Eagles Cut Spikes

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles announced on Thursday that they have released veteran weakside linebacker Takeo Spikes.

A two-time Pro Bowl selection and one of the top playmaking linebackers in recent NFL history, Spikes joined the Eagles on March 26, 2007, in a three-player trade with the Buffalo Bills. Takeo, which means "great warrior" in Japanese, was a first round draft choice of Cincinnati in 1998 and spent his first five NFL campaigns with the Bengals before signing with the Bills in 2003.

What does this mean? Are the Eagles making cap space for an expensive Wide Receiver? If not, was it worth it to cut another veteran from the defensive side of the ball? Who will play at linebacker?

By cutting Takeo Spikes, the Eagles can add $5 million to the amount of money they're able to spend. This move opens up more room to bring in the likes of Roy Williams, Chad Johnson, or Larry Fitzgerald. Much of the talk is that neither of those guys are attainable, but we'll see.

Will the young guys fill the veteran void? Last year, Omar Gaither did a phenomenal job at being the leader of the defense. He was extremely vocal on the field and I think he did better than most expected at replacing Trotter. Next year, I'd expect Gaither to return to the weakside with Bradley in the middle and Gocong on the strong side. The Eagles have Akeem Jordan as depth, but I'd expect them to draft another linebacker for depth. Clemons may be able to play some linebacker if need be, but I doubt the Eagles would use him there unless there was an emergency circumstance.