CAN HEAR CLEARWATER CALLING
Thanks to those of you who joined me for the live chat during today's Donovan McNabb/Andy Reid press conference.
Their actual comments during the relatively short meeting with the media were pretty dull (I know, surprise, surprise).
McNabb said the next two years are extremely important to him. He said he wants to retire as an Eagle and will definitely be playing beyond two years, but he said they'll deal with an extension down the line. Right now his focus is on winning a Super Bowl in Philly in the next two seasons.
Reid said it was important for both sides to get a deal done, and commented that he thinks McNabb is the best quarterback in the league.
During the chat, many of you asked if this will cause some problems in the locker room when other players see the team redid McNabb's deal.
Joe Banner has carried the same stance on this issue over the years. The team only reworks existing deals that have multiple years on them in extreme cases, such as the one with Brian Westrbook last year.
We know from comments by other players that they took notice of Westbrook's deal.
Banner tried to explain the team's philosophy during a TV interview on CSN after today's press conference.
"We want all of our players to be happy," he said. "The reality is we're never gonna have all of them happy, and obviously the quarterback and the leader is another level of wanting a player to be happy."
It's not complicated. Companies value some employees more than others. The Eagles believed there was value in reworking McNabb's deal, just as they felt it was worthwhile to redo Westbrook's last year.
They didn't feel the same way about Lito Sheppard, and they don't feel the same way about Sheldon Brown.
More later.
Click here for our chat transcript from earlier.
