Mamma Mia!, It's Money, Money, Money (Problems Again) with the Philadelphia Eagles
Sunday July 20, 2008
The Philadelphia Eagles open training camp tomorrow. As seems to occur every year, there are a number of disgruntled players. The reason? Money. It's certainly not a problem unique to the Eagles, but it never fails to get under my skin.
This year the players making the headlines are Brian Westbrook and Leto Sheppard. Their situations are different, but both problems could be solved by new contracts. That solution would be wrong in both cases.
Westbrook is under contract for three more years. He is scheduled to make a base salary of $3 million this season plus a $1.5 million roster bonus, i.e. $1.5 million for "making" the team. His contract calls for him to make $3.5 million in 2009 and $4.5 million in 2010. That's not bad money from my perspective or from the perspective of almost every Eagles fan who struggles to buy a ticket to the game or to pay for cable to see it.
Only Westbrook, and his recently fired agent, know what Westbrook is looking for, but a good guess is in the $6-$7 million per season range. Does Westbrook deserve that kind of money? A comparison to the salaries of other top running backs says yes. Team economics and the need to field a quality team in the salary cap era say no.
The Eagles signed free agent cornerback Asante Samuel to a six-year, $57 million in February. That's an average of over $9 million a season. Had they not paid that type of money, they would not have been able to sign the player who was arguably the top player available in the free agent pool.
Once they signed Samuel, however, the floodgates open and other players, even those under contract, began to demand more money. When it comes to contracts football no longer is a team sport, but a sport of individual players are screaming "me, me, and me." Lito Sheppard, whom Samuel replaced as a starter immediately began to make noise. It has now become clear that the Eagles plan on retaining Sheppard (who is under contract), Sheppard fired his agent and hired Drew Rosenhaus. Yes, that's the same guy who represents former Eagle bad boy Terrell Owens. Look for the volume and tone of discussion between Sheppard and the Eagles to rise in coming weeks.
In all of the years I've followed the Eagles, I can only recall one player agreeing to take a salary cut to remain on the team and help the team sign players it needed to make a Super Bowl run. That player is offensive tackle Jon Runyon. He is a rare commodity - a true team player.
Most star players ignore the fact that they already are under contract and that the NFL is a salary cap league. If every team paid each of their star players the money they claim they are worth, than there would be scant little left to pay the other 40-45 players on the roster.
Maybe Westbrook, Sheppard and a few other Eagles do deserve more money. I have to wonder which players they would like to have cut from the team to pay them their desired salaries. Will they get their money? My guess is that Westbrook will, either in mid-season or before the 2009 season begins. The Eagles need Westbrook. As for Sheppard, look for him to be elsewhere by opening day. The Eagles have dealt with a disgruntled player with Drew Rosenhaus as his agent before. I doubt they want to go through that circus again.
This year the players making the headlines are Brian Westbrook and Leto Sheppard. Their situations are different, but both problems could be solved by new contracts. That solution would be wrong in both cases.
Westbrook is under contract for three more years. He is scheduled to make a base salary of $3 million this season plus a $1.5 million roster bonus, i.e. $1.5 million for "making" the team. His contract calls for him to make $3.5 million in 2009 and $4.5 million in 2010. That's not bad money from my perspective or from the perspective of almost every Eagles fan who struggles to buy a ticket to the game or to pay for cable to see it.
Only Westbrook, and his recently fired agent, know what Westbrook is looking for, but a good guess is in the $6-$7 million per season range. Does Westbrook deserve that kind of money? A comparison to the salaries of other top running backs says yes. Team economics and the need to field a quality team in the salary cap era say no.
The Eagles signed free agent cornerback Asante Samuel to a six-year, $57 million in February. That's an average of over $9 million a season. Had they not paid that type of money, they would not have been able to sign the player who was arguably the top player available in the free agent pool.
Once they signed Samuel, however, the floodgates open and other players, even those under contract, began to demand more money. When it comes to contracts football no longer is a team sport, but a sport of individual players are screaming "me, me, and me." Lito Sheppard, whom Samuel replaced as a starter immediately began to make noise. It has now become clear that the Eagles plan on retaining Sheppard (who is under contract), Sheppard fired his agent and hired Drew Rosenhaus. Yes, that's the same guy who represents former Eagle bad boy Terrell Owens. Look for the volume and tone of discussion between Sheppard and the Eagles to rise in coming weeks.
In all of the years I've followed the Eagles, I can only recall one player agreeing to take a salary cut to remain on the team and help the team sign players it needed to make a Super Bowl run. That player is offensive tackle Jon Runyon. He is a rare commodity - a true team player.
Most star players ignore the fact that they already are under contract and that the NFL is a salary cap league. If every team paid each of their star players the money they claim they are worth, than there would be scant little left to pay the other 40-45 players on the roster.
Maybe Westbrook, Sheppard and a few other Eagles do deserve more money. I have to wonder which players they would like to have cut from the team to pay them their desired salaries. Will they get their money? My guess is that Westbrook will, either in mid-season or before the 2009 season begins. The Eagles need Westbrook. As for Sheppard, look for him to be elsewhere by opening day. The Eagles have dealt with a disgruntled player with Drew Rosenhaus as his agent before. I doubt they want to go through that circus again.
Comments
Rosenhaus knows the Eagles play hardball. They made him look like a FOOL in front of the nation. He won’t make that mistake twice.