'I Don't Trust Nick Sirianni' - Former Defender Shifts After Stoutland Exit Changes Everything

Sometimes it takes one moment to change everything. For Eagles fans who've tried to stay patient with Nick Sirianni, Jeff Stoutland walking out the door was that moment.

"I've been a Nick Sirianni defender," Zander Krause admitted on The National Football Show. "Not a glazer, but I try to defend him. But you know what just made me realize? That Nick has all the control now and I don't trust him. I don't trust him."

That shift didn't come from a bad game or a questionable play call. It came from watching the Eagles systematically dismantle every guardrail that kept Sirianni in check. Stoutland gone. Fangio considering retirement. Lane Johnson aging out. The adults have left the building.

"I trusted it more when there was structure," Krause explained. "I trusted it more when Jeff Stoutland is managing it. I trusted it more when Vic Fangio is there. Now that some of those old guard foundational pieces are not in place anymore, I feel as though that I don't trust it as much."

Here's the uncomfortable truth buried in that statement: the faith was never really in Sirianni. It was in the veterans around him who masked his deficiencies. Remove them, and what's left?

The theory on why Sirianni made this move is almost understandable when you hear it laid out: his offense was "condensing," the league caught up to the power-running scheme, and if he was going to fail either way, why not swing for the fences with a new approach?

"If it failed with the same offense, he's fired," Krause noted. "If it changes and fails, he's fired. So if you're going to be fired either way, wouldn't you rather give yourself a shot?"

That's the calculation. It's also the problem. Sirianni isn't making decisions based on what's best for the Eagles — he's making decisions based on his own survival. And that should terrify every fan watching.

"This is boom or bust," was the final verdict. "Nick and his guys and the offense... you better be right about Sean Mannion. Because you just pushed Jeff Stoutland out the door for a dude that we don't know a lick about."

The Eagles have two Super Bowls in franchise history. Both featured dominant offensive line play. Both were coached by Jeff Stoutland. Now he's gone, and the man who pushed him out has bet his career on an unproven scheme with an unproven coordinator. Good luck with that.