So one thing I had been interested in was whether the "bad decisions" by Vick that had led to interceptions in the first two games went down last week or just weren't punished. It looks like the former. I don't think I find that as comforting as I had hoped.

But Derek, isn't it the case that the reason that the back 7 is struggling is because they aren't being protected by the defensive line? Isn't it the DL cooach's job to hide the fact that there are 7 players on the field who can't seem to defend the run or the pass?

You can never have enough playmakers.

I don't think that exactly matches the story. Because he started off wanting Mike Munchak until he got promoted to HC in Tennessee, then moved on to Mudd. If we are going to tell the story with Castillo as the residual, not the driver, it is that Reid wanted to go with a smaller, more agile line rather than the elephant line of the last 12 years, and went and got a coach that could get that done. But it still doesn't answer the key question: why make Castillo the defensive coordinator, not the linebackers coach?

To be fair, we both would have drafted Maclin over Harvin and Nicks and we both would have those LBs, tribalism aside.

But, of course, he also has coaching experience in a 4-3 with both the Bengals in 2002 and the Raiders from 2007-2008.

All the candidates interviewed were going to run the 4-3, and all but the Steelers candidate had 4-3 coaching experience, IIRC.

I don't know that the lesson that less is more is necessarily wrong. It was just taken to the opposite illogical extreme.

Noah's point is that Jauron was on the staff at the time and available to be promoted, not that he's on the staff now.

The first two are the only plausible answers to "Well, why didn't you just make Juan the LBs coach then? Why DC?" (Although Zordich and Caldwell are also evidence against #1). The third is sad. Mostly because I think it is largely true.

I keep asking myself, "how do we fix this?" and keep coming up empty. The magnitude of internal navel-gazing that led to this moment is so staggering. I don't see this being fixable. This is a teardown, ma'am.

Perhaps.

Thank you. Sadly, I also know what the Eagles pay. There will be no bombarding of the FO.

The decision is totally unrelated to anything financial.

We traded a 2011 6th to Arizona for Reggie Wells and another 2011 6th to the Lions for the 7th rounder we used to pick Jamar Chaney.

Marlin Jackson was a non-tendered RFA. So he shouldn't count. I'd forgotten about Baskett, but he was also a non-tendered RFA and shouldn't count.

I see no reason that being here is better than anywhere else. Far more likely to have the Cowboys or Redskins or Giants overpay him than the Eagles. And Jimmy far underestimates the relative advantage in terms of cap space that the Eagles have at this point vs. the rest of the league. He also ignores big raises that will have to be paid to Vick, DeSean, and likely others, like McCoy and Trent Cole to start with.

I don't have any idea how this plays out. It ultimately seems like the owners are trying to bully the players, not going for concessions out of need but just because, well, they can. I think the real pressure will be the point when they think it might harm the product -- ratings might start to suffer and people will start to watch other things. But who knows.

Obviously, this presumes that there will be a more binding cap going forward. That's sort of what this labor dispute is all about. If we remain in an unconstrained environment, then by all means, sign as many old pro bowl talents as you can, there is no consequence to overspending.

Zero. This never gets that far, I don't think. But a new league requires way more start up time than a realisitc projection of the length of any lockout, and the UFL isn't well funded enough for players to risk their health on what will be sub standard money. Heck, they had trouble meeting payroll this year. Marginal players might go, perhaps, if there is no progress by the time the UFL starts up, but good players? No way. Actually, you know who goes to the UFL (or maybe even CFL)? UDFAs and probably even some draft picks. The former have no contract and no commitment, and teams probably can't sign them until the CBA is resolved, and draft picks won't have contracts either.

Really? The choice is Vick and a guy who will get slightly over the minimum salary or Kolb and a guy who will be the highest paid CB in the league? That's just it, guys. The choice is Vick and a guy who is a legitimate starting CB in the NFL (and that is NOT a guy who got his first real time on defense in 2010 after entering the league in 2005) and $7+ million of cap space per year for five years ($35 million of extra spending room) or Vick and Asomougha. By the way, I am assuming Nnamdi gets $12 million per year as a rough estimate. That is less than Peppers got, so it may be low. I think the difference between a $5 million / year CB and a $12 million / year CB given the presence of Samuel is not worth the loss of $7 million of spending room. Peppers' situation was different in a couple of respects. First, he was available in an uncapped year. You could bury cap hits where they didn't matter, making his cost-to-value ratio under a new CBA more attractive. Further, I think it is easier to find good CBs than good pass rushing DEs. Great? Maybe not. But I would rather take my chances finding a good CB in the draft than a good DE.

Did you also notice that your buddy Whipple looks like he will be the new head coach at UConn? http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-football/hc-uconn-football-whipple-0112-20110111,0,2252156.story

The Daisher reference reminded me of something though. Dave Toub, who was Harbaugh's QC coach before Daisher, helped Brasher out on the DL while he was here, and was a collegiate DL coach as well. AR was always a huge fan. And he has been awesome coaching STs in Chicago. See this link to get all hopped up about him: http://www.windycitygridiron.com/2010/3/2/1331737/taking-a-look-at-dave-toub According to that link, Toub's deal is up after this season. In 2007, Reid allegedly tried to get him to be STs Coordinator here after Harbaugh moved to the secondary, but ultimately he stayed in Chicago. I wonder if he'd move to our DL coach job to try to get his HC aspirations moving forward, like Harbaugh did? That job isn't really open in Chicago, what with Marinelli at DC and a new position coach in Washington who did a bang up job with that line this year. He seems like a perfect guy for us to add to re-energize the DL, and also to become a legitimate DC-in-waiting-type.

But there already a large credit for debt: "Another factor in the debt figure is that a select few projects eat up a large chunk of the amount. The New York Jets and Giants borrowed $1.3 billion for their new stadium and received $300 million from the G-3 program. The Dallas Cowboys borrowed $475 million for their new stadium and got $76.5 million from G-3. That totals nearly one-quarter of the league’s entire debt burden." Compare total borrowings to the amounts that were already credited. That remainder can't be the issue. And I'd bet (but haven't checked to see) that the excluded debt is excluded for a clear reason. That all seems like something that was floated in the "debt is bad" period in the early days of the financial crisis.

Blache hung 'em up. Done for good. I wanted him last year. Ted Daisher is never coming back here after getting fired.