The Eagles Offseason Thread(all aboard the Brian Finneran bandwagon)

[PhillyPhreak54]

MORE THAN TWO YEARS LATER, VINDICATION

We made one of our biggest stirs ever with this blurb from the evening of January 9, 2006:

"A league source tells us that multiple members of the Cincinnati Bengals witnessed a troubling incident as the team prepared to take the field for the second half of Sunday's playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.



"Per the source, the last few minutes of intermission were ticking away, when the players were startled by the sight and sound of a helmet slamming against the glass pane of the training room door.  Inside, receiver Chad Johnson and receivers coach Hue Jackson were engaged in an altercation.  At one point, Johnson was seen holding Jackson in a headlock.



"Coach Marvin Lewis entered the training room to intervene, and Johnson (per the source) took a swing at him."



The team denied any such incident, and Johnson called a press conference for the sole purpose of claiming that nothing happened.  Boomer Esiason of CBS partially corroborated our report, and Johnson eventually would concede that something happened.



More than two years later, one of the players who witnessed the incident has shared his perceptions with the world, courtesy of the magic that is YouTube.



On Monday night, speaking at a recent meeting of the Central Maryland Browns Backers, former Bengals defensive tackle Shaun Smith acknowledged that Chad Johnson took a swing at Lewis -- and made contact.



Asked at the 5:20 mark of the clip about the incident that occurred in the team's locker room during the only playoff game of the Lewis era, Smith said of Johnson:  "He swung on Marvin. . . .  [Johnson] shattered the training room glass. . . .  He swung on Marving [and] hit Marvin in the eye. . . .  Then he tried to swing on wide receivers coach Hue Jackson, who's now in Baltimore."

Smith also said that Bengals receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh will soon get a new deal from the Bengals.  Houshmandzadeh is signed through 2008, at a base salary of $2.65 million.

[MDS]

GET JOHNSON!

[ice grillin you]

i dont even think he is dissing the eagles fans. just explaining the difference. if anything he dissed the titans fans.

i agree....i think he was just saying its a whole nother world up here....which it is....i took it as a compliment

[hunt]

GET JOHNSON!

yeah.  i'd laugh if the eagles trade for him and he winds up punching andy in the vadge.

[SD_Eagle5]

Cards, Fitzgerald near crossroads

Kent Somers
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 7, 2008 12:00 AM
Larry Fitzgerald says he doesn't want to leave Arizona. The Cardinals say they don't want him to go.

That, however, is an awful small plot of common ground in negotiations between two sides that seem to agree on little else.

The restructuring of Fitzgerald's contract appears no closer to fruition than it was a month ago, and the rumblings of frustration are growing within the organization.




Without a contract agreement, a day of reckoning is coming for the Cardinals.

They are going to face the prospect of trading Fitzgerald or losing him a year from now, when they might have to cut him rather than pay his 2009 salary of $17.4 million.

So far, both sides are saying all the right things. The Cardinals insist Fitzgerald will play for them in 2008, even at a salary of $14.6 million. Fitzgerald's agent, Eugene Parker, said team officials have reassured him that Fitzgerald is going nowhere, even if a new deal isn't reached.

That hasn't prevented other teams from trying to trade for him. The Eagles have talked to the Cardinals about acquiring Fitzgerald, with cornerback Lito Sheppard and receiver Reggie Brown rumored to be part of the offer.

The Cardinals have little interest in either player, and they are not eager to part with Fitzgerald, who made two Pro Bowls in his first four seasons.

Sheppard also has been to the Pro Bowl twice, but there are questions about his durability and he's unhappy with his contract. The Cardinals aren't eager to trade for someone else's problem.

It's hard to tell what would pique the Cardinals' interest at this point. Their primary desire is to keep Fitzgerald for several more years, even though that would cost them dearly.

But they've known for years that they could face this situation. It's the price teams pay for picking high in the draft. Fitzgerald was the third overall pick in 2004, and he signed a deal laden with incentives that would pay him handsomely if he became an elite player.

Included in that rookie contract were clauses that would bump his 2008 salary by $10 million should he chosen for two Pro Bowls in his first four years, and by $11 million in 2009 for other achievements.

Those clauses were designed to get the two parties back to the bargaining table after four years. Now, Parker is seeking another four-year deal that would pay Fitzgerald between $25 million and $30 million in guarantees.

Parker's motive is to get Fitzgerald, 24, a third lucrative contract before the receiver turns 30.

The Cardinals would prefer six years at a similar level of guaranteed money, because they abhor the idea of going through all of this again in three or four years.

Fitzgerald holds most of the leverage in negotiations, although the Cardinals are trying to appeal to his professed desire to win.

If Fitzgerald is serious about that, team officials say he should accept a restructuring, creating additional cap space that would allow to team to attract free agents and to keep key players.

Parker won't address the Cardinals cap concerns directly, but Fitzgerald said in a recent radio interview that he doesn't think his present contract prevents the Cardinals from being active in free agency.

The impact of the Fitzgerald situation reverberates throughout the organization. It calls into question Fitzgerald's sincerity and commitment to winning, Rod Graves' acumen as a general manager and owner Bill Bidwill's willingness to write a check with a lot of numbers to the left of the decimal point.

The answers to at least some of those questions will come in the next few weeks. 
   

[ice grillin you]

 

i'd laugh if the eagles trade for him and he winds up punching andy in the vadge.

hed have to flour the wet spot first

[Rome]

LOL at Kearse whining about the system.

