HIV from Simon? I'm confused?......

Not saying it's not true, but I find it hard to believe that it wouldn't have been made known somehow by now.

The possibility of an HIV positive football player opens up what can be nicely termed as a witch hunt. It's not exactly the same deal as it was when Magic said he had it. ANd considering how the NFL likes to squash anything that may be considered negative towards the league, I can see it only being left as polyarthritis.

If all this is true.

So, I was talking with Seth about Simon. My position was "hey...if he's healthy and isn't a blimp, I'd be interested in bringing Simon back".

Seth made mention of the Eagles believed Simon was displaying HIV symptons and they were investigating that, which is one of the factors that led to him being released.

The wheels start turning, obviously. I say it would be pretty amazing if his mystery illness was actually HIV or related to HIV. Seth hadn't even heard he had a "mystery illness", so we started talking about that.

At this point the most common description of his condition is polyarthritis. Seth, without knowing about the polyarthritis, independantly shared the HIV info.

You slap the two together and throw in the dash of strange mystery surrounding his whole deactivation this year...certainly makes you wonder.

That's why I was wondering if they tested. It's just weird to think symptoms are HIV without any testing, since it could be a lot of things. The "mysterious illness" thing was from the press, so I don't know if there ever was one.

Well, I got the impression that the Eagles did test, and that could one of the explanations for the extremely odd release.

I mean, has a franchised player EVER been kept under lock and key for 6 months and released 1 week before the season?

It might have taken a year for the Colts to realize what the Eagles already knew.

The "mystery illness" with the Colts is real. We have no clue what is was/is, but that is the reason he was deactivated without pay this year.

No, I'm saying the term came out of nowhere. The Colts announced what he had, his teammates said what he had. It wasn't a mystery to them, the press came up with the term "mysterious illness".

I also think it would be weird that the team tested him for HIV. I really find it hard to believe none of it came out, but who knows.

Simon's symptoms also point to Lyme Disease but that certainly isn't as intriguing as HIV.

If in fact Simon does have the HIV, we could most certainly rule out IV drug use as the cause. Nobody hooked on heroin up could be that over weight... right Seth?

No, I'm saying the term came out of nowhere. The Colts announced what he had, his teammates said what he had. It wasn't a mystery to them, the press came up with the term "mysterious illness".

That's the whole point, though. The only reason I can think of to keep this thing even remotely mysterious is if everyone wants it to stay buried. If that's the case, why would they?

He's one of the 5 highest paid on his team and at his position in the NFL and he just gets deactivated withotu pay and NO ONE knows or says why?

To me, that's just really odd and leaves me wondering why.

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