October 14, 2012; Philadelphia, PA USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Jason Babin (93) and defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins (97) pressure Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Credit: Eric Hartline-US PRESSWIRE

Jason Babin was unceremoniously released yesterday by the Philadelphia Eagles the morning after playing in their Monday night loss to the Carolina Panthers.  He played 40 of the team’s 56 defensive plays (71%) and recorded 4 tackles and a sack.  For the season, he’s started every game and played in over 60% of the defensive plays.  But, apparently the team decided the rise of rookie Vinny Curry made Babin and his high salary expendable.

Babin followed Defensive Line Coach Jim Matthews from Tennessee to the Eagles in 2011 signing a 5-year, $27.5 million contract (Babin is currently 32).  Although his production has dropped off this season, he still led the Eagles with 5.5 sacks and is a 2-time Pro Bowler.  One could certainly argue that the entire team’s production has dropped off in a fairly miserable 3-8 season so far including an unprecedented (under Andy Reid) seven straight losses.  Babin was never a fan favorite but the team’s struggles made him a bit of a target.

There is little doubt the Cowboys could use Babin.  The defense has been decimated and the loss of Kenyon Coleman for the season has made a noticeable difference in the run game defense.   Babin is smaller than Coleman (6’3″, 260 lbs for Babin versus 6’5″ and 295 lbs for Coleman) and has always been known as a pass rusher.  So, he wouldn’t necessarily plug the holes in the run defense, but adding another pass rusher to complement DeMarcus Ware certainly would not be a bad thing and something the Cowboys have been trying to do for a number of years.

The question isn’t whether they could use him in my opinion.  The question is 1) Can they afford him?, and 2) What other teams are interested in him?  Clearly, there is a cap issue for the Cowboys, but there is also plenty of dead weight so the Cowboys could probably find a way to make him fit.  But, Babin must go through waivers first.  That means another team has 24 hours to put in a claim for him.  If more than one team puts in a claim, then the team with the worst won-loss record is awarded the player and his full, existing contract.  If no one claims him, then he becomes a free agent and is free to negotiate a new deal with another team (or even the Eagles).  The Cowboys don’t need another bloated contract, so I would not expect them to put in a claim for him on waivers.  However, if he clears waivers then it could be very beneficial for the Cowboys to try to work out a deal.  As always, there will be other teams in the mix that may want him more.  But, wouldn’t it be sweet after the Asomugha fiasco a couple of seasons ago to pick up a pretty good ex-Eagle.  And, it would also likely be attractive to Babin to stick it to the Eagles by signing with their division rivals.  If it could be done quickly enough, Babin could likely give us some good information about the Eagles defense ahead of this Sunday night, nationally televised game.  The Cowboys have been awful on this stage historically and the odds of the Cowboys making it eight straight losses for the Eagles are not good in my opinion.  Any bit of information Babin could bring us along with his play on the field would be a big help.

I wouldn’t get your hopes up Cowboy fans, but it’s nice to dream about Jerry and his brain trust making moves that don’t involve signing players that no one else wanted (no offense, Poppinga and Armstrong, we’re glad to have you, but…).  At least we’d have something new to talk about instead of watching another season slowly and painfully slip away like a dripping faucet.  We’d have to win out to go 10-6 at this point and that may not even be good enough.  It’s likely that only the division winner in the NFC East gets into the playoffs while the rest stay home.  We have some work to do, no doubt.  Go Cowboys!

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Tobes: Philly fans and the press are notorious for being some of the worst in the league. How have you handled the transition from Tennessee back to Philly and dealing with the press and the fans?

January 1, 2012; Philadelphia, PA USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Jason Babin (93) against the Washington Redskins at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles defeated the Redskins 34-10. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-US PRESSWIRE

JB: The fans and press are very vocally strong; it’s one way or the other. They either love you or you are garbage, it really depends on whether you won or lost. They are going to let you know one way or the other. The thing I have learned is you have to have thick skin.

Tobes: I have seen tweets of posters of you on the streets of Philadelphia in the Mr. Olympia pose. So I guess right now you are the super star.

JB: Right now I guess I am getting it done for now, you know? It takes everyone, the players, coaches, trainers, the weight lifting coaches the general managers.

Tobes: Describe to me the mood of the locker room this year as opposed to last year given the recent passing of Andy Reid’s son passing.

JB: I think the overall mood of our locker room, without coming off insensitive, it is the same as it should be. Obviously, at the time, it was a shock. He was one of the guys and was around all the time. It hurt a lot of the fellas who were pretty close to him. It caught everybody off guard.

