Sheldon Brown Wants Out Of Philadelphia

A cornerback wanting out of Philadelphia.....this fiasco sounds vaguely familiar, doesn't it? This time it is Sheldon Brown and he is not exactly happy. From Russakoff Rules

Sheldon Brown has demanded that the Eagles trade him.

According to ESPN, when the Philadelphia cornerback was told that management would not renegotiate his contract, Brown told the Eagles he wanted a trade.

Brown has four years remaining on a six-year, $30 million contract he signed in November of 2004. Anthony Gargano of WIP reports that Brown got $4 million up front in a signing bonus and receives $2 million a year through 2010. Then the extension balloons to $4 million in 2011 and $8 million in 2012. The final $12 million is not guaranteed.

It didn't take Nostradamus to realize Sheldon Brown was going to be unhappy in Philly, especially after Joselio Hansen's 5-year, $21 million deal.

Russakoff hits this one right on the head, I think, as it is pretty obvious that considering the monster money that Joselio Hanson got this off-season, Sheldon Brown has every right to be upset and angry. Hanson has been coming along nicely, although I do not believe that he is as good as Sheldon Brown is. If push comes to shove, I would prefer to see Brown stay in Philly, but if he is going to decide to pull a T.O. and Lito Sheppard and be miserable and cause lots of locker room trouble, then it might be best that the Eagles listen to him and trade him, something that would be quite new for the Eagles.

Update: The Eagles have released a statement on this situation.

"It's very unfortunate and counterproductive that Sheldon has chosen to go public with his feelings about his situation. 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 four 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 10 years that any players two new years into a contract with four 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 love that last line. If that does not say "fuck you, Sheldon Brown" then I don't know what does. Then again, that may not be the best way to go about mending fences and creating a happy and healthy team.