Agent: Moulds wants to play for Eagles
By PAUL DOMOWITCH
pdomo@aol.com
ORLANDO, Fla. - Eric Moulds has a wish list of five teams he'd like to play for, and guess who's at the tippy-top of it?
That's right. The Eagles.
"Every time I mention Philadelphia, Eric's ears perk up," said Greg Johnson, who represents the 32-year-old Bills wide receiver along with his partner, Harry Henderson. "He wants to go to Philadelphia. He really feels he could help them. He loves the idea of being an Eagle and playing with Donovan [McNabb]."
Moulds wants out of Buffalo, and the Bills, who will have to pay him $7.1 million in salary and bonuses this year if he's on the team, are only too happy to oblige him. They have put the word out that he can be had for a second-day pick in next month's draft.
But don't start visualizing him in an Eagles uniform quite yet.
Johnson said he talked to Eagles president Joe Banner last week. He said there is "some interest" in Moulds by the Eagles, which an organization source also acknowledged.
But as much as Moulds would love to catch passes from McNabb, he is not interested in doing it for free, or anything close to free.
According to a source from one of the five teams on Moulds' wish list, which also includes New Eng-land, Seattle, Kansas City and Denver, the wide receiver is looking for a contract similar to the one Isaac Bruce signed with the St. Louis Rams 2 weeks ago.
Bruce, who is a year older than Moulds, signed a 3-year, $15 million contract with the Rams on March 10. He had been released by the team a few days earlier, before the league agreed to a new labor extension with the players that significantly increased the salary cap.
Moulds has as much chance of getting a $5 million-a-year deal from the Eagles as Saddam Hussein does of getting an acquittal. Whether he'll get it from anyone else remains to be seen.
"Right now, the money aspect is out of whack," said one league general manager. "If he wants to get traded, he's going to have to come to grips that he's not going to get that. Or maybe he will. Maybe there's a team that's willing to pay him that."
One league source indicated that there may be - the Houston Texans. But the Texans won just two games last season, which isn't exactly a great place for a wideout with Super Bowl aspirations and a ticking biological clock to go.
Johnson confirmed that the Texans have expressed interest in Moulds.
"They're very interested," he said. "There are other teams in the mix as well. We're going to play it by ear. We'll see what happens."
Since catching 100 passes for 1,292 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2002, Moulds' pass-catching production has dropped off significantly. He has just 10 touchdown catches and has averaged only 77.6 catches per year the last three seasons, though the poor offensive talent around him, particularly at quarterback, has had more than a little to do with that.
Johnson said Moulds has spoken recently with McNabb. He said the two have been friends for 5 or 6 years.
"Eric would like nothing better than to play with Donovan," he said. "He said he was looking forward to going out to Arizona and training with him [if he's traded to the Eagles]."
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/14195503.htm
