Ex-Eagle Mikell embraces role with the Rams

It's a fair question to ask on the eve of the Eagles' regular-season opener at St. Louis. Did the Eagles err in not re-signing Quintin Mikell - now with the Rams - in light of Nate Allen's slow recovery and rookie Jaiquawn Jarrett's stunted progress?

"Did they make a mistake?" Mikell asked Wednesday during a conference call with Philadelphia-area reporters. "I don't know. That's not a question for me. Any time you're in a situation like that your first reaction would be like, 'Yeah, you know.' But me personally, there could have been multiple reasons why I wasn't picked up."

The reasons are, not in any particular order: age, money, a new defensive coordinator, and, more subjectively, performance. Mikell will turn 31 next week, and the Eagles have waved goodbye to many 30-year-olds over the years.

And then there was the contract Mikell received from the Rams - a four-year deal worth $27 million, with $14 million guaranteed. The Eagles have never placed a high value on the position and have let better safeties walk (see: Dawkins, Brian).

"Obviously, the contract I received from the Rams was pretty much on par," Mikell said. "And they saw what I was able to do, and they liked that. Maybe the Rams value that a little more than the Eagles organization."

Still, when the Eagles decided not to bring him back, Mikell said he was disappointed not to receive a phone call from anyone in the organization. Originally signed as an undrafted rookie in 2003, Mikell made the team as a special-teams ace and worked his way up the ladder until he became a full-time starter in 2007.

"Any time a change like that happens it's never a good felling. It's never a good situation no matter how it works out," Mikell said of being released. "Had they called and said, 'Hey, we're not going to bring you back.' Would that make it any different? I don't know."

As far back as January after the Eagles lost in the playoffs, Mikell knew his days as an Eagle were numbered. He got emotional as he cleaned out his locker the day after the loss to the Packers, and when Sean McDermott was fired Mikell said he never heard from new defensive coordinator Juan Castillo.

And then the Eagles drafted Jarrett in the second round. Jarrett, though, was not ready to start. Kurt Coleman, who played alongside Mikell after Allen ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee, has replaced his mentor.

Allen, meanwhile, took a step back in his recovery and was demoted during the preseason. Jarrad Page, a low-rent free agent signee, is now starting opposite Coleman.

Despite the unrest at safety, the Eagles are strong at cornerback after trading for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and signing Nnamdi Asomugha to go along with Asante Samuel. Last offseason, the Eagles did very little to try to improve their secondary.

"It was a little bit weird seeing some of those" acquisitions, Mikell said. "To be honest with you I have no control over the decisions that were made. I just went out there and I tried to do the best that I could do."

Mikell led the Eagles in tackles the last three seasons and was often the locker room spokesman for the defense. But he had tough shoes to fill in replacing Dawkins. He said he's embraced his elder statesman role with a young, up-and-coming Rams squad.

"This game, to me, is more than about me playing the Eagles," Mikell said. "It's more than that. It's an opportunity for a young team to go out there and play together and play productively and show everybody that we're not a bunch of nobodies here."