Colts' LB Darius (Shaq) Leonard released

[Carson]

Still think if you sign Leonard, you're effectively giving up already on Evans. Roster spot has to come from somewhere. Doubt Leonard's going to be open to spending some time on a practice squad.

Scott? Vaughn? Bass? There is wiggle room on the 53 to stash one of these guys on IR

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Scott? Vaughn? Bass? There is wiggle room on the 53 to stash one of these guys on IR

Exactly.

 

[rambo2]

Still think if you sign Leonard, you're effectively giving up already on Evans. Roster spot has to come from somewhere. Doubt Leonard's going to be open to spending some time on a practice squad.

He would be elevated from the practice squad. If that is the route they take.

 

[shabazz]

Hard pass on this guy. We need healthy players….not more post surgery slow ones.

Props to him handing out free turkeys though. Nice move

 

[Gambit]

Scott? Vaughn? Bass? There is wiggle room on the 53 to stash one of these guys on IR

Scott would be my first choice Bass needs reps he gets in mop up

 

[Carson]

Scott would be my first choice Bass needs reps he gets in mop up

Absolutely. In a pinch you still have Noah Igbinoghene and Wright If somebody goes down.

Not to mention Muk and Thomas can play corner

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Hard pass on this guy. We need healthy players….not more post surgery slow ones.

Props to him handing out free turkeys though. Nice move

But there aren't good healthy available players....so why not kick the tires to see if he has one run left in him?

 

[CTcowboy203]

All well-taken.

A little further investigation just now revealed that it's suspected that Dean may be back, but yes, I'd forgotten that he'd been put on IR.

They just moved up a practice squad LB on Monday, so you're right, there's some decent potential for Leonard to get some PT if signed.


1. Okay. Maybe that's important to him. But I think that would be more of a tiebreaking factor. There seems to be a lot of teams in both conferences this season that can make an argument that they're a SB contender. As long as one of those is among the higher bidders for his services, conventional wisdom would be that he'd go for that one, whoever it is.

OverTheCap.com has DAL with about $6.6m of cap space, PHI with half that. That could be important.

2. Two thoughts. From Leonard's perspective, I don't see "depth at the position" as anything of merit. He doesn't want to go somewhere that he merely represents depth if he can help it. From the Eagles' perspective, though, maybe it would be attractive to insert Leonard as a stop-gap for Dean's absence, and anticipating that if Dean returns, Leonard still may have performed too well to re-insert Dean into the starting line-up.

3. Relationships? Pardon my repeating myself, but what I said was that the relationship with a player in the huddle with him and in the film room with is inherently going to have had more time to gel... than the relationship with a coach on the other side of the ball who he's only been around fairly tangentially. And thus, the capacity for Gilmore to influence Leonard would be superior. Leonard hasn't played for Sirianni, so it's not even as-if he'd be naturally more familiar with Sirianni's defense. And, add to that, who doesn't want to play for Dan Quinn... he has guru status in the league at this point.

Well you asked why they would need him and you got your answer in terms of why from a roster perspective. In terms of $? Once Leonard gets off waivers he’s going to be receiving the veterans minimum….no team is paying him $6m for 6 weeks of services so the money will be similar for most of the teams chasing him

Addressing number 2 first- while he may be a depth piece he likely sees the eagles as giving him a higher chance of winning a super bowl than most teams- and Dallas included. Again….best record in league and fresh off a super bowl appearance. Being an important depth piece” that goes on a deep playoff run / championship run allows him to win (something he said is important to him in his goodbye letter to Indy” and allows him to potentially go into the offseason coming off a postseason run being an integral piece which could get him paid or paid in Philly since the current LB’s aren’t under contract.

Number. 3- sure, he can have a closer bond with an actual player he plays on the field with than a coach but when the other team, in this case the eagles- offer him likely a higher chance to succeed AND the familiarity with a former coach both things likely tip the scales their way.

Lastly, I don’t think DQ has reached “guru” status in the league….he’s highly respected and regarded and guys wanna play for him but he’s also done nothing here in Dallas….yet. Not saying he won’t be intriguing for Leonard but “guru” status seems a bit much.

