The Eagles offer to Brian Dawkins was structured to guard against him getting hurt. According to Mark Eckel, the Eagles wanted to tie his salary to the number of games he plays.
Former Eagles beat writer Mark Eckel of the Trenton Times says the Eagles offered Dawkins a contract where they were going to ask him to pay back money for any games he missed.
Here's how it read on NJ.com.
"DAWKINS REDUX
Word was out that the Eagles did something in their negotiations that didn't sit well with Dawkins. We found out what it was.
Not only didn't the team move from its $3 million offer, but it wanted Dawkins to include a clause in the contract that he would have to pay money back to the team for any game he missed.
That is almost unprecedented, especially for a player of Dawkins' stature."
The Eagles had a so-called “per-game roster bonuses in the contract, which would mean that Dawkins' pay would be decided by how many games he played in.
The structure of this contract shows that the Eagles were not overly willing to resign Dawkins.
I think the characterization of the Birds wanted Dawkins to give money back isn't totally accurate.
