Rams trade LJ Will Witherspoon to Eagles

by JasonB on Oct 20, 2009 3:42 PM CDT

The Eagles official site has confirmed that they have traded rookie WR Brandon Gibson and a 5th round draft pick for linebacker Will Witherspoon.

Witherspoon has played both the WILL and the MIKE position, the latter which he'll likely focus on as an Eagles. With Omar Gaither potentially out with a foot sprain, Trotter clearly not at game speed, and Joe Mays failing to impress the Eagles obviously felt like they needed to make a move to shore up their linebacking corps.

The fear you have with any midseason trade and a reason such moves are so rare in the NFL is that it usually takes a player a long time to learn a team's system and playbook. The great thing about Witherspoon is that he's spent the entire year learning the Eagles' system from Rams' head coach Steve Spagnuolo, who spent many years here as a defensive assistant. The learning curve for Witherspoon should be minimal.

From a Rams' perspective, they get a young WR in Gibson who showed promise in the preseason but has been unable to crack a spot on the Eagles' active roster yet this year. If he can get some playing time and pick up where he left off in the preseason, Gibson could be a solid player. Plus, more picks for a team looking to stock itself with talent is never a bad thing.

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Comments

Gotta be salary cap related...

…otherwise my faith in Devaney is waning.

by JohnMatuszakloveschunk on Oct 20, 2009 3:45 PM CDT reply actions

BAD MOVE FOR THE RAMS I DONT SEE HOW WE WIN WITH THAT TRADE

by james535 on Oct 20, 2009 3:47 PM CDT reply actions

Eagles fan here

Just a question – can Witherspoon cover a tightend?

RIP Jim Johnson, best ever.

by Imp on Oct 20, 2009 3:52 PM CDT reply actions

Witherspoon DOES IT ALL

one of our only playmakers.

by JohnMatuszakloveschunk on Oct 20, 2009 3:55 PM CDT up reply actions

No, he doesn't do it all

But he’s a decent starting LB. Natural Will but played out of position in the Mike for most of the last few years. He’s not bad at all, but not going to Hawaii either

As far as being a playmaker, he has Zero INT’s and Zero Sacks and Zero FR’s this year. So….not sure what the definition of playmaker is but to me it’s not simply tackling… he’s 2nd on the team in tackles.

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Oct 20, 2009 5:27 PM CDT up reply actions

iam shocked

I really would think will is worth more then that. at least a 3rd or 4th and another young receiver? I think we have enough of those. Will is getting older and wasn’t making a lot of plays but still he is a proven veteran that we know can play. I think the rams front office just wanted some picks and where interested in this young receiver and the deadline was coming too fast and they just panicd and hit the button. As of right now i do not like this decision unless we find a will witherspoon with this 5th round pick or this guy turns out to be jerry rice.

by keeperskillz24 on Oct 20, 2009 5:07 PM CDT reply actions

My thoughts exactly

Especially on the panicked front office

Reserved-- been waiting 6 weeks to have this sig, I guess I can wait 1 more

by Carneros on Oct 20, 2009 5:19 PM CDT up reply actions

You can not be serious

Paniced? C’mon. We can debate the value we got for him but it’s hardly a panic move.

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Oct 20, 2009 5:28 PM CDT up reply actions

I agree.

This is all planned out.

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

by Tackle Box on Oct 20, 2009 10:11 PM CDT up reply actions

If you are up against the deadline

and they make an offer that is just below what you’d expect there’s not a lot of time to negotiate so you may end up taking an offer that is not exactly as much as you wanted going into negotiations.

Reserved-- been waiting 6 weeks to have this sig, I guess I can wait 1 more

by Carneros on Oct 20, 2009 11:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Or, they have been scouting the Eagles since they were so deep at WR

and knew Gibson was a guy who was burried, had talent they liked, and would possibly be available?

So, not much time was needed.

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

by Tackle Box on Oct 21, 2009 12:11 PM CDT up reply actions

Didn't we sign one of their DT castaways in the preseason?

And didn’t they get one of our WR’s a while back by name of Curtis?

These teams are fairly familiar with each other.

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Oct 23, 2009 8:03 PM CDT up reply actions

point taken

We’re still missing a WR of the calibre of Kevin Curtis

by edpjr on Oct 23, 2009 8:16 PM CDT up reply actions

2 games played (Week 1 & Week 2)

5 catches and 70 yards…..

…who’s probably out for the season (and possibly his career).

We’ve got plenty of receivers who can do that.

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

by Tackle Box on Oct 24, 2009 8:27 AM CDT up reply actions

Witherspoon had gone from good to mediocre.

We absolutely wasted his talent for 4 years. Now he’s 30, but might still have a few productive years with the Eagles. I don’t think we got much in return though. But as I have stated many times, I haven’t seen much wizardry from the front office and coaching staff wrt to drafting, trading, or picking up FA’s. I maintain that Laraunitis was our only good draft pick. We sure didn’t make any moves for WR’s like Marshall or Edwards. And who was that huge washed-up D-Lineman that we signed and carried for 3-4 weeks because he’d played under Spags before…?

by edpjr on Oct 22, 2009 8:01 PM CDT reply actions

Agree on Hollis, that was a waste of time, BUT

we have another draft pick in Jason Smith that hasn’t even been given enough snaps to make a judgement on and a QB who we have no idea what he’s really made of….could be a diamond, could be a brick, who knows.

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Oct 23, 2009 8:08 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, but I've been concerned about...

…Jason Smith’s poor performance in training camp. I mean getting plowed by 35 yr old Leonard Little and barely beating out Adam Goldberg to start. Does that really meet the expectations for the 2nd overall pick in the draft? Jake Long had no problem locking in instantly as a starter with Miami the year before. I still say Curry was the best available player for us to pick. As far as Null goes, I hope for the best, but he just barely edged out Brock Berlin late of the Lions… So my guess is we’re quite bereft of talent at the most important position in the game – QB.

by edpjr on Oct 23, 2009 8:24 PM CDT up reply actions

Laraunitis

If he doesn’t Defensive ROTY I am going to lose my friggin’ mind!!

by Brendan W on Oct 24, 2009 12:38 AM CDT up reply actions

on an 0-16 team? cya at the asylum.

by edpjr on Oct 24, 2009 1:37 AM CDT up reply actions

Also,

we’ve had the luxury of some pretty high draft picks the last three years. Can you imagine the difference in the team if Carriker, Long and Smith had turned out to be studs? Three star players out of 22 starters could’ve gone a long way toward winning some games. Especially when paired with our handful of other NFL calibre players like SJax, Jason Brown, Otogwe, Bartell, Lauranitis and Butler.

by edpjr on Oct 23, 2009 8:34 PM CDT reply actions