There are, apparently, no tremor-sized changes on the way. The coaching staff appears intact, other than a defensive backs coach, who no doubt will be hired soon (Todd Bowles is in for an interview on Monday). On the personnel side, general manager Howie Roseman has promoted Anthony Patch and added Rick Mueller as the draft process kicks into high gear.
And the beat goes on.
The Eagles tore it all apart heading into the 2011 season. That isn't the way they are going to approach 2012. That could all change, of course, but the first indication, the coaching staff, is that the Eagles want continuity. They want some upgrades on the roster, and they are going to search in free agency, in the draft and through the trade route, I'm sure, but the Eagles are moving ahead believing that the window is open for a Super Bowl championship, that they are not going to overhaul things and start over.
It's the right approach.
It may not be the sensational method, but we went through that last offseason and what did it get the Eagles? Two thousand eleven produced eight wins, eight losses and the most disappointing campaign in modern memory.
So the Eagles are turning the page, and hoping that familiarity breeds victories and that the young core developed over the last couple of seasons matures into the right kind of chemistry in the locker room and that the mix works on the field and on and on and on ...
I just want to make sure you are in the right frame of mind. This is the realistic picture of what the Eagles, and where they are going, as Super Bowl week revs up and we are bystanders to the hoopla over the Giants and Patriots.
Quite honestly, I'm not sure how exciting this offseason is going to be. I'm not sure how active the Eagles will be in free agency. I think the approach is going to be to sign as many of their own free-agents-to-be as they can and hit the draft hard. There are obvious personnel questions -- what happens with wide receiver DeSean Jackson? How does cornerback Asante Samuel fit in? Can the Eagles improve the defense enough to win a Super Bowl? -- and those answers are going to come in trickles.
Truth is, the Eagles need to show what they are made of when September rolls around and the games begin. They need to come firing out of the gates from the start of the season and go from there, and the best way to do that is to take what they have and build with it, rather than tear things apart again and hope for the mix to work early.
No doubt, there are questions about this team. There are areas of need. Head coach Andy Reid will speak to the media -- nothing has been scheduled as of this very instant -- and explain the approach. The fans want to hear from him. They need to hear from him.
Why no changes? Why the long delay in meeting the media? Reid will explain it all, and in the end what he is going to say is that the Eagles like what they have in place and that they think they are better served to build off of what is intact, rather than tear it up and build it back again.
If you were expecting some big bombshell to shake up the coaching staff, it's not happening. If you think the Eagles are going to rip through the roster, think again.
Oh, I never discount Roseman and Reid making moves and working a trade here and there. They are unpredictable. They work the game very well. They are going to address the needs they think the Eagles have, and then the players will gather in the spring and through the summer and finally when training camp begins with a head start in the locker room and with their X's and O's and all of those questions we had this time a year ago.
This is the reality, folks. The Eagles think the window is open for a Super Bowl run. It sure should be for a team that underachieved at 8-8 in 2011. Nobody here is saying for one second that the Eagles have everything in place, but they aren't all that far away. Certainly, they have to go out and play good football and minimize their mistakes and coach better and play better than their opponents, but that's always the name of the game.
As we gather ourselves for the brute force of news and notes from Indianapolis and the Super Bowl, it's also time to come to grips with what the Eagles are for 2012: Quite a bit the same as they were last season, with the hope that internal improvements and some good decisions on existing personnel issues to be made in the near future will be enough to win this team a championship.
It isn't the most exciting news, but sometimes the best decisions are the ones that make the most sense, and not the most headlines.
That's the way I see it for the Eagles. It is a quiet time here, and it is likely to be that way for a while. Judge the team when the regular season begins, and not a minute before. It is the only way to truly evaluate the Eagles. When it comes right down to it, all that matters wins and losses.
