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Eagles Sign Abiamiri and Ilaoa to 4 Year Deals

The Philadelphia Eagles signed on 2 of the 3 remaining draft picks yesterday to 4 year deals.  Running back Nate "Nasti Nate" Ilaoa and defensive end Victor Abiamiri agreed to terms on their four-year deals on Sunday.   The only remaining draft pick the Eagles haven't signed is the first draft pick - quarterback Kevin Kolb.

Abiamiri, who hails from Notre Dame, was the second of the Eagles' two second-round picks in April's draft. Standing 6-foot-4, and 267-pound he racked up 10.5 sacks last season, the second-highest single-season total in the Notre Dame's history.

The Eagles are hoping to have a strong rotation at defensive end this season, since Jevon (The Freak) Kearse is returning after missing most of last season with his knee injury (this Eagles Chick is VERY happy to see Kearse back in the lineup).  Also in the lineup is, third-year man Trent Cole who will battle Darren Howard, for the starting right end spot. The Eagles re-signed Juqua Thomas who had a career high six sacks last season and also have former first-round pick Jerome McDougle.

Ilaoa, who the Eagles chose in the seventh-round of the 2007 draft come from Hawaii,  He's one of two running backs selected along with Tony Hunt from Penn State was drafted in the third round.

Ilaoa stands 5-foot-9, 245-pound and earned All-WAC honors as a senior rushing for 990 yards and scoring 18 total touchdowns (13 rushing, 5 receiving).   This guy is seen as important to the Eagles offense because of his great ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and since the Eagles often uses the running back in the passing game, you can get the feeling how this guy is going to fit in with Westbrook Hunt, Moats and Buckhalter.  While at Hawaii, Ilaoa set a single-season school record for a running back with 67 receptions and 837 receiving yards.

This does leave the Eagles with a similar situation with the quarterbacks, only now the Eagles have five running backs on the roster - Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter, Ryan Moats, Hunt and Ilaoa.  At 245 pounds, Ilaoa is the biggest running back on the team's roster. Four running backs were kept on the original 53-man roster last season at the end of training camp, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out for all the players.

Ilaoa got the nickname "Nasti" for his style of running.  He also put up impressive numbers while at Hawaii:

• Ranked 12th in Division I-A with 139.5 all-purpose yards per game in 2006
• All-purpose yardage total (1,827) was the third best single-season total in Hawaii's history
• Hawaii's all-time leader among running backs in receptions (151) and receiving yards (1,694)
• Hawaii's fourth in all-purpose yards (3,383)
• Hawaii's fifth in rushing touchdowns (20)
• Two-time all-state, all-region, all-area, all-district and all-league selection at North Stafford High School in Stafford, Va.

Solidifying The Eagles Defense with Takeo Spikes

Last night a deal that was first rumored, then done, then not done, then finally finalized was a move that will help to sure up the Eagles weakest area, its defense.  Yesterday the Eagles signed former Buffalo Bills linebacker Takeo Spikes to help strengthen the Eagles' defensive line.

We all know the Eagles had a heck of a time stopping the run last season.  Spikes along with Reagor are going to help the Eagles be a lot better at that in 2007.  Hopefully this is going to quiet some of the complaints that have been very loudly voiced.

Along with Spikes, the Philadelphia Eagles also signed a third quarterback Kelly Holcomb in the deal.  The Eagles traded Darwin Walker and a late round draft pick in 2008 for the two.  Spikes is signed with the Eagles through 2008, for a contract that has a base salaries of $4.5 million and $5 million for this year and next.  The Eagles signed Holcomb through 2008, at $1.485 million and $1.535 million for the two years.

This is Spikes 10th NFL season and he is probably going to fill a starting role at any one of the 3 linebacker positions in Jim Johnson's defense.  There have been questions about his Achilles' tendon injury that happened in September of 2005, but the Eagles obviously feel that this is well past worry.  Especially looking at his performance last year - recording 70 total tackles, 43 of them being solo tackles.  Over the span of his career, Spikes has recorded 21 1/2 quarterback sacks, and 878 tackles in 126 games.

