Despite repeatedly saying that if the Eagles’ wanted him, he would sign with them tomorrow, free agent wideout T. J. Houshmandzadeh has signed with the Seattle Seahawks.

The deal is reportedly worth five-years, $40 million, with more than $15 million guaranteed.

There’s no doubt that over the coming days, weeks and months ahead, Joe Banner and Andy Reid will march out the meriad of excuses and rationalizations for why the Eagles failed to sign the top free agent wideout in this year’s free agent crop. No matter what they say, it doesn’t matter. The ridiculous economics of the Eagles’ front office have once again thwarted the team’s ability to actually look like it was trying to win.

Letting fan favorites Brian Dawkins and Jon Runyan go is fine; they’re both aging veterans well past their prime. Letting Correll Buckhalter walk to Denver is fine as well; how many small, injury prone running backs can you possibly pay? But the Eagles now risk a revolt by the fanbase unlike anything we’ve seen in Philadelphia in years.

The fans, and Donovan McNabb for that matter, are fed up with the same old line that the receivers on this team are adequate to get the job done. Desean Jackson is going to be a solid, if not studly, wide receiver in the NFL for years to come. Kevin Curtis is a really nice, if somewhat limited, receiver. But Jackson is still very young and Curtis is probably better suited to being a #2 guy. And then the talent drops off. Greg Lewis, Hank Baskett, Jason Avant? Merely pieces to a puzzle, absolutely not the answer. And the Eagles absolutely need to cut ties with Reggie Brown. That experiment has clearly failed.

The weapons situation has clearly gotten so bad on this team that McNabb, a notorious company man, has finally spoken out demanding that the front office get him someone to throw the ball to. McNabb’s main weapon, Brian Westbrook, is starting to break down physically, and can not be utilized as often as the Eagles need a primary weapon to be on the field.

The Eagles absolutely needed to sign Houshmandzadeh. They have $48 million of capspace to work with, something they have been tirelessly working towards for years. So what exactly have they been saving for? The free agent wideout talent seriously drops off after Housh. Next on the list, Bobby Engram, and Devery Henderson. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they already have Kevin Curtis. Engram and Henderson are nice players, but not what the Eagles need. I’ll take Curtis over either of them anyway.

Chances are the Eagles’ front office is not going to catch lightening in a bottle two years in a row by drafting another Desean Jackson type receiver this late in the draft. That means they are going to have to get the weapon through a trade.

That means the Eagles are going to have to trade for Anquan Boldin. Yea, unlikely.

I give up.