Birds sign Brooks to bolster guard spot
NFL sources confirmed that the Eagles, on a free-agent shopping spree, signed one of the top offensive linemen available, former Houston Texans guard Brandon Brooks, on Wednesday.
Brooks, who will turn 27 in August, was a third-round draft pick of the Texans in 2012. He's listed at 6-5 and 335 pounds, and has started 30 games.
"Big body. Decent athlete. He's a solid starter," said an AFC talent evaluator who was asked about Brooks on Wednesday. The evaluator said he likes the Brooks signing "at the right price," which is hard to know without details of the guaranteed money in what has been reported as a five-year, $40 million deal. But he added that Brooks is definitely an upgrade on 2015 Eagles starters Alan Barbre and Matt Tobin.
In Houston, the perception was that Brooks had a better year in 2014 than in 2015.
Should the Eagles also draft an offensive lineman in the first round, after having moved up from 13th to eighth overall in the deal that is sending Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso to Miami, they could go from below average to solid in that department pretty quickly.
