Statement To Brown Aimed At #5

The Eagles statement to Sheldon Brown was also sent to make a statement to Donovan McNabb.  They're not going to extend a contract until there is only one year left in that deal.

The first three paragraphs of the statement deal with Brown and his situation.

"It's very unfortunate and counterproductive that Sheldon has chosen to go public with his feelings about his situation," the Eagles said in the statement. "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."

The following is written for McNabb.

"There have been league MVPs, 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."

That might as well have put in the statement before the last paragraph, "This last part is for you Donovan."  Joe Banner has been preparing this since the NFC championship game.