Philadelphia Eagles Are Simply Hedging Their Bets With Steve Smith Signing

As I'm sure you've heard by now, the Eagles have signed former Giants WR Steve Smith to a one year deal.  As you also may have heard, Jeremy Maclin has a mystery illness and DeSean Jackson is unhappy with his contract.

Did the status of the Eagles' top two wide receivers impact their decision to sign a player coming off of micro-fracture surgery eight months ago?

According to Jeff McLane, an Eagles source said the signing didn't have anything to do with Jeremy Maclin, at least.

However, I'm not buying it.  The Eagles just guaranteed $2 million to a player, when healthy, is a starting caliber receiver.  That's not exactly chump change and Smith isn't exactly "another body."

The Eagles signed him because they simply aren't sure what's going to happen with Maclin.  Then, you factor in a potentially combustible situation with Jackson's contract, and that's enough to make the Eagles want to have a good insurance policy.

I don't believe that the signing of Smith signifies anything definitive about Maclin's issue.  The Eagles are loaded up for a Super Bowl run, and even if they're only slightly concerned about Maclin and/or Jackson, it makes sense for them to add a guy like Smith.

They're just hedging their bets, plain and simple.  But to believe this doesn't have anything at all to do with Maclin's and/or Jackson's situations, that's just a little naive.  At the same time, believing it has everything to do that is overreacting.

Smith most likely won't be ready to play until October, so that says the Eagles do not have any immediate concerns with their wide receivers.  However, it does signify some concern. 

This signing also gives credence to the earlier rumors about the Eagles being interested in Randy Moss.  Even though they denied it, the Eagles most likely did contact Moss to gauge his interest.

In the end, the best thing about this signing is that if everything pans out okay with the Eagles' top two wide outs, they will ultimately have one heck of a WR corps in Jackson, Maclin, Smith, Avant and Cooper.

Add in LeSean McCoy, Brent Celek and Mike Vick...how do you stop that?  That would be a nightmare for defensive coordinators.