Apparently-Lito Shepperd ain't the only UNhappy Bird...

[Boysboy]

Long article-but here's a snippet of what this writer said...interesting stuff...

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports...about-face_on_Eagles_cornerback_Sheppard.html

This much is clear: This is not the kind of disruption a team with Super Bowl ambitions needs right now. Lito won't turn his contract situation into the circus that Terrell Owens did a few years back. But he's always needed ideal circumstances to be at his best. He's never played well hurt and it's doubtful he'll play well with a bruised psyche and a contract he doesn't want.

Throw in the fact that Brian Westbrook also isn't happy with his contract, and that Brown, who signed a long-term extension about the same time as his pal Sheppard, also thinks he is underpaid, and well, it could get interesting. And I don't mean that in a good way.

 

[dargonking999]

Wait didn't westbrook just sign two years ago?

and he's already unhappy?

Jesus man, can't these players ever sign a decent contract?

 

[Eskimo]

I doubt the Eagles re-negotiate any of these deals as that is not there way. The players will play or be suspended, IMO. The only ones that get traded are the ones they don't want anymore anyway.

Philly FO plays hardball with contracts.

 

[Seven]

Wait didn't westbrook just sign two years ago?

and he's already unhappy?

Jesus man, can't these players ever sign a decent contract?

Ellis' second cousin.

 

[trickblue]

Look... any self-respecting player is gonna be pissed off that they have to play in Philly...

 

[CowboyWay]

As the cap goes up, every player gets a smaller percentage of the pot. It is amazing just how many of these guys are disgruntled though.

 

[whcarm]

I'm sorry, after I read that the author said that the Eagles were a team with Super Bowl ambitions, I really couldn't stop laughing.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Wait didn't westbrook just sign two years ago?

and he's already unhappy?

Jesus man, can't these players ever sign a decent contract?

The players and their agents should be blamed here. While it's an unwritten rule that the contracts are not as long as they say they are and the player and team is supposed to re-negotiate if the player starts to outplay their contract, it should be blatantly obvious what the Eagles are trying to do each time they give a new contract to a player early on in their career. They are basically trying to get the player on the cheap and have no intent of re-doing the contract. Yet, so many players on the Eagles roster went ahead and signed these new contracts and now they are stuck with a contract they don't like because they've outplayed them and the Eagles won't negotiate a new one with them.




YAKUZA

 

[Kangaroo]

The players and their agents should be blamed here. While it's an unwritten rule that the contracts are not as long as they say they are and the player and team is supposed to re-negotiate if the player starts to outplay their contract, it should be blatantly obvious what the Eagles are trying to do each time they give a new contract to a player early on in their career. They are basically trying to get the player on the cheap and have no intent of re-doing the contract. Yet, so many players on the Eagles roster went ahead and signed these new contracts and now they are stuck with a contract they don't like because they've outplayed them and the Eagles won't negotiate a new one with them.




YAKUZA

The players need to make sure they sign shorter contracts then and it is not liek they have to give back any signing bonus if they under perform

 

[Wolfpack]

I'm sorry, after I read that the author said that the Eagles were a team with Super Bowl ambitions, I really couldn't stop laughing.

:trophy:

Me too.

 

[burmafrd]

The bit about Westbrook surprised me since he did sign a long term deal.

 

[kmd24]

The players and their agents should be blamed here. While it's an unwritten rule that the contracts are not as long as they say they are and the player and team is supposed to re-negotiate if the player starts to outplay their contract, it should be blatantly obvious what the Eagles are trying to do each time they give a new contract to a player early on in their career. They are basically trying to get the player on the cheap and have no intent of re-doing the contract. Yet, so many players on the Eagles roster went ahead and signed these new contracts and now they are stuck with a contract they don't like because they've outplayed them and the Eagles won't negotiate a new one with them.




YAKUZA

Yeah, and it's a one-way street. If the player underperforms, he gets cut or gets his contract renegotiated.

 

[Stash]

Westbrook's got that team over a barrel if he so chooses.

He is that franchise. The offense is nothing without him. We know it, he knows it, and they know it.

There are two wrongs at work here. For every disgruntled player, there's a Deuce McAlister being made to take a paycut.

How would you feel if you were as important to the team as Westbrook and had to watch Asante Samuel come in off the street and double your salary?

I know how I'd feel.

 

[BulletBob]

How would you feel if you were as important to the team as Westbrook and had to watch Asante Samuel come in off the street and double your salary?

I dunno - maybe grateful to God to have given me the talent to play a game that we all love for a living and actually get paid millions of dollars to do it?

 

[Stash]

I dunno - maybe grateful to God to have given me the talent to play a game that we all love for a living and actually get paid millions of dollars to do it?

Maybe Westbrook should take a paycut since the Eagles are doing him such a favor?

Samuel probably needs more money anyway.

 

[WoLF2001]

They prolly need to pay extra to play in that ****hole anyway..

 

[DallasFanSince86]

Look... any self-respecting player is gonna be pissed off that they have to play in Philly...

:laugh2: true

I'm sorry, after I read that the author said that the Eagles were a team with Super Bowl ambitions, I really couldn't stop laughing.

Me too.

 

[AbeBeta]

the Eagles' practice of signing 2nd year players long term is eventually going to bite them as those guys see others in their draft class getting huge deals

 

[Dodger12]

The players and their agents should be blamed here. While it's an unwritten rule that the contracts are not as long as they say they are and the player and team is supposed to re-negotiate if the player starts to outplay their contract, it should be blatantly obvious what the Eagles are trying to do each time they give a new contract to a player early on in their career. They are basically trying to get the player on the cheap and have no intent of re-doing the contract. Yet, so many players on the Eagles roster went ahead and signed these new contracts and now they are stuck with a contract they don't like because they've outplayed them and the Eagles won't negotiate a new one with them.

This scenarios is a win-win for both parties. The player gets and instant raise and the team saves money in the long run by paying market value at the time of the extension as opposed to waiting a year or two when the market and cap increase. It also avoids a bidding war should the player hit the FA market. It's the same philosophy and approach we took with Crayton, Ratliff and soon with Ware (and wish we took with TNew).

At some point, any good player is going to outplay his contract a couple of years down the road. It's going to happen when Ware gets extended as well. This shouldn't come as any surprise to the players but the team can't continue to renegotiate every time it happens.

 

[Stash]

An Eagles fan friend of mine tried to rationalize the Eagles' way of thinking with regard to players.

He stated that the Eagles would rather pay a large sum of money to a proven player like Asante Samuel than to pay it to a rookie. That was how he explained them trading out of Round 1 recently.

I countered that the reasoning was sound, given the current payscales for rookies. But if the rest of the league doesn't follow the Eagles' thinking that they would continue to get 'second rate' talent for a 'second rate' price.

Still doesn't explain what they're doing with 'proven players' like Sheppard and Westbrook though.

I think if Brian Westbrook chooses to exert his current leverage, the Eagles could have a messy situation on their hands this year.