Sheldon Brown Has Asked for a Trade; Eagles Have Declined

Written By Bob Cunningham On Monday, April 20, 2009
Sheldon Brown has asked for a new contract. If he doesn't get a new contract, he'll ask to be traded.

This is terrible news and a potential disaster for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Overall, they have been having a successful offseason with key additions like Sean Jones, Leonard Weaver, and of course the newest Eagles in Jason Peters.

Brown is scheduled to make $3.25 million this year, with his signing bonus from 2004. Only $2 million of that is base salary.

This is almost exactly like the situation the Eagles found themselves in with Lito Sheppard, and we all saw how that turned out.


There are some key differences, however.

Such as:

  • Brown has never missed a game
  • Sheppard was almost constantly injured
  • Sheppard went to the Pro Bowl twice
  • Brown has never been to the Pro Bowl
  • Sheppard could make the key interception when needed
  • Brown has one interception in the past 21 games
  • Sheppard was a finesse player, a cover corner
  • Brown is more of a contact guy who's really better suited as FS

The Eagles have a difficult decision to make on Brown.

Personally, I'm not sure that he's worth a new contract. Yes, he's been extremely consistent over his career, but he does not produce many turnovers and as said before, he's never been to a Pro Bowl.

His 2008 stats were 51 tackles, one forced fumble, and one interception.

The other issue is that Brown's salary will go up over the next few years, with 2010 excluded.

In 2010 he is scheduled to make $2.75 million, $4 million in 2011, and $5.25 million in 2012.

That's not a bad salary for a guy who has never gone to the Pro Bowl. But again, the problem arises in that yes, he's never been to a Pro Bowl, but he also has never missed a game and is consistent a Pro Bowl caliber player, even though he's yet to cross that threshold.

Overall, I think it may just be worth it to give him a couple more million dollars in guaranteed money just to keep him happy for now. Then perhaps you promise him that if he goes to the Pro Bowl, or picks it up in the interception department that he'll have his contract restructured.

Either way the Eagles decide to go, this is a story that should garner some attention and must be watched very closely.

Also, Philly, don't worry about him sulking like Sheppard did to the point where he hurts the team. I believe Brown is much tougher, mentally and physically, than Sheppard. In fact, he's proven that.

One last thought: Could we maybe be seeing Sheldon Brown in desert red in exchange for someone all Philly fans covet?

Food for thought.

UPDATE: Eagles Respond to Brown Publicly

"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."


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