Barnes barely had time to unpack his bags in Philly.


About two hours before the final cuts, the Eagles swung a trade with the Baltimore Ravens for DE/OLB Antwan Barnes. The Ravens, in return, received a 2011 seventh-round pick and the praise for Barnes started rolling in hot and heavy from the front office.

We heard about how the team was looking at him during the 2007 draft and thought very highly of him. We heard how he was going to be great for the team on third down passing situations and that his athleticism would be a great addition for Sean McDermott's defense.

But less than a month into the season, he's been cut and signed by a different team (San Diego Chargers) and the team is out a seventh-round pick.

Initially, it's tough to get on Andy Reid and the front office because their trades hit more often than they miss, but what they're doing this year is almost inexplicable. The pick for Barnes has been wasted, the pick for Reggie Wells is being wasted as he undeservingly sits on the bench, and I'm still convinced they gave up far too much for Darryl Tapp.

Sure, he's been fairly impressive the past couple weeks, but a fourth-round pick and Chris Clemons was a hefty price to pay for a guy who might play 15 snaps per game -- if he's lucky.

I'm also still not sure what landed Barnes on the inactive list and eventually on the waiver wire.

To me, it seemed like he was getting good pressure when he was in the game. He appeared quick off the edge and seemed to have some decent secondary moves -- especially for a guy who hadn't played defensive end since college.

So after trading for a guy he knew would be a project Reid decides to cut him loose less than a month into the season? What in the hell is Reid thinking? He did the same thing a couple years ago when he traded a seventh-round pick for FB Luke Lawton. If memory serves me correctly, Lawton didn't even make it to the regular season.

But at least fullback was a position of dire need. Defensive end was one of the team's deeper positions and yet Reid thought enough of Barnes to sacrifice a draft pick for him. So again, why give the guy less than a month to transition into a new position?

Or perhaps the better question is why in the hell Reid is once again trying to move a guy from 3-4 outside linebacker to defensive end? How many times is he going to try this before he realizes it's not as easy as he thinks it is?

He already tried it once this year with Alex Hall (another busted trade), and has drafted guys better suited for the 3-4 like Chris Gocong and Ricky Sapp. Gocong is now starting in the Browns' 3-4 scheme and Sapp has been stashed away on IR because he was not ready to come in and play defensive end in this league.

I understand it's just a seventh-round pick, but this is getting ridiculous. Trading for Barnes in the first place was a head-scratcher, but the way they talked him up paired with a pretty decent showing early in the season had me thinking there was some potential in him.

And then, a few weeks later, he's clear across the country once again playing in the 3-4.

Clearly Reid is just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. That might have worked in years past when the team had a bit more glue to work with, but it's not working this year.

I've been a vocal Reid supporter, but perhaps it's time to reconsider my position.

UPDATE (sort of): The Eagles have signed defensive end Pannel Egboh to the practice squad, likely in an effort to replace Barnes. Egboh, if you recall, was picked up by the team before the final preseason game and had an impressive showing as he racked up one sack and forced fumble.

Egboh will take the spot left vacant by receiver Chad Hall.
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Chad Hall is set to see action in his first NFL game.


On Saturday, the Eagles released defensive end Antwan Barnes (whom they traded for before the season) in order to sign wide receiver Chad Hall from the practice squad. Barnes hadn't been active for the past two games, but it's believed the move was made so late in the week because Andy Reid would like to re-sign Barnes and put Hall back on the practice squad.

It sounds great in theory, but Reid and the Eagles are playing with fire.

There's still a possibility that a team could snag Barnes off the waiver wire (to which he's subject because he has less than four seasons accrued), and that would obviously end their plan in absolute failure. It would also mean they gave up a seventh-round pick for absolutely nothing.

If no one puts in a claim on Barnes, the Birds will have to cut Hall in order to sign him again. Hall would then be subject to the waiver wire and, if he shows anything against the 49ers, might not make it through waivers.

Again, that would mean failure for Reid's ultimate plan.

But let's say everything works and Barnes is back on the active roster and Hall is signed and stowed away on the practice squad. Now the problem is that all the other teams have game-day film on Hall. It only takes one team seeing one thing they like to sign him off the practice squad and the Eagles' little project receiver is gone for good.

So, either way, it's looking like one of these guys has a real chance of getting snagged out from underneath the Birds' collective nose.

If I'm the Washington Redskins, for instance, I would snag Barnes off the wire in a heartbeat. He played outside linebacker in the Baltimore Ravens' 3-4 scheme, so he could immediately help them there, and it could be their way of stiffing the Eagles.

Mike Shanahan is a veteran coach who knows all the tricks and I'm betting he's at least mulling the idea around.

What the team should have done is found a veteran on the roster who would be willing to sit this game out and sign on Monday morning. That way they don't have to worry about a team snagging him off the waiver wire and only have to worry about said player going back on his word Trevor Pryce style.

The unavoidable flaw in all of this is that Hall could get snagged up either way, but it would seem to make more sense to put themselves in a position to lose only Hall, rather than run the risk of losing Barnes as well.

I'm not sure what is going on in Reid's head this season, but he needs to get it straightened out before he digs this team into a hole from which it cannot escape.
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Yupp, Barnes is the guy who made this infamous tackle.


Quite honestly, I'm not sure why anyone tries to guess how Andy Reid's final roster will look. Just when you think you know what he's thinking, he throws a curveball like this and makes a trade about four hours before the deadline to finalize the roster.

Reid is clearly still chatting it up with his former special teams coordinator Jon Harbaugh, now the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, as the two teams have swung a trade that will send outside linebacker Antwan Barnes to Philly for an undisclosed 2011 draft pick.

Smart money says the pick is a conditional late-rounder, but the Eagles did just trade away their sixth-round pick next year to the Cardinals for Reggie Wells, so it could be a straight-up seventh-round pick.

Barnes played outside linebacker in the Ravens' 3-4 scheme, but is expected to play a hybrid role of linebacker and defensive end in Sean McDermott's 4-3 defense.

Now, I'm not saying Barnes isn't a good athlete who could help the team out, but hasn't Reid learned his lesson yet?

Alex Hall, Chris Gocong, and Ricky Sapp are all guys Reid has picked up to play either linebacker or defensive end in the team's 4-3 scheme, but are clearly best fit as a 3-4 outside linebacker. I don't quite understand why he still thinks it's easy to transition from a pass-rushing outside linebacker to putting your hand in the ground or vice versa, but he just keeps trying it.

We keep hearing about this "Joker" position, but McDermott doesn't really employ a Joker often enough to swing a trade to specifically fill the aforementioned role.

The move for Barnes will likely push out someone like Tracy White or Moise Fokou, so all in all it seems like more of a lateral move than anything.
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