Thursday, September 08, 2005

Now Westbrook?

Eagles running back Brian Westbrook said he tried to avoid talking about his contract situation in public so maybe now, he like other Eagles before him would rather be traded and paid than accept what he considers a low offer.

“I've seen how the Eagles have done things in the past and I've seen how they've gone about their business as far as other players talking about their contract in the media,” Westbrook said. “And I felt as well as my agent felt as though it would be better for us to handle things behind closed doors.”But Westbrook said those doors have opened now that he and his agent, Fletcher Smith, have ended contract negotiations with the Eagles... for now.“(We) have told the Eagles management that we're no longer interested in talking to them as far as the contract situation goes,” Westbrook said.

Then does it seem that Eagles President Joe Banner pretty much defines how the league feels about running backs?

“Just look at the running back position alone, who's going to be free at the end of the year and find out how many of those guys have gotten active, significant contract extension offers, you're going to see it's very, very small," Banner said. "If I were measuring disrespect I would think that would be disrespectful than a significant offer that wasn't as much as I thought I was worth.”