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Will today's Eagles optimism last until September?

    by Sam Donnellon
    Published 
One new player said it, the next intimated it, and the one after that chimed in as well.
After thanking pretty much everyone in the Eagles front office for his new contract, Chase Daniel on Thursday called Jeffrey Lurie’s Eagles, ``This great and storied franchise.’’
About 30 minutes later Rodney McLeod, the new safety signed away from the nomadic Rams, spoke of a conversation he had with the former Eagle who was his Rams teammate, Quintin Mikell, on what to expect from his new city.
``He just said you’re gonna love it here man,’’ McLeod said. ``They’re gonna love me. The fans are loyal here. And they come out each and every Sunday for their team. That’s all you can ask for. And us players, we feed off such things.
``Just knowing the whole city is behind you, each and every Sunday, is great for a player. I can’t wait.’’
A few days short of the Ides of March, the predictive narrative which accompanied Lurie’s most recent upheaval of his front office seems to have taken a 180-degree turn, much like predictions of a fading candidacy for Donald Trump.
Turns out, players were not afraid to come here in the wake of Chip Kelly’s firing and Howie Roseman’s return to power and the radical revamping of a roster that just six months ago was deemed worthy of competing for a championship.
Coaches like respected NFL veteran defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz weren’t afraid, either. True, Lurie and Roseman didn’t get the head coach they allegedly targeted in Adam Gase. But the fact he chose Miami – a team with at least an equal if not more turbulent front-office history than the Eagles – suggests a decision based more on a projection than a past.
Anyway, Roseman, reviled by much of Eagles Nation after he was pushed out of power by Kelly a little more than a year ago, is now being almost universally praised for undoing some of Kelly’s most dubious moves and regaining cap wriggle room in the process. McLeod is an offshoot of that, of course, strengthening the Eagles at the safety position, a perennial sore spot since the days of Brian Dawkins, and Mikell too.
Mikell, if you missed it, is also back in the fold, lately with the title of  ``Director of Player Engagement."
``Just the storied franchise that Mr. Lurie has built and Howie’s been here so long building,’’ Daniel gushed at one point Thursday, explaining part of why he signed here instead of more quarterback-needy places.
``That allure. It’s the Eagles, man. It’s something pretty special.’’
Which is, of course, heartening to hear. Especially after all the turbulence.
Then again, we are a few days away from the Ides of March.
And six months short of the Ides of September, when all that love and loyalty the new guys expect and anticipate gets put to the real test.
    SD
    Sam Donnellon
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