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Posted: Mon, Apr. 9, 2012, 6:51 PM
Eagles sign Landri to one-year deal
By Jeff McLane
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Productive as it was, Derek Landri's brief stay with the Eagles appeared to be at its end.
Four weeks of free agency had passed and the two sides, despite a mutual attraction, could not reach an accord. Landri wanted a longterm contract, but the Eagles were not willing to offer an extended deal to a part-time player.
So Landri shopped his services. Problem was, with a relatively flat salary cap this offseason, free agents of Landri's ilk didn't have much leverage. The Eagles, meanwhile, tidied up some other loose ends at defensive tackle.
They got starter Cullen Jenkins to restructure his contract, thus locking him in for a 2012 return. They signed restricted free agent Antonio Dixon to a one-year contract. And they went about bringing some of the draft's best prospects to the NovaCare Complex for a look-see.
But Landri was still a priority. So with the 28-year-old dangling on the market and nowhere near a four- or five-year deal, the Eagles broached the idea of two years. There was never an official offer, but negotiations lost steam when the Eagles suddenly had to find a replacement for the injured Jason Peters.
The all-pro left tackle ruptured his Achilles tendon on March 27 and the Eagles signed free agent Demetress Bell a week later.
"JP had that unfortunate accident and kind of threw a wrench in it for me," Landri said. "I actually thought I wasn't going to be back there, but both sides had cool heads and we wound up getting something done."
Landri, in the end, agreed to a one-year contract on Monday that is worth a potential $1.8 million. The Eagles got themselves a defensive tackle that thrived in defensive line coach Jim Washburn's system and Landri got himself another opportunity to play for a big payday.
"It's a business and you can't let something like that pull you down," Landri said Monday during a conference call. "But don't believe for a second that I won't use that as far as the way I play football."
With Landri in tow, the Eagles appear to have their defensive tackle rotation set. Jenkins and Mike Patterson, assuming he fully recovers from offseason brain surgery to correct an arteriovenous malformation, will start. Landri and Dixon will come off the bench. Cedric Thornton, an undrafted rookie from last year, will also be in the mix.
Still, Landri's return doesn't automatically mean the Eagles won't expend their top draft pick on a defensive tackle. Jenkins is 31. Patterson will be 29 before the start of the season. Landri and Dixon are under contract for only one year.
But it does mean the Eagles don't have to reach for one of the handful of defensive tackles that some analysts have projected to go before the Eagles pick. LSU's Michael Brockers and Memphis' Dontari Poe have already visited the Eagles. Mississippi State's Fletcher Cox is also believed to be on the Eagles' radar.
If one was to fall to the Eagles at No. 15, he would bolster what Landri called "the best defensive line in the NFL last year."
"We have potential to be better than we were last year," Landri said.
Despite shining in the preseason last summer, Landri, who spent three seasons in Jacksonville and one in Carolina before coming to the Eagles, was cut before the opener. After Dixon tore his triceps in early October, however, he was brought back. By the end of the season, Landri, who led the Eagles with eight tackles for loss, had supplanted Trevor Laws.
Laws, a second-round draft pick of the Eagles in 2008, is also a free agent and has likely seen his tenure in Philadelphia come to its end. While some viewed Laws as another of the Eagles' misfires in the draft, and they let him know about it, Landri became a fan favorite.
"From what my wife reads to me and my family sending me stuff, I guess I have a pretty big fan base out there, too," Landri said. "That kind of draws you back a little bit."
Contact Jeff McLane at 215-854-4745, jmclane@phillynews.com or follow on Twitter @Jeff_McLane.
Eagles sign Landri to one-year deal
By Jeff McLane
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Productive as it was, Derek Landri's brief stay with the Eagles appeared to be at its end.
Four weeks of free agency had passed and the two sides, despite a mutual attraction, could not reach an accord. Landri wanted a longterm contract, but the Eagles were not willing to offer an extended deal to a part-time player.
So Landri shopped his services. Problem was, with a relatively flat salary cap this offseason, free agents of Landri's ilk didn't have much leverage. The Eagles, meanwhile, tidied up some other loose ends at defensive tackle.
They got starter Cullen Jenkins to restructure his contract, thus locking him in for a 2012 return. They signed restricted free agent Antonio Dixon to a one-year contract. And they went about bringing some of the draft's best prospects to the NovaCare Complex for a look-see.
But Landri was still a priority. So with the 28-year-old dangling on the market and nowhere near a four- or five-year deal, the Eagles broached the idea of two years. There was never an official offer, but negotiations lost steam when the Eagles suddenly had to find a replacement for the injured Jason Peters.
The all-pro left tackle ruptured his Achilles tendon on March 27 and the Eagles signed free agent Demetress Bell a week later.
"JP had that unfortunate accident and kind of threw a wrench in it for me," Landri said. "I actually thought I wasn't going to be back there, but both sides had cool heads and we wound up getting something done."
Landri, in the end, agreed to a one-year contract on Monday that is worth a potential $1.8 million. The Eagles got themselves a defensive tackle that thrived in defensive line coach Jim Washburn's system and Landri got himself another opportunity to play for a big payday.
"It's a business and you can't let something like that pull you down," Landri said Monday during a conference call. "But don't believe for a second that I won't use that as far as the way I play football."
With Landri in tow, the Eagles appear to have their defensive tackle rotation set. Jenkins and Mike Patterson, assuming he fully recovers from offseason brain surgery to correct an arteriovenous malformation, will start. Landri and Dixon will come off the bench. Cedric Thornton, an undrafted rookie from last year, will also be in the mix.
Still, Landri's return doesn't automatically mean the Eagles won't expend their top draft pick on a defensive tackle. Jenkins is 31. Patterson will be 29 before the start of the season. Landri and Dixon are under contract for only one year.
But it does mean the Eagles don't have to reach for one of the handful of defensive tackles that some analysts have projected to go before the Eagles pick. LSU's Michael Brockers and Memphis' Dontari Poe have already visited the Eagles. Mississippi State's Fletcher Cox is also believed to be on the Eagles' radar.
If one was to fall to the Eagles at No. 15, he would bolster what Landri called "the best defensive line in the NFL last year."
"We have potential to be better than we were last year," Landri said.
Despite shining in the preseason last summer, Landri, who spent three seasons in Jacksonville and one in Carolina before coming to the Eagles, was cut before the opener. After Dixon tore his triceps in early October, however, he was brought back. By the end of the season, Landri, who led the Eagles with eight tackles for loss, had supplanted Trevor Laws.
Laws, a second-round draft pick of the Eagles in 2008, is also a free agent and has likely seen his tenure in Philadelphia come to its end. While some viewed Laws as another of the Eagles' misfires in the draft, and they let him know about it, Landri became a fan favorite.
"From what my wife reads to me and my family sending me stuff, I guess I have a pretty big fan base out there, too," Landri said. "That kind of draws you back a little bit."
Contact Jeff McLane at 215-854-4745, jmclane@phillynews.com or follow on Twitter @Jeff_McLane.