Tobes: Given the closeness between Michael Vick and Garrett Reid, do you think that may be playing a part in Vick’s struggles? He isn’t playing his typical self.

JB: There is only one person that can answer that. I don’t want speculate on something I know nothing about.

Tobes: Describe for me your off season training regimen.

JB: I think a lot of guys take time off. I transition into using lower impact, a little more cardiovascular cross-fit yoga type activities. I just like to stay fit, it makes me feel better.

Tobes: It’s obvious you are an avid hunter. During football season are you able to sneak off and hunt or do you go during the bye week?

Jan 01, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Jason Babin (93) gets past Washington Redskins offensive tackle Tyler Polumbus (74) during the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles defeated the Redskins 34-10. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

JB: A little bit of both. We are over on the Jersey side and there is an area Trent Cole and I can sneak off a do a little bow hunting. I have to balance football, being a husband and father. Other states out west go past the first of the year. I am able to go to Alaska and do some hunting in May.

Tobes: I noticed on your Facebook page you have a photo of a bear you had killed. Most people have their gun or bow lying on the bear but you did not have one. Do you practice sacking quarterbacks by jumping bears and killing them with your bare hands?

JB: Up in the Michigan area there is a small island we hunt and the tide moves in at dusk. I had recently shot that bear with my bow and the tide was coming in. We had to move quickly to get the bear back on the mainland. I left my bow on shore and we ran out there and took a quick photo before we hauled it back in.

Tobes: There were some rumors on the internet that you were planning to run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. What happened to those plans and is that still in your future.

JB: Well, I will say this. I didn’t see the big deal about running with the bulls but ESPN starting having polls about how crazy that was. Then Coach Reid called me into his office and suggested it was a good decision not to do it. At the time, he asked me to wait unit I finish my football career and I agreed. And my word is my bond.

Tobes: From 2009 to 2010 your sack count exploded. Did you get a new trainer or did you learn to shape shift. Tell us what happened.

JB: The biggest thing for me was opportunity. I started getting extra playing time. I wasn’t the only one that had increased sack count, look at Chris Clemons, he had double digit sacks the same year as I did.

Tobes: Last year, there was a lot of controversy with defensive coordinator Juan Castillo transitioning from offensive coordinator to defensive coordinator. How did the defense handle the transition and was there an issue of respect for Mr. Castillo or was it business as usual.

Oct 7, 2012; Pittsburgh , PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall (34) runs the ball past Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Justin Babin (93) during the first half of the game at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-US PRESSWIRE

JB: No, it was business as usual. Last year we had to deal with the lock out, a new coach and it took longer than Juan wanted it to. The biggest thing that Juan preaches is to win your one on ones and you will be successful.

Tobes: I notice you start in different positions on the line of scrimmage. Was that a particular challenge for you or is that how you play?

JB: That is what got me drafted. The style I play now, inside or outside that is how I played in Western Michigan under the great Jim Knowles.

Tobes: Who is the one quarterback you are looking forward to sacking this year?

JB: Whoever the last quarterback of the year we play. The last official sack of the regular season.

Tobes: Do you have a favorite sack or game last year?

JB: I think the Jets game for me, personally. I couldn’t do any wrong. It was a fun game to play and everything was working for me. The second favorite was when I stripped the ball from Eli Manning to end the game against the Giants.

Tobes: On a scale from 1 to 10. 1 being your first kiss and 10 being the birth of your sons where does last year’s sack of Tony Romo lay?

JB: Well, I think it wasn’t the sack that ranks. It was when I hit him and hurt his hand that took him out of the game. That was little more momentous taking him out of the game and forcing the backup in.

It is less than 24 hours from kickoff, so with no further adieu, we will get right to the question of the week.

Ben, San Antonio :How are the cowboys gonna stop the suddenly-hot eagles who are coming off of an offensive beat-down scoring 45 points vs The jets defense?

Mark Contreras: I don’t think they’re going to stop the Eagles. I think Romo and the offense are going to have to out score Vick and the Eagles and its gonna be in the 30s.. In fact, the game is going to look a lot like the Giants game two weeks ago in my opinion.. Just hopefully with a different ending. If the corners play as well as they did in Tampa, I might be wrong, but don’t call me crazy for being skeptical. If a FG kicker misses 13 times in a row and then makes the 14th, do you feel confident about the 15th kick? Me neither. Same goes for this secondary… I’m still extremely skeptical.

Click on the link to read some alternative opinions.

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