The sudden release of Jeremiah Trotter from the Philadelphia Eagles roster this past Tuesday was not only meant to be a message sent to the team but a statement meant to be targeted to every player in the league.  Its message: THE NFL VALUES YOUTH MUCH MORE THAN EXPERIENCE. 

Clearly this is an obvious statement that is not a secret among players and fans. However, I believe the manner in which Trotter was released was meant to be a statement more than a mere personnel move.

First, Trotter was released 1 week before the first set of preseason roster cuts.. This sent a clear message that the Eagles were not willing to go one more preseason game, let a lone another practice with having the possibility of getting Trotter hurt and placed on the Injured Reserve. The organization truly believed that Trotter is a greater liability to their bottom line than any other player on the roster.

Second, the Eagles are packed with “seasoned” veterans in key skill positions. Having Donavon McNabb, Brian Dawkins , Jevon Kearse, Jon Runyan, William Thomas and Takeo Spikes well into their primes, the clock is ticking how much longer the organization can be willing to continue to pay or wait until these players produce nothing less than a Super Bowl victory . By releasing Trotter, who is a great friend among most of these veterans and relied upon as a leader among the team, the Eagles sent a message to the rest of the veterans that they need to start producing or they may be next to be released.

Finally, Trotter will be replaced by an unproven, young and unknown talent at middle linebacker. You would think the Eagles would have made some off season moves in preparation for Trotters release, or perhaps they are banking on a release of a proven veteran from another team during the next couple of weeks. However, to say that they believe that Omar Gaither will do as well or better than Trotter is a complete fallacy. Clearly Gaither does not possess anywhere the leadership or the physicality that Trotter possessed, so why did the Eagles do what they did? Because the league values youth and fresh legs rather than leadership and wisdom.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 24th, 2007 at 12:23 am and is filed under Defense, Discussion, Opinions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.