Westbrook, Trotter react to Banner's departure
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Westbrook, Trotter react to Banner's departure
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The current group of Eagles has not had a lot to say about the departure of team president Joe Banner.
The reality is that most of them are happy with their contracts, and many of them have probably dealt more with general manager Howie Roseman.
But during the Eagles' most successful years, plenty of key players sat across the table from Banner, looking to maximize their earnings as professional football players. Yesterday, I wrote about Brian Dawkins, who was critical of Banner and explained why he thinks the Eagles are better off without him.
Former players Jeremiah Trotter and Brian Westbrook, both of whom had contract disputes with the Eagles and Banner, also recently chimed in with their reactions.
Trotter, speaking to Tony Bruno and Harry Mayes of 97.5 The Fanatic, seemed to understand that for the most part, Banner was just doing his job.
"When you look at what he’s done from a business standpoint, he was one of the best at what he did," Trotter said. "His job was to get the best players at the cheapest price. The Eagles made an art of that. It ruined a lot of relationships, it ruined some trust when it came to the players, but that’s what Mr. Lurie paid him to do."
The tales of Banner playing the bad cop to Andy Reid's good cop continually come up with the ex-players. None of them have a bad thing to say about Reid, but their opinions of Banner are completely different.
"It was hard for players to trust the front office, and a lot of times, Andy got caught in the middle of it because Andy was wearing two hats," Trotter said. "I know it’s tough for Andy sometimes trying to separate being the head coach and the guy that upstairs is working directly with Joe, when it came to getting these guys signed."
It will be very interesting to see what the reaction is the next time the Eagles have trouble getting a high-profile player signed. But this offseason, to their credit, Reid, Howie Roseman and company have done a good job keeping players like DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy happy.
"Even when you let guys go at the end of their careers, there’s a way of doing that," Trotter said. "The way Brian Dawkins left, there’s no way that he should have been ran out the door the way he was. Or if you’re going to let him go, just say 'hey, we’re going to move in a different direction.' Don’t tell the public that we offered him a good contract, but he didn’t want that."
Westbrook, meanwhile, also used Dawkins as an example.
"The one thing about Joe Banner is that he’s going to do what’s in the best interest of the team," he said, during an interview with Tim McManus and Eytan Shander on 97.5. "And for him, it was a straight business. It was by the numbers, and the problem that you have in that as a player is you build relationships, so it’s not necessarily only by the numbers. There’s a value having Brian Dawkins on that team, even though he’s not the guy that he was at 25, and by the numbers at 33, he should be declining in his play. It’s a value of having those types of guys on your team instead of letting him to go to Denver and allowing him to go to two Pro Bowls after that."
Westbrook also seemed to understand Banner's role within the organization, but agrees with Trotter that he could have done a better job in his relationships with players.
"His weakness, as we’ve seen, he just wasn’t a personable guy," Westbrook said. "He wasn’t a guy that was going to be able to talk to different players on the football team, and I think he would admit that. But at the same time, that wasn’t his every day responsibility."
Westbrook gave an interesting response when asked what the one thing was he wishes Banner would have done differently during his time with the Eagles. He said he wishes the team that made the Super Bowl after the 2004 season could have had stayed together for at least one more year.
"Terrell Owens, he was happy, him and Donovan were in harmony, things were going good," Westbrook said. "It was my understanding that Terrell just wanted the remainder of his contract guaranteed. If you can somehow keep that team in tact, that offensive staff in tact for another season... you would definitely be the favorites to win the Super Bowl. That offense [would have been] the No. 1 offense in the league for a long time, and we would have been so productive."
In the end, Westbrook said, the conflict between Banner and some of the team's high-profile players was difficult to avoid because both sides were just looking to make the most money.
"As a former player, I looked at Joe as the quote-unquote enemy, just because I sat across the table from Joe," he said. "I think if I was on Jeffrey Lurie’s side, I want a guy like Joe Banner hustling and trying to make sure that he saves every dime, every penny that he can for me as a football team. However, as a player, I’m sitting on the other side, and I want every dime. I’m fighting for every dime that I can have in my pocket."
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Thousands of contracts are negotiaed ever year with all the NFL, MLB,NBA,NHL Players,agents,and front offices are not pitted against one another with deceit, animosity, and distrust.....Joe was the master of spin, deceit, arrogance, and skinflintness.....We all know the FO holds the hammer, but in every successful business, there is respect between parties and deals get worked out...and harmony and teamwork and a collective good is acheived.....Unfortunatley for the Eagles the little guy complex and his need to dominate and diminish others led to many unhappy and unpleasant talks. Fortunately for the organization, Jeffery finally had enough of the aggrivation and discord.....Jeff is a very wealthy man who would like to enjoy his toy and only worry about wins and losses NOT the constant in-fighitng and bickering of his players, the agents and the accounting department... Jeff is not a stupid man and he saw the hand writing on the wall and if Joe had not been a long time friend, he would have be gone long ago......Thank you Jeffery for doing what is necessary....Now we will see how much tolerance you have for AR....I figure two more years at best and if the team does not make the SB he is history......Thank you Jeffery for clearing the air and eliminating negatives.....— nuggett- I say to state that Banner did his job well and his job wasn't to build a relationship with the players is inaccurate. No matter what you're buying or selling, it's always best to form as much a relationship as possible when negotiating. You have to build a trust there. You can't just sit there like a goon and say this is all I'm going to give. You have to let the person across from you know that you will do what you can, go to bat for them and build value in yourself and the organization in the process. He had players and agents coming to him with one thing in mind, we're going to have to battle and scratch and claw for every nickel out of this guy. That puts them in a position to not want to accept anything you put out there, no matter how good a deal it might be.— voodoochile75
- Are players wrong for wanting good pay for a job well done? I see a lot of names like, jerks, prima donna, spoiled. These are the people we buy tickets to see right?
