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Westbrook focus as veterans arrive
By Bob Brookover
Inquirer Staff Writer
Jul 24, 2008
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - With all due respect to the Eagles' rookies and smattering of veterans who have been at Lehigh University since late Monday afternoon, training camp doesn't really begin until 7 tonight, when the 53 remaining players are expected to attend coach Andy Reid's team meeting. There's no denying that the refresher course on Reid's West Coast offense and defensive coordinator Jim Johnson's attacking scheme is helpful to the youngsters, but it's not entertaining or enlightening for the onlookers.
Things change when the veterans come to this little town of Bethlehem.
Most years, there's an immediate story line. This year, all eyes will be focused on running back Brian Westbrook, who is in a public contract dispute with the team.
Will he report to training camp?
Will he have an agent?
Will he talk?
Will he be happy?
Reid and quarterback Donovan McNabb are on record saying they believe that Westbrook will report tonight. Reid said it again after the Eagles' morning workout yesterday.
That's the way to bet for sure, because if Westbrook doesn't report, it's going to cost him $15,000 a day in fines and he will risk forfeiting money from his 2005 signing bonus.
As for the agent situation, that's getting weirder by the day. Two league sources said Tuesday that Westbrook, after talking with a long list of other agents, hired Atlanta-based Todd France to replace the fired Fletcher Smith.
An Eagles source said he expected to hear from France yesterday, but as of 7 p.m. that had not happened. France, who also represents Eagles linebacker Omar Gaither, did not return phone calls from The Inquirer. Westbrook also was in contact with JR Rickert again last night even though it appeared that the New York agent had fallen out of the race to represent the running back, a league source said.
As for Westbrook's talking today, it's a routine that usually takes place outside the players' dormitory rooms on Lehigh's mountaintop campus. A year ago on check-in day, the star running back went on and on about the hyperbaric chamber that he had moved into his dorm room.
There's precedent, however, for players' taking a vow of silence when in a contract dispute. Westbrook, in fact, did not talk in 2005 when he ended a seven-day holdout. Terrell Owens also remained mum when he arrived that year, and didn't break his silence until Reid sent him home and he started working out on his Moorestown driveway.
Unless he talked to another reporter yesterday, Westbrook hasn't spoken a word since going public with his contract dispute at his horse farm in Maryland two weeks ago.
It seems possible that Westbrook won't be a happy camper unless and until he gets a new deal from the Eagles, and that's not going to be easy, given that his former agent spent a lot of time negotiating with the team only to be fired by the running back.
Though it has been reported that Westbrook wants $30 million guaranteed, a team source said that number had not been discussed during previous negotiations. It has also been reported that the Eagles have offered a $10 million bonus. If that's the case, the final three years of Westbrook's deal would be worth a total of $22.5 million, an average of $7.5 million a year.
Only Kansas City's Larry Johnson, Washington's Clinton Portis, and San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson are averaging more per year. That's good company.
A team source said the deal the Eagles were trying to negotiate with Westbrook was ultra-complicated because of NFL salary-cap restrictions when a deal does not include a contract extension. A league source said Westbrook's demands were not realistic.
What the Eagles essentially are trying to do with Westbrook is what the Chicago Bears did Tuesday with linebacker Brian Urlacher, who received a one-year extension and a $6 million signing bonus to sweeten a nine-year contract he signed in 2003.
The reality is that Westbrook has no choice but to play for the Eagles this season or retire. Given that he wants more money, it's unlikely that he will retire. The Eagles would like to figure out a way to keep him happy, but first they need to hear from his agent.
Bob Brookover blogs from training camp all day at http://go.philly.com/birdseye .
See video from camp at http://go.philly.com/eagles . Contact staff writer Bob Brookover at 215-854-2577 or bbrookover@phillynews.com .
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