By Michael McCarthy
The Eagles cut Todd Herremans last week, and on Monday he showed why he is so highly regarded by fans and foes alike.
Herremans, who is 32 and was the longest tenured player on the Eagles roster, said on 97.5 FM The Fanatic that one of his biggest regrets is not being able to accomplish the goal of winning a championship for the city that drafted him.
“[Being cut] was definitely a little surprise to me. The more years you play here you keep telling yourself it’s coming eventually. I just thought after playing so long that I”d have a better feel for when it was going to come.
“I don’t really know everything that went into it. I can’t complain. It’s part of the game. I had a great time in Philadelphia. I love the organization. I think they’re heading in an awesome direction right now. I wish I could be part of it. But, it’s not in the cards, so it’s time to move on.”
Herremans says that it was Kelly that called and informed him that the team was heading in a different direction. Speculation is running rampant that Kelly will try to move up in April’s NFL draft and select Oregon quarterback and former Kelly pupil, Marcus Mariota.
“I would try to make a splash and go for it,” he said. “If you feel like that’s the one piece that’s missing for you to win a Super Bowl, then go for it. But you have to think about the picks you have to give up for it. You’re basically giving up top picks over the next few years and you could wind up basically depleting your roster. You only do that if you believe it’s the one piece that’s going to complete your team.
“I think that Nick Foles is a very unique player. The one thing you probably don’t know about him and he might not display it all the time is, he’s actually a really good athlete.
“I think he can pull the ball and run it. We’ve seen him do it for 6-10 yards sometimes. Everyone’s like ‘oh my God, we need someone to pull and run with the ball’, but in reality you only need that two to three times in a game and you don’t need him to run it 60 yards. That would be nice, but it’s not necessary.”
As he leaves the only NFL team he’s ever played for, Herremans says he believes the organization is headed in the right direction.
“I think the type of players that they’re getting in there with the system and Chip having final say on the roster, he’s going to get his players in there to run his offense. Everyone that he gets will be who he wants to run that offense the way he wants to run it. I think they’re going to be very explosive this year. Depending on what happens with Maclin and what happens with Shady [McCoy].
“I think the feeling around the building is a good one right now. the winning in Philadelphia