— keithf35 - Remember Joe's quote after the Cardinal loss in the NFC Championship game under the stadium in Phoenix...'the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and ever again and expect different results'— Romus
- A lot of revisionist history here. The Eagles did offer Dawkins a contract and not a single club was willing to up the ante until the last minute when the Broncos jumped in and over paid him. I thought the whole thing should have been friendly on both sides since it was obvious that Denver paid him way more than any other club in the NFL thought he was worth. In the end, it was Dawkins who chose the money over the hometown team. It's childish that he was mad about it. The same thing as Werth. How can you be mad that the Phillies didn't match $20 million a year when everyone knew not a single other team would offer him more than 14-15? It's Dawkins and Werth who should have been apologizing to the fans: "Sorry guys, but I need to take the extra dough. Loved playing in Philly, see you soon."— UncleStosh
- Since Banner was so good, and got "fired" anyway, what is going on at Novacare? There has to be something else to this, that the local media missed.— rustypop58
- TO over Avant????? please stay in WV. I always thought TO seemed intelligent except for his crybaby affairs, now we find out hes got multiple kids w/different moms and cant afford child support and is broke now. So soon TO, maybe he should have let his actions do more talking than his mouth and he could still play another season— peteike
- TO may be an idiot off the field, but he never played less than 100% on the field. — mike l
- Obviously Banner did NOT do his job "well" if everyone associated with him says he did NOT do his job "well" and now he is being fired for NOT doing his job "well". "Well" is defined as not only getting the best possible price for management, but also getting the best possible players for the team, NOT just going for the cheapest which he did consistently and self admittedly. The main problem we are uncovering here is that his tactics hurt team morale and possible championships, and we are seeing people who can actually do this job "well".— Larry Byrd
- Yes, you need a guy llike Banner, but you also catch more bees with honey. Could he have restructured TO's contract for the second year. Probaly, At least they would have one more good year with him. The "my way or the highway" approach is not alwys the best at getting things done. If Banner had stayed in the background and let someone else do the talking, he would be better thought of.— mike l
- The Eagles did the right thing having Dawkins retire as an Eagle, but they were absolutely wrong not resigning him. He was the heart of the team, the leader in the locker room and a fan favorite (definitely mine, even named my pet Dawkins). They have not filled the void Dawkins left since.— the sichee-ation
- Football is a business where the players are a business just as much as the team so yes they should try to get as much as they can for their talents and services. As soon as their talents and services decline they are cut or traded. Hindsight is 20/20. According to what your priority and philosophy is determines whether a player is overpaid or not. As noted Werth was let go because 5 more millions was too much and the Phillies have not had another Championship since while the Nationals look like worldbeaters and lead the NLEast. They were in last place when Werth got there. Dawkins goes to Denver wins 2 probowl appearences and Denver goes to the playoffs with a rookie QB that had the worst passing percentage of a playoff QB ever. The Eagles miss the playoffs with a declining defense that could't or would't tackle each year and hasn't made the playoffs since Dawkins have been gone and you say he wasn't worth the money or that T.O. wasn't worth the money. Meanwhile the Eagles always have great cap space and is the only team in the NFC East that hasn't won a Superbowl while all the other teams in the NFC East have won multiple Superbowls with the hated Giants winnig 2 since the Andy Reid Joe Banner era. Umenyora just had his contract restructered. It doesn't take a rocket scientest to figure out sometime you have to spend the money on key players. Like the song says you have to pay the cost to be the Boss. Banner saved nickels and pennies, that's great if that's your priority and philosophy, I would rather have the Superbowl Rings, just saying. Oh and I still love my EAGLES I just want to see a Superbowl Ring or Two or Three, just saying.— VegasEagleFan
- Well, what was the object of what the Owner wanted to achieve? I thought it was winning championships over the course of Gold escalating price. This is a team which means it contains human parts. Are we to believe that bean counters' responsibilities over-ride team chemistry? Who is selling the Kool-Aid? Am I to believe that a few million dollars in payroll was busting the bank of a $1B Cartel Member? Team vs Fortune 500...hhhhhmmmmmmm; I get the picture. Give the Fan the placebo sucker taffy to keep his attention off of the domestic political menagerie. An ideal Cohabitation at whose expense?— aden
- There was one year that the Eagles signed a center and gave him second-string money, since he was slated to be a backup. Shortly thereafter, they cut the first-string center and wound up with a starting center at a lower salary. Seemed like very sharp dealing.
Not keeping TO was a big mistake. He was injured and expected to be out for the season, but he rehabilitated himself in time for the Super Bowl. He was one of the best receivers and he did outplay his contract.— phillyguy36 - There is nobody who is not delusional that thins that the Eagles handling of the TO situation helped the Eagles. for those of you who have forgotten,TO was outstanding and showed his toughness and dedication by coming back early from a severe ankle injury and starring in the Super Bowl. Knowing that TO was an unstable, yet outstanding receiver and certainly was one of the reasons that the Eagles made the Super Bowl, it would have been wise to modify his contract for the sake of the team. Yet, the Eagles considered it a threat to their absolute control and refused. Predictibly, Owens became a disruption and the Eagles had a horrific season. How did that help the Eagles.
Einstein defined stupidity as doing the same thing over and over agin and expectin g different results. Yet, some of the writers defend the Eagles in its dealing with TO even though the team imploded and would do the same thing over and over again.— Drumgoole
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