Eagles kicker David Akers isn’t happy about the transition tag which was slapped on him by the Eagles. That will give them the right to match any contract offer he gets from other NFL teams. The Pro Bowl kicker who had been making $1.65 million a year will now see that go up to the $3 million dollar neighborhood, but Akers was hoping for more.
According to Philly.com, Akers agent Jerrold Colton said that they were disappointed in the kicker having the transition tag put on him.
“Our hope all along has been to come to a fair, long-term agreement for David to finish his career as a Philadelphia Eagle,” Colton said. The transition tag doesn’t allow for the bump up in pay like the franchise tag.
“It’s not exactly the level of salary that we were looking to have”, said the South Jersey-based agent, Colton.
Philly.com’s Les Bowen tweeted this afternoon: Joe Banner: Tagging Vick, Akers “prudent thing to do” whether tags exist going forward or not.
I had reported here on GCobb.com on the Monday after the Birds were eliminated by the Green Bay Packers that Akers had turned down a contract offer from the Birds. They had been pressuring him to sign an extension, but Akers refused because he wanted more money in the deal.
you know david i am dissapointed too, i show up at a tues. nite game , with everything on the line. and our team doesn’t show up for 3 quarters . when we finally show up and score a td. dissapointed david kicks the ball out of bounds . game over / momentum over . forget the 2 other blunders, be glad we might take you back and keep your mouth shut.
Hard to sympathize for a Kicker who was earning $1.65 and having it almost double to $3 Million per season and be upset about it… Wow….
I like D Akers as all the fans and team do and he has been very consistent
over the years, but to complain about $3 Million per year as a Kicker is a little ridiculous..
What the F!!!! Lost a bit of respect for Akers over this response. First of all, did he actually think they’d slap him with a franchise tag? If so, I’d like to get some of the stuff he’s smokin’ Secondly, this gives him an opportunity to get a good offer from another team and possibly stay right here. What’s a matter David, don’t feel like visiting other teams and working for that increase and just expect the Eagles to hand it to you? I think the transition tag was a great gester, given he turned them down on the last offer and have an opportunity to match.
I’ve been done with akers… i’m ready to move on
This akers missed makeable field goals in a must win playoff game..his agent needs to shut up and take the easy 3 million. We better get a kicker in here soon to replace this guy because he’s nowhere near what he was.
You know what David, we’re all disappointed you missed those field goals in the most important game of the year.
Seriously thought this guy is acting like a baby. He’s been acting like this since the loss. And then everyone got mad at Andy for some of the comments he made. While I don’t agree with everything Andy does, he said nothing wrong and then Akers wants to come out and talk about his daughter to provide an excuse for missing the field goals and making Andy look like the bad guy. If he wants to act like a chump, let him go somewhere else. We don’t need another player who doesn’t show up in the playoffs.
MTC, exactly. He still gets to shop around and get a good offer. All this does is gives the Eagles a chance to match it. If he really wanted to finish an Eagle, he’d be happy because this gives him the chance to get a bigger contract than would he would have received had he signed a deal weeks ago.
What people don’t realize is because the transition tag was placed on Akers he can not receive a signing bonus. And yes, to me and most people on the site 3 million is plenty of money but Akers lost almost all of his money in an investment scam. Whether you make 3 mil, 300 k, or less, we all know how hard it is to to adjust when our incomes change and we’ve been accustom to a certain lifestyle. And I’ll take Akers over most kickers in the league, for everyone who keeps hating on him…he’s one of the most consistent kickers in league history and based on the kickers in the league, I can’t figure out why people don’t appreciate him. It could be a lot worse.
What he’s looking for, is a long term deal with a hefty signing bonus so he can make up for some of the money he lost in a bad investment he made. I read Colton’s statement, that “3M wasn’t enough”. Hey, Gerald, there are people who pay big money–who are struggling in a flagging economy–to watch the Eagles play. You should be lucky that the Eagles have thought enough about him to tag him after some of the performances he’s put on lately–not only the playoff game with the Pack, how about 1-4 against the Falcons, or the poor game against the Cards in the ’08 NFCCG–missed FG (3pts), missed xtra point (1) and a kickoff out of bounds after the Eagles had closed to within 14-6. They lost that game by 7, so 4 points that he missed gets them within 3, which like the Packers game, would have altered their strategy at the end of the game.
$3 million per yr for a kicker on the downside of his career…..give me a break Akers… .you are not that good pal.
@jturquhart – Not hating Akers, just very dissapointed. It’s a shame if he lost millions with a bad investment but that’s the risk of investing and he elected to take the risk for the opportunity of a substantial gain or he wouldn’t have risked it. Too bad. Nobody crying over all the fans that barely scrape together enough money to go see Akers play are there? Enough already, most people could live for a very long time on 3 mil, a very, very long time.
Maybe Akers wouldn’t have to worry about making a little more money if he makes some important field goals instead of choking.
If another team offers him a contract with a bonus and the Eagles match or decline to match, how does he not get a bonus? How does the transition tag prevent him from getting a bonus?
I never understood the people i see at the games who spend money on a #2 Akers jersey..I know he has been with our team for a long time but he is a kicker and dont really consider kickers to be real football players. All in all if the Eagles offered this guy 3 million to kick a football he needs to shut up and take it. Akers needs to realize he doesn’t have the leg he used to and the Eagles can’t even attempt a 50 yard field goal anymore because they know the odds are that Akers is going to miss. He just needs to shut up and be happy and if he wanted more money he shoulda played another position
Im not trying to hate on the guy I’m just over his complaining BS. I lost my respect years ago from him when he was complaining about going to training camp. I dont know if anyone else remembers that but it was like 2 years ago I think. But yea he was complaining how much he hates training camp… like doing two a days of Kicking Drills is so hard these days i guess..maybe if he cared more in training camp he would be making easy kicks in huge games throughout the season in which he would be getting the money he wants
pheags, I agree with you. He’s been a baby for a long time. And many people in this town protected him because he’s the kicker, the best one in franchise history and go out of their way to cover for him. Well in many big games his didn’t show up either. Kicking the ball isn’t easy but he has 1 job to do and I don’t want to hear complaining from a guy who misses important field goals.
At the end of the day he can go to any other teams interested and say this is what I was looking for from the Eagles. Then that team can decide to offer it to him or not. So they either offer it to him and the Eagles match or decline and he gets the money he wants either way. Or the team declines because they don’t think he’s worth that much which is what the Eagles think.
2 players I’m tired of hearing about this offseason: Kevin Kolb and David Akers.