Was Eagles' loss to Dallas really a blessing in disguise?


While I believe that an uncapped season in 2010 would be an overall bad thing for the NFL, it could turn out to be a great thing for our Philadelphia Eagles.

Because of the "top eight rule," which says that the teams playing in the Divisional Round of the playoffs cannot sign a free agent without first losing a player, the Eagles will face much less competition for anyone they decide to target in free agency, restricted or otherwise.

Think about it. If a free agent has a choice of somewhere to go, especially with teams like New Orleans, Indianapolis, Dallas, Arizona, San Diego, and Minnesota off the table, the Eagles would become the next obvious choice for someone looking to play for a contender.

On top of attracting free agents, the Eagles will not have to offer contract extensions to keep key players like Leonard Weaver, Jason Avant, or Nick Cole. Instead, they will have a bevy of restricted free agents that will be of interest to other teams around the league.

And if those teams want one of the Birds' eight restricted free agents, it will take a draft pick or two.

So, if we want to look at the cup as half-full, the loss to the Cowboys during Wild Card weekend could actually turn out to be the best thing for the Birds.

They're already on par with, or better than, the four NFC teams mentioned, and all-but eliminating them as competition for free agents should be able to help them pull ahead or widen the gap for 2010.