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Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Sheldon should be seething

The Eagles and Donovan McNabb's agent Fletcher Smith are trying to rework the final two years of the quarterback's contract, according to a report from Comcast SportsNet's Derrick Gunn.

The essence of the report, which cites a league source, is that the team might guarantee McNabb's 2009 and 2010 salaries and perhaps even give him a bump in pay to elevate his annual average salary among NFL quarterbacks. McNabb is scheduled to make $9.2 million this season and $10 million next season. The second year of that deal is not guaranteed.

If this report is true, cornerback Sheldon Brown has every right to be seething in South Carolina right now, because he is underpaid by cornerback standards.

Brown has four years left on his deal as opposed to McNabb's two years, but the cornerback told me earlier this spring that he'd be willing to rework his deal rather than rip up the current contract. The veteran cornerback has $1.75 million escalator clauses in each of the final three seasons of his deal. A league source said those clauses are Pro Bowl incentives.

Brown has never made the Pro Bowl during his seven-year career, but he also has never missed a game. He said he'd be  happy if the Eagles guaranteed the $5.25 million in incentives over the final three years of the deal.

If the Eagles are willing to guarantee McNabb $10 million or more, then they should be willing to talk to Brown about his contract, too.

 

 

Posted by Bob Brookover @ 9:03 AM  Permalink | 79 comments
79
Comments   
Posted 09:41 AM, 06/03/2009
brmorgen81
Sheldon Brown is expendable. McNabb is not. End of story.
Posted 09:42 AM, 06/03/2009
gaitherfan
Sheldon has NO right. He has FOUR years left on his contract... no Pro Bowl appearrances... no All-Pro selections... and by not showing up he could very well bump himself out of the starting 11 on D. McNabb is a franchise QB. Brookover, you sir, are an idiot.
Comment removed.
Posted 09:50 AM, 06/03/2009
phila1
Apples and Oranges. A 34 yr old QB can be effective. No 34 year old CB can be effective unless his name is Darell Green.
Posted 09:56 AM, 06/03/2009
crazyeyes
Sheldon Brown has been a warrior and if the team is willing to give McNabb a raise then why not Sheldon. THey have plenty of cap space. I was opposed to giving Lito a raise, but I think Sheldon deserves it.
Posted 09:57 AM, 06/03/2009
birdsfaninnc
Umm....the eagles have starter quality cornerbacks on the roster behind brown...they don't have starter quality quarterback.
Posted 09:58 AM, 06/03/2009
boltfan
I always felt if the contract was good enough to sign its good enough to honor,its giving them your word you will perform that service for that peroid of time.Honor your word.
Comment removed.
Posted 10:04 AM, 06/03/2009
bobbyuk
Apparently Bob, you weren't listening to Banner when he said there weren't very many, if any, contracts reworked in the league with 4 seasons left on them.
Posted 10:10 AM, 06/03/2009
Dierte
Brown hasn't done much for this team except for being a manageable starting CB. McNabb has taken this team to 5 NFC Championships and a Super Bowl.
Posted 10:13 AM, 06/03/2009
bsaw
It might be considered fair to Sheldon but a QB situation cannot even be compared
Posted 10:14 AM, 06/03/2009
cujat13
Big difference between a franchise QB with only 2 years left on a deal and a good(but not great) CB with 4 years left. There is absolutely no legitimate comparison here....NONE!
Posted 10:17 AM, 06/03/2009
hope55
So let me get this straight...Sheldon wants them to guarantee him an additional $1.75 in Pro Bowl incentives even if he doesn't make the Pro-Bowl for each of the next three seasons, while He's already scheduled to make $2mil this season...And the justification for doing so is that he's underpaid by cornerback standards and he's never missed a game in his 7 year career...I won't hate on the guy because he has been a loyal Eagle. The Birds are paying Hanson roughly 4.2 mil per season to back up Brown...he would not beat Sheldon out in an open competition...However, Sheldon still has 4 seasons remaining on a deal that is, in essence, paying him $3mil per in you include the $7mil bonus that he received on the top end. If it is so completely far fetched that Sheldon could actually EARN a pro-bowl spot so that he can legitimately stake claim to those incentives and a renegotiation in earnest, then I can understand his wanted to get traded.
Posted 10:18 AM, 06/03/2009
ACBaughman
Shut up and play football.
Comment removed.
About Birds' Eye View Blog

Bob Brookover, left, is in his seventh year of covering the Philadelphia Eagles after spending 15 years covering the Philadelphia Phillies for the Inquirer and two other newspapers. The 45-year-old Brookover lives in Delran with his wife Francine and roots for Notre Dame and Michigan State, the two schools attended by his children, Justine and Ryan. When Notre Dame plays Michigan State, he cheers for the school of the child he likes more at that particular moment.

Jeff McLane, right, joined the Eagles beat in April 2009 after two years of covering colleges, namely Penn State football. Before that he covered high school sports for The Inquirer. Before that he worked in the mailroom (not quite). Informed that his father is no longer covering the Lions, McLane's eldest, three-year-old son said, "You mean Simba, Scar and Mufasa, Daddy?" His two-year-old son -- excited about the move to the Eagles -- said, "Go, Deigo, Go!" or something like that. His wife of five-plus years, however, had a different take on the new job. "Another five years is in question," she said. Check out McLane on Twitter and Facebook for instant updates on the Eagles.
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