Eagles will attempt to resign tight end L.J. Smith

Eagles will attempt to resign tight end L.J. Smith

Quoting two league sources, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported the Philadelphia Eagles will make another attempt at resigning free-agent-to-be tight end L.J. Smith.

The Eagles never came close to an agreement with Smith's agent, Brian Mackler, when the sides tried to negotiate a contract extension.�It's also possible the Eagles could place the franchise tag on Smith. The franchise tag for tight ends is $4.37 million.

Smith, an unrestricted free agent limited to 10 games this year by groin and knee injuries. Smith finished the season with career lows in catches (22), receiving yards (236), yards per catch (10.7) and touchdowns (1).

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Kitna: "Firing Martz would be a mistake''

Quarterback Jon Kitna, who has taken beating after beating because of the lack of a running game, believes the Detroit Lions should keep Mike Martz as offensive coordinator according to a report in the Detroit News.

Kitna, the starting quarterback under Martz for all 31 games the last two seasons, said it would be a mistake for the Lions to fire Martz after this season.

Martz has been an enigmatic and controversial figure since coach Rod Marinelli hired him in 2006 to run the offense. The passing game has improved greatly but the Lions have not achieved the success Martz had in St. Louis, where he was offensive coordinator in 1999 and coach from 2000-05. They have also failed to develop a running game.

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