Philadelphia Eagles Countdown to the Draft!!!

There's lots of speculation now about the Eagles moving up in the draft and going after one of the top two quarterbacks. The crazier part of me wants to believe this is a real possibility and prior to the Browns signing RGIII, there was a way that could happen.

The Browns had expressed a strong interest in Sam Bradford last year and reportedly offered their second first round pick to the Eagles in exchange for Bradford. Coming off a year where neither knee exploded and Bradford survived playing behind a bad offensive line, and with a new contract locking him in for two years at a moderate price, his value is arguably even higher than it had been last year. He's a lower risk option now than he was last year, so his value is arguably higher.

With the Browns valuing Bradford and the Eagles having what they believe to be a viable alternative in Chase Daniel, it wasn't too hard to see a scenario where the Browns, who have had miserable luck drafting a QB, would pass on drafting a kid high, take Bradford and the Eagles eighth overall pick, letting the Eagles move up to the second pick to take one of the two quarterbacks.

With Tennessee more or less locked into Tunsil, a team would have to really knock their socks off to get Tennessee to trade back. If the Eagles traded up to second and another team did trade up to get that first overall pick, then the Eagles could grab Tunsil who's the best offensive tackle in the draft. It would be a win-win for the Eagles. They could then grab one of the second/third tier QB's later in the draft and hope to get lucky.

With the Browns signing RGIII though, they're more likely to be creating an offense around a mobile quarterback and Bradford's not an especially mobile quarterback. With both of the young quarterbacks reportedly needing a year or two of seasoning before they'll be ready to start (one of the few things everyone seems to agree on) the Browns are counting on RGIII surviving this season while the kid learns the game. Counting on RGIII staying healthy and being a good teammate is a gamble, but it seems to be the one the Browns have settled on.

Unless another team up high in the draft really, really wants a Bradford (or maybe a Fletcher Cox whose contract negotiation is taking forever) the Eagles don't really have the ammunition needed to trade up very far. It's possible the Eagles know they can't resign Fletcher Cox at what they consider a fair value and would be willing to move him. I doubt it, but who knows what's going on behind the scenes. Any team trading for Fletcher Cox would have him locked up for this coming season under his existing contract and could tag him next year, so they'd get two years of play from him. I just don't see the Eagles trading away Cox though.

At this point it looks like Tunsil will go to Tennessee, the Browns will grab whichever of the two quarterbacks they think will succeed. The Chargers are a bit of a wild card. I'm not sure anyone knows what they'll do. Most seem to have them grabbing a defensive player. Then come the Cowboys.

Jerry Jones says the Cowboys will absolutely not take a QB in the first round. I'm not sure he isn't lying about that. Tony Romo first injured his shoulder last September. Then he re-injured it in November. He had surgery recently. It's likely to be a while before he's ready to do any serious upper body work and he's unlikely to have done much since the initial injury in September. It's almost April as I write this, so that doesn't give him a lot of time to get his upper body ready for the pounding a quarterback takes in the NFL.

The Cowboys have been very conspicuous in not signing one of the free agent quarterbacks who could have been a competent backup for them. Going into the off season, nearly everyone, including some Cowboy insiders, all agreed that the backup quarterback situation needed to be addressed. Despite multiple free agent options available, the Cowboys did nothing. Why? My best guess is because they're planning on getting one of the top two guys in the draft. (Most likely Wentz, who they coached in the Senior Bowl.) Moving up from four to one isn't quite as big a climb and the Titans could still likely get Tunsil, or Stanley to solidify their offensive line.

What would the Cowboys have to give up? I would figure the price to be one of their top young offensive linemen of the Titans choosing, this year's fourth overall pick, and likely next year's first round pick. The Titans would likely end up with Tunsil, who'd they'd draft anyway, or if the Chargers or Browns grab him then they could pick up Stanley and still upgrade their offensive line. It's a win-win for the Titans. They'd get a proven starter, a good young player in the draft and a first round pick in next year's draft. The Cowboys would get their quarterback of the future, and Jerry Jones would be convinced the Cowboys would rebound next year so the pick they gave up for next year's draft wouldn't likely be a higher pick.