That flag stole money from the Eagles for three years and he has the nerve to complain about the Eagles not using him properly?

farging stupid corksucking jocks.

[Father Demon]

Kent Somers wrote that just to piss me off.

[PhillyGirl]

That's all fine and good but they might not be "thrilled" with their prospects, but are there really a lot of other teams that have a Pro Bowl player where they need help, the picks to trade AND the ability to get Fitz under contract happily (ie...a good team, not a piece of shtein with no QB like the Beares).


Still sounds like a lot of BS to me. The writer doesn't know their trade stance and what they do/do not want as much as the Philly writers don't know shtein about the Eagles' inside workings and what they are actually doing.

Cards, Fitzgerald near crossroads

Kent Somers
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 7, 2008 12:00 AM
Larry Fitzgerald says he doesn't want to leave Arizona. The Cardinals say they don't want him to go.

That, however, is an awful small plot of common ground in negotiations between two sides that seem to agree on little else.

The restructuring of Fitzgerald's contract appears no closer to fruition than it was a month ago, and the rumblings of frustration are growing within the organization.




Without a contract agreement, a day of reckoning is coming for the Cardinals.

They are going to face the prospect of trading Fitzgerald or losing him a year from now, when they might have to cut him rather than pay his 2009 salary of $17.4 million.

So far, both sides are saying all the right things. The Cardinals insist Fitzgerald will play for them in 2008, even at a salary of $14.6 million. Fitzgerald's agent, Eugene Parker, said team officials have reassured him that Fitzgerald is going nowhere, even if a new deal isn't reached.

That hasn't prevented other teams from trying to trade for him. The Eagles have talked to the Cardinals about acquiring Fitzgerald, with cornerback Lito Sheppard and receiver Reggie Brown rumored to be part of the offer.

The Cardinals have little interest in either player, and they are not eager to part with Fitzgerald, who made two Pro Bowls in his first four seasons.

Sheppard also has been to the Pro Bowl twice, but there are questions about his durability and he's unhappy with his contract. The Cardinals aren't eager to trade for someone else's problem.

It's hard to tell what would pique the Cardinals' interest at this point. Their primary desire is to keep Fitzgerald for several more years, even though that would cost them dearly.

But they've known for years that they could face this situation. It's the price teams pay for picking high in the draft. Fitzgerald was the third overall pick in 2004, and he signed a deal laden with incentives that would pay him handsomely if he became an elite player.

Included in that rookie contract were clauses that would bump his 2008 salary by $10 million should he chosen for two Pro Bowls in his first four years, and by $11 million in 2009 for other achievements.

Those clauses were designed to get the two parties back to the bargaining table after four years. Now, Parker is seeking another four-year deal that would pay Fitzgerald between $25 million and $30 million in guarantees.

Parker's motive is to get Fitzgerald, 24, a third lucrative contract before the receiver turns 30.

The Cardinals would prefer six years at a similar level of guaranteed money, because they abhor the idea of going through all of this again in three or four years.

Fitzgerald holds most of the leverage in negotiations, although the Cardinals are trying to appeal to his professed desire to win.

If Fitzgerald is serious about that, team officials say he should accept a restructuring, creating additional cap space that would allow to team to attract free agents and to keep key players.

Parker won't address the Cardinals cap concerns directly, but Fitzgerald said in a recent radio interview that he doesn't think his present contract prevents the Cardinals from being active in free agency.

The impact of the Fitzgerald situation reverberates throughout the organization. It calls into question Fitzgerald's sincerity and commitment to winning, Rod Graves' acumen as a general manager and owner Bill Bidwill's willingness to write a check with a lot of numbers to the left of the decimal point.

The answers to at least some of those questions will come in the next few weeks. 
   

[Wingspan]

Sheppard also has been to the Pro Bowl twice, but there are questions about his durability and he's unhappy with his contract. The Cardinals aren't eager to trade for someone else's problem.

There really isn't a question about his durability.

It's pretty certian that he is not durable. He's only played 1 16 game season. Which is why Samuel was signed to begin with.

[Wingspan]

LOL @ the birds trying to get Larry Fitzgerald by dangling Reggie Brown 

That's like trying to get my dog to do a trick by bribing her with a piece of her own poo.

[Feva]

There are much worse places Reggie can play than opposite Anquan Boldin.

[Rome]

I might be the only person here who doesn't want Reggie Brown going anywhere.  I'd personally pack his bags and drive his ass to the airport if trading him got Fitz or Williams, but still, I think he's got talent and could be a very useful guy as a #2/3 receiver.  He's just miscast as a #1, that's all.

[PhillyGirl]

I might be the only person here who doesn't want Reggie Brown going anywhere.  I'd personally pack his bags and drive his ass to the airport if trading him got Fitz or Williams, but still, I think he's got talent and could be a very useful guy as a #2/3 receiver.  He's just miscast as a #1, that's all.

Kevin Curtis is the one miscast as the #1....Reggie already IS the #2. He'd be even more effective as a #3.

[Feva]

Yeah, I'd love for him to stick around too.  I figured he could be pretty effective opposite Fitz/Roy with Curtis in the slot or some similar combination.  He'd be part of what would make the WR corps so effective with a true #1 at the top.

I'd love for him to not be part of a package for a top WR... but if he has to be to get the deal done, oh well.  Buh-bye, Reg...