Shawn Andrews Signs Extension Through 2015

[ice grillin you]

So I should cop a double butter joint with cheese and bacon for lunch today?

do you even have to ask?

[stalker]

So I should cop a double butter joint with cheese and bacon for lunch today?

What is that? It sounds like the sandwich I have been waiting my whole life for.

[Feva]

Pastabelly on Andrews' deal.

Under team president Joe Banner, the Philadelphia Eagles have been doing business like this, extending the deals of young "core" players, for years. And it is a major element of the Eagles' success.

It all starts with good scouting, of course, and under the stewardship of general manager Tom Heckert, the Philadelphia personnel department is among the NFL's elite. So is the coaching staff that Andy Reid has assembled, and so players typically are developed without being rushed into the lineup. But the Eagles have taken things a step beyond, and are remarkably adept at identifying key players very early into their careers, and at signing them to extensions, sometimes several years before their original contracts expire.

Rarely have such "early" deals backfired on Banner and the Eagles.

Philadelphia struck again last week in signing third-year guard Shawn Andrews, the team's first-round choice in the 2004 draft, to an extension through the 2015 season. There certainly was no urgency to do so. Even though Andrews voided the final season of his original six-year deal he signed as a rookie, he was still under contract through 2008. But the Eagles, who always seem to have $10 million-$12 million of available cap space, had money to spend, as usual. And despite his past weight problems, the Eagles regard Andrews as a cornerstone for their line in the long-term and a future Pro Bowl performer who eventually might move outside to tackle.

As part of the extension, the Eagles rewarded Andrews with a $5 million signing bonus and a $5 million roster bonus, meaning he'll earn $10 million more than the $600,000 in base salary that he was scheduled to bank this season. And the Eagles will carry a salary cap charge for Andrews of $7.779 million.

But consider this: That is the highest salary cap charge for any season of the contract. In 2007, the charge drops to $4.71 million, and then after that, it dips under $4 million until 2013. And the cap charge doesn't rise to over $5 million until the penultimate year of the contract, in 2014. By then, of course, the odds are that the two sides will have reworked the contract. But for a long time, the Eagles will enjoy short salary cap charges for a young player they regard highly.

The Eagles will pay Andrews base salaries of $2 million or less until 2011 and of less than $3 million until the 2013 season.