 

[john van brocklin]

OMG....we have to hear about the Eagles all damn day around this part. Top notch front offices don't draft Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson.

They are our main competition, like it or not.
Figuring out what they do better than us and how we can improve is just smart.
Now you go have a great Thanksgiving bro....

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

They are our main competition, like it or not.
Figuring out what they do better than us and how we can improve is just smart.
Now you go have a great Thanksgiving bro....

They do nothing better than us. They simply win games. They produce wins. They're successful no doubt but they dont' do anything better than us just like we don't do anything better than them.

 

[CTcowboy203]

They are our main competition, like it or not.
Figuring out what they do better than us and how we can improve is just smart.
Now you go have a great Thanksgiving bro....

Yeah…lol of course what the eagles and other top contenders do is relevant particularly when they are ya know…..in our division. And a huge L OHHHHHHH L at the insinuation that the eagles aren’t a top notch front office because of one horrible decision in the draft (which is a huge crap shoot btw).

It’s still F the eagles….but get serious here

 

[CTcowboy203]

They do nothing better than us. They simply win games. They produce wins. They're successful no doubt but they dont' do anything better than us just like we don't do anything better than them.

Yeah I guess when you take out the “except win games” part they do nothing better than us….make this make sense. Haha

 

[atlantacowboy]

I don't see him getting past Chicago honestly maybe in Carolina takes him

He’s going to go where he wants. I’m sure his agent is advising teams on whether he would be willing to play for them.

 

[Cowboyny]

Well....if true that's still ok. We're ok in coverage. I need a thumper who can help out on the run. I'd take a two down linebacker.

I agree, we need more of a run down linebacker. Quinn is close to their DC, along with Gilmore/Hooker should know everything about the player.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Yeah…lol of course what the eagles and other top contenders do is relevant particularly when they are ya know…..in our division. And a huge L OHHHHHHH L at the insinuation that the eagles aren’t a top notch front office because of one horrible decision in the draft (which is a huge crap shoot btw).

It’s still F the eagles….but get serious here

ONE HORRIBLE decision? Alright lol. Sure.

 

[Malhavoc]

Leonard is a shell of the player he was. Once he clears waivers, he’s going to b pretty cheap for who signs him.

 

[john van brocklin]

They do nothing better than us. They simply win games. They produce wins. They're successful no doubt but they dont' do anything better than us just like we don't do anything better than them.

So..... they just win more games randomly than us????
Can't really have a debate with that logic....

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Yeah I guess when you take out the “except win games” part they do nothing better than us….make this make sense. Haha

Non I didn't say "except" win games. I'm not talking about on the field. On the field they are better than us. Front office wise? I see nothing special. Sorry. Y'all praise these moves and then when they don't work y'all shut up lol. Every single time. Y'all want to give him credit for Jalen Carter who fell in the draft because he was racing drunk and it resulted in deaths of his teammates? Props to him. But taking the best player in the draft at 9....didn't seem like that hard of a decision. It is what it is. I have these discussions with ya'll and they all go the same. Eagles are a great team. NEver said otherwise. B

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

So..... they just win more games randomly than us????
Can't really have a debate with that logic....

Siranni has won 72 percent of his games....Mike has won 70...I mean...I guess you're right they do win more than us.

 

[_sturt_]

Scott? Vaughn? Bass? There is wiggle room on the 53 to stash one of these guys on IR

Bass, no. That's robbing OL depth. Can't see that happening.

Vaughn, no. Legitimate force on special teams and otherwise effective.

Scott, maybe. To me, anyways. But you'd be robbing CB depth, and obviously they've previously held that that's a position they prefer to go heavy.

He would be elevated from the practice squad. If that is the route they take.

This isn't a situation where the guy hasn't been playing and needs time to ramp up. So, I'm not inclined to think Leonard's going to be open to accept that route, me.

the money will be similar for most of the teams chasing him

I think that's a considerable assumption you're making there. If anything, it makes it more likely that there will be variance since we're now past the trade deadline--teams conventionally speaking won't be intent on preserving cap space for the balance of the 2023 season because, odds are, this will be one-of-if-not-the last major opportunities for a plug-in starter-quality player. Teams with money to spend and sufficient reason/motivation to win the auction will go after him.