Dallas Cowboys Yet to Sign Shaq Leonard After Visit: Philadelphia Eagles Need to Pounce - No Matter the Price
PHILADELPHIA – Shaq Leonard escaped the clutches of Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday without signing a deal yet. The former Indianapolis Colts All-Pro linebacker will now visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday.
Jones and his team need a linebacker just like the Eagles do. Couple that with the fact that the Cowboys owner and mouthpiece would be keeping Leonard out of the Eagles’ hands, and, well, it feels like he may very well still be moving from Indianapolis to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and is just shopping for the best deal.
It will come down to money, as it so often does, but maybe Leonard will believe the Eagles have a better chance at getting him a championship ring than the Cowboys do and take less to come to Philly.
Money, though, usually talks, and Leonard is still just 28 so maybe he thinks a ring will eventually come his way, and the bottom line in his bank account is more important right now.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman doesn’t typically pay linebackers. He let both T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White go rather than pay them, but now, perhaps he smells desperation inside the linebacker room, especially if the hamstring injury that forced Zach Cunningham out of last week's game against the Buffalo Bills sidelines him for Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers or longer.
Shaq Leonard
USA Today
Maybe even defensive coordinator Sean Desai hinted something is afoot at the position on Tuesday when he said, “I think we feel good about the guys we have. I think the guys that we have, we've trained at a high level.”
Perhaps there’s something in the usage of “I think.” Plus, there’s training at a high level vs. talent.
Desai continued, “I know (head coach) Nick (Sirianni) and Howie, they always collaborate, and they're always kind of looking all the time.”
Hey now, maybe that means something is brewing, especially since the Eagles cut defensive back Josiah Scott to pen a roster spot on Tuesday evening.
If not Leonard, could the Eagles poach Myles Jack off the practice squad of the Pittsburgh Steelers? Jack may not want to come back, because, after all, when he left, he said he going to retire and become a handyman, or something. Maybe there are other options on practice squads elsewhere.
After Nick Morrow and Cunningham – if he can play – the drop-off is steep.
Christian Elliss is a standout special team player, but can he be counted on to play, say, 50 percent of the defensive snaps for the final six games and into the playoffs?
Ben VanSumeren was undrafted and all three of his practice squad elevations have been used up so he could play special teams the past three games. Do the Eagles like him enough to let go of somebody on the 53-man roster to add him?
“He's done a good job,” said Desai of VanSumeren. “He's stayed really engaged. He's really mastered his role and his craft and defense and staying on top of it.”
“…If he's a guy that does get elevated because of, like you said, the numbers and everything, then that's great. We'll feel confident with anybody we've got on the team because all those guys prepare like they're ready to play.”
This is a team with enough talent to win a Super Bowl, and it's hard to see developmental players such as Elliss and VanSumeren being counted on at this stage of their career on a team like this.
Roseman owes it to Eagles fans and the players in the locker room to do whatever it takes to bring Leonard here, even if there are health concerns, no matter the financial cost.