Jacksonville, Baltimore and the Niners could all be potential trade partners for the Eagles to move up a bit if the guy they want falls. The cost of moving up a spot or two isn't quite as high, so we could see a move there. I'm not sure we will though.

I've got a suspicion the top two quarterbacks will go one and two. I think the Cowboys will move up to one to grab their quarterback of the future, likely Wentz. I think it's a doable move for them. The Browns will take whoever is left, likely Goff, and pray he doesn't implode on them. With the top two quarterbacks gone one and two, the Chargers will then have their pick of the top defensive players or Tunsil, then the Titans will grab another top offensive lineman. The consensus seems to be that the Jags would take Myles Jack. Baltimore would likely go with a lineman, either offensive or defensive depending on how they have guys rated. With both quarterbacks off the board the Niner's might opt to trade down or possibly take a wide receiver.

The Eagles could find themselves with only the third best offensive lineman, or third best quarterback on the boards, neither of whom might be worth the pick. Ezekiel Elliot might start looking pretty good to them about then. They could also try trading back to pick up some extra picks. If I had to say right now, I'd say they'd take Ezekiel Elliot.

Expect lots of craziness to take place in the draft this year. I think the top two quarterbacks will go one and two. That means the Titans will trade down and a quarterback needy team will trade up. I'm leaning towards it being the Cowboys, but it could also be the Niners, Eagles, or someone else. Even the Browns could move up a spot to be sure they get their guy. I think this will be a fun draft to watch.

An update on my Kindle Scout campaign!

My Kindle Scout campaign for "Sara X" ended at midnight last night and I ended up with 177 page views and 46 hours of being hot and trending. The numbers aren't great and probably inadequate, but I gave it a shot. I'll find out in the "next few business days" if Amazon picks it up or not. If they don't, then it's off to self publishing for "Sara X."

If Amazon does pick it up, then they'll reportedly send it to Kirkus for an editing review. I'll then have the option to make, or disregard the suggested edits, and Amazon will then get around to publishing the e-book version of "Sara X". I'll get a $1500 advance for the novel and then a 50% royalty on sales. I believe most Scout books are priced at $4.99 which means the royalty would be about $2.49 per book sold. It'll take about 600 sales to earn out the advance before any additional cash will be flowing.

On to other news. The seedlings are doing great! The purple wave petunias and calibrachoas are growing like weeds. I've got 144 impatiens seeds started now also along with 15 red salvia seedlings. The petunias and calibrachoas will soon be spending days outside. We're in a bit of a warm streak right now with days in the seventies, but that won't last. However, I can take advantage of those days and move the more cold tolerant seedlings outside on warmer days to get some sun and to start adjusting to the outside life.

My self-cleaning aquarium filter is now partially functional. I haven't fully automated it yet, but the system is working well. The moving roll of floss is doing its job and now I simply have to figure out how to wire in the stepper motor and program the controller for it. It looks like this will work pretty well though. If things keep progressing like this I'll build a third prototype out of acrylic in the near future that will be more of a finished product.

The silly season of the NFL season is now underway (or will be by noon when the legal tampering period of free agency starts up for real.) Expect to see lots of signings announced on Wednesday shortly after the new season officially starts at four PM. I don't expect to see the Eagles making any bold moves this free agency period. The Eagles may resign a guy or two of their own who's now a free agent if they don't find a contract to their liking and want to come back, but I don't see the Eagles being overly aggressive.

In the next few days I should hear back from Amazon on whether or not they'll pick up "Sara X". As the next group of impatiens seedlings emerge, they'll get moved to the better plant lights. It won't be long before plants are going outside for real. We're maybe six weeks away from the hardiest plants being reasonably safe going out. This is a busy time of year for me.