Monday, April 20, 2009

Eagles response to Sheldon Brown's trade demands? Classic

Earlier today, news broke that Sheldon Brown wanted out of Philadelphia. I speculated that the Eagles wouldn't trade Brown, but I didn't expect the Birds to respond to quickly and forcefully. The Eagles released the following statement:

“It’s very unfortunate and counterproductive that Sheldon has chosen to go public with his feelings about his situation," the team said in a statement. "After thorough evaluation by himself and discussions with his family and agents, he chose to accept an extension of his rookie contract early that provided his family financial security for the rest of his life. It removed any concerns about health or performance that all other players in his draft class had to worry about. He has three years remaining on that contract and, after taking the signing bonus and his first two years of salary into account, we feel that Sheldon is being paid fairly. Focusing only on a player’s salary for a given year is not a valid analysis.

“There have been league MVP’s, Super Bowl champion quarterbacks, and perennial Pro Bowlers who have been in a similar situation. All of their teams have required them to wait until their contract expired or there was only one year remaining before any adjustment took place. It is only in the most extraordinary, in fact, less than a handful of circumstances in the last ten years that any players two new years into a contract with three years left have been adjusted. We don’t think this qualifies as an extraordinary circumstance.

“Sheldon’s comments under the circumstances actually serve to devalue him in a trade if we were willing to consider it; which we are not.”

I don't know what's more shocking, the beatdown they gave Brown or the fact that the Eagles actually responded publicly at all? Score one for the Eagles, but this should only further anger Brown. I would expect a holdout now.

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