Westbrook, Trotter react to Banner's departure
The current group of Eagles has not had a lot to say about the departure of team president Joe Banner.
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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I agree with Westbrook and I always said that both parties were to blame in the TO issue. The Eagles knew what kind of personality he was when they signed him, it was no secret. So when he had that great year, and asked for a contract restructuring, because Banner signed him under market for his talent, and he knew it, Banner said no. You were just in the Super Bowl, things were looking great. Instead of saying, lets sit down and see what we can do, Banner balks, even though McNabb was given a new contract previously. Those lack of people skills by Banner helped cause the teams downfall. TO was voted on the All-Decade team. He had his legacy. All Banner got was his back up.— watsonmr- Hey Nickles--While you were shooting off your mouth, that animal on your head died. Better remove its nest.— orange rhino
- ok so here goes attemp #4 at posting a comment,maybe the powers that be could at least send me an e-mail if they yet again decide to not post this,bringing TO into the Banner conversation is way off base,that break-up had more to do with the fans and media then the FO,but the fact is that Banner made these players feel unappreciated and disrespected.therefor losing that mental edge that made them special,watching him nickel and dime productive players or letting them go only to over-pay thier replacements coming in ,to this fan,got old a long time ago.not all teams have a FO as despised as the eagles and i for one am happy to see them wake up to that— greensob
- I agree with Westbrook's comments about 2004-05. The Eagles lost me as a fan at that time because they showed their priority was holding the line on contracts and nothing else. They were only interested in acquiring Owens because his agent screwed up his free agent filing and the Eagles could leverage that situation to get Owens on the cheap. I am a college professor and I recall the excitement of some of my students the day they traded for Owens. I was excited too, but warned them that I didn't see any way this would come to a good end because the only way Owens didn't outperform the contract was if he was a complete bust. So, he was either going to be a complete bust or be dissatisfied with his contract. They had plenty of money to pay an all-pro receiver, but they were only interested if they could get him on the cheap. Who cares about winning? The Eagles were 17-5 with Owens in the line-up. I don't recall them doing that well over 22 games before or since in my lifetime.— jtj10
- you can't let the inmates run the nut house— dwilly
- Westbrook misses the fact that the offense couldn't be brought back intact. Pinkston and Chad Lewis were done due to injuries, and while Pinkston would have been only a small problem with T.O. and Reggie Brown, TE was basically a mess with the mediocre L.J. Smith until Celek arrived.— operagost
- Trott was washed up when he came to renegotiate his contract. He went to the Redskins and never seen the light of day in a game. That speaks for itself. He may have been a fan favorite, but exception and even good linebackers in philly are rare, not that he was one, but it wasn't hard to be the best in Phila playing for the Eagles. Fact of the matter is that he was limited in his abilities and could only plug a gap any other responsibilities he had were limited..... Bradley torched him in that super bowl in Jacksonville, it was basically a comedy show featuring Trotter.— Dexter
- L J Smith makes Celek look good now. Celek is supposed to have 75 catches in this offense, his primary problem is he can't hold onto the ball and refuses to catch the ball in traffic.
— Dexter - There is one goal in the NFL, to win the Super Bowl. The Eagles haven't done that and Banner has to be accountable for his role in that. We've needed change for a long time because many in the organization (espoecially Banner) have been satisfied with being the self proclaimed "GOLD STANDARD". Now it's Howie's turn to bring in the Lombardi Trophy. And no, I don't want to give him (or anyone) 14 years to do it!— desjones
- The Historic lack of loyalty to players from the Eagles super secret negotiations has been so bad, that it eventually leaked out and is part if this conversation today, as the parties are now dispersed.
1. If Banner was so great, his departure would not have been necessary or the reasons why, "hidden."
2. Look at the Ravens and Ray Lewis, and the Eagles Brian Dawkins. Its my belief the impact on the respective teams was equal however
3. Troy Aikman, Emmit Smith, Micheal Irvin = Superbowls.....McNabb, Westbrook, T.O, just as great an impact to their teams, however T.O situation mismanged by Eagles "organization in total".... and how about Jeff Garcia, Trotter, Hugh Douglas, Dhani Jones, Assante Samuels...
— keithf35
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