Reagor Coming to Philly - 3 Year Deal

The Philadelphia Eagles signed Montae Reagor to a 3 year deal.  After visiting Philly on Tuesday, Reagor and the Eagles came to a $8.3 million dollar deal for the 3 years.  There was some speculation that Reagor's former Superbowl Champion team, the Indianapolis Colts, would resign him, however that wasn't the case.

Despite his lack of "bulk", Reagor makes up for that in his speed, which will allow him to fit quite well into the Jim Johnson's defensive scheme.  Some sports experts are expecting the Eagles to make a move among the defensive lineup now that there are 6 defensive tackles.

The former Texas Tech player and standout has 16 sacks, 213 tackles, 4 forced fumbles & 7 recoveries.  Although Reagor started the first 5 games of the Colt's 2006 season, an October 22nd car accident a few hours before the Colts game with the Redskins put Reagor out of play for the rest of the season.  After initial evaluation there was some hope that he'd return later in the season, however those hopes were dashed when Reagor's injuries turned out to be a lot more serious.

Tom Heckert did not seem to concerned about Reagor's injuries.  "He's been relatively healthy," Heckert said. "He told me last night he had one knee scope, and that was it. The face -- that's not a problem at all."

"They want to bring good character guys here," said Reagor. "They want to bring guys that are loyal to the ball club, good character guys, guys that are going to work hard on the field and be good in the community as well. So, it's a very attractive place to be and I'm glad to be here."

Texans Sign Shawn Barber

Free agent Shawn Barber, the Eagles linebacker in 2006, is heading for Houston.  After spending two days with the team last week, Barber and the Texans came to a deal.  Barber, who's a locker room leader, contributed 60 tackles in the nickel linebacker role even though he was out for three games this past season with injuries.  Barber had signed his one year deal with the Eagles back in March of last year.

Shawn Barber, was previously on the Eagles in 2003 before making his way to Dick Vermeil's Kansas City Chiefs.  In 2003 he had his banner year that included a career-high 141 tackles and five sacks.  This past year Barber was the recipient of the Jack Edelstein Memorial Award, which is presented annually by the Philadelphia media to the Eagles player "with an uplifting manner, a love for life, and an exceptional sense of humor who makes all with whom he comes in contact with feel good."

Barber's joining quite an assortment of newly acquired free agency acquisitions for the Texans that include the likes of Ahman Green and Ron Dayne.

Might The Eagles Regret Letting Stallworth Go To The Pats?

Last week Donte Stallworth, who had only a one year deal with the Eagles, signed with the New England Patriots.  This "Eagles Chick" was really hoping he'd stick around in Philly and not just because he wore my own lucky number "18", but because he was a definitely a threat on the field that led opposing team defenses wondering how to deal with when he hooked up with Donovan McNabb.

Stallworth led the league in yard per reception in 2006.  That includes passes from both McNabb and Garcia, but it was with McNabb that Stallworth really had a "rhythm" with.  Granted, recently signed Kevin Curtis, is nothing to sneeze at, but is this a deal that we Philly fans are going to be groaning about come post season in January 2008?

Stallworth has a deal from the Pats that has bonuses built in that are based on his performance.  If he finds that same rhythm he had with McNabb, with Pat's QB Tom Brady, he'll hit those bonuses without a problem.  It will definitely make all of us fans wonder, why our team couldn't have worked out the deal instead.

Correll Buckhalter Re-Signed for Two Years

First reported by the NFL.com, and later confirmed on PhiladelphiaEagles.com, Eagles Running Back, Correll Buckhalter has been re-signed to a two year deal that will keep him in Philadelphia. Three or four teams, including the Giants were rumored to be interested in Brian Westbrook's backup, but lingering questions about his knee seemed to be the major issue in Buckhalter leaving Philly for another team.

We here in Philly all know Correll's surgery and injury history, but his last surgery was in September 2005.  Generally knee injuries take about 2 years to re-coop and be back to 100%, so this year should be a great year for Correll, if his performance last year was any indication. 

Correll has been in Brian Westbrook's shadow, but fans are starting to really notice that this running back is definitely not a "shadow", Buckhalter is coming into his own.  This year should prove even more interesting since local sports experts are expecting Marty Mornhinweg to retain play calling duties and the Eagles will likely run the ball more than they have recently, the Number 2 running back slot now becomes even more important.