The Bengals are pissed off (fixed)

[Eagle60]

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Permanant Link For Entry #719
Marvin Lewis upset with Stacy Andrews
Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports at a morning media breakfast yesterday, a reporter from Philadelphia stopped by Lewis' table for a scouting report on offensive lineman Stacy Andrews, signed by the Eagles to a six-year, $38.5 million contract at the start of free agency.

"He's a good young man and a good football player, but he's still learning to play the game," Lewis said.

Asked if he was disappointed about losing Andrews, Lewis admitted that he was, saying he felt he had been misled by the older brother of Shawn Andrews, the Eagles' two-time Pro Bowl guard.

"I was surprised because he led us to believe differently," Lewis said. "I was disappointed because Stacy led us to believe that he wanted to stay [in Cincinnati], so it was up to his representative to get a contract done. We felt like we had a deal done and then, all of a sudden, he walked away and that disappointed me."

Attempts to contact Andrews about Lewis' accusation were unsuccessful.

[BIGPHILLY]

Actually the Browns don't care. I am close friends with a prominent member of the Bengals team and I can tell you right now - what you hear from the coaches - doesn't matter at all.

The Brown's have no idea what they are doing - as is evident by them franchising Shayne Graham. The coaching staff and the pseudo management of the team makes the players laugh at Lewis and the Browns. Who, by the way, are on different pages. Lewis keeps his job because he's a yes man who doesn't rock the boat regarding the lack of a personnel man.

[Leonard Tose]

Wait a minute. The Browns or the Bengals?

I think you mean the Bengals. I'm heartened by this response -- it means Andrews was an FA they didn't want to lose.

[Eagle60]

wait a minute. The browns or the bengals?

I think you mean the bengals. I'm heartened by this response -- it means andrews was an fa they didn't want to lose.

oops

[Leonard Tose]

oops

It was just funny, because BP also seemed to jump back and forth in his post.

[FRESH]

I need another Vicodin......

[MDFAN]

This is good timing as I was just about to post a thread on a subject just like this.

Quotes from Weaver --

Weaver signed a one-year, $1.75 million deal with the Eagles that could go as high as $2.5 million if incentives are reached. He picked the Eagles over Seattle, Minnesota, Tampa Bay and Houston because Weaver believed he’ll have more opportunities to showcase his skills in Philadelphia’s offense, which is similar to Holmgren’s system, along with having a chance to play with guys like running back Brian Westbrook and quarterback Donovan McNabb.
Weaver and his agent, Harold Lewis, marketed the fullback out of Carson-Newman College as a hybrid who could play both running back and fullback, but had to wait three weeks into free agency before finally making a decision to go to Philadelphia.
Weaver said he believed Seattle did not offer him what he was worth, nor show that they were interested in keeping him because no one from the organization contacted him during the offseason to talk about what his role might be in the offense.
“I felt like if they wanted me to come back to the organization they would have put me in contact with someone involved in the offense, or somebody who’s looking and saying, ‘Hey, we maybe would want to use this guy in this offense,’” Weaver said. “But nobody did, so I kind of felt like, ‘Okay, at least I know where I stand in terms of what direction they want to go.’”



So how does the Eagles F/O stack up to the rest of the NFL in dealing with players.


The accusation has been made before that the Eagles seem to be uncaring and that past deeds go unappreciated. And of course the counter to that is that it is just business.

IMO, the NFL changed to big business many years ago and most of the decisions that get made regarding personnel are now not only football related but also business related.

So my question is -- Is it fair to complain about the Eagles general way of doing business when the facts seem to support that it is SOP in this day and age of all 32 teams?


Seattle seems to have handled Weaver with out regard to his feelings.
Indy disposed of Harrison, a long time team favorite and leader.
The Eagles only showed mild interest in Thomas and Dawkins.
The Buc's actually cut Warrick Dunn and Derrick Brooks.
Th Pats used Vrable as a throw-in in the Cassell deal.
K/C lets Patrick Surtain and Donnie Edwards leave or cut them (can't remember)
Cowboys let Smith go elsewhere. (all time leading rusher)
Texans cut Will Demps simply for some cap room.
GB let Farve leave.
Saints cut Karney, day before his wedding.
St Louis gets rid of Tory Holt.
Ravens cut Chris McCalsiter and were willing to let Killer Ray Ray walk.
SD let Jr. Seau leave.


I'll stop there, but there are many many others.



So are the Eagles bad guys and weasels cause they acted like all other 31 teams act in this "new" NFL???



Seems to me, JIMHO, that if your honest with yourself you have to say yes they act no different than the rest of the league and that this is SOP.

Now you can argue that it's right or wrong on an emotional level, but I can't see how anyone can't see that this type transition is business as usual in the NFL of today. You can say you don't like it-- but that isn't the question posed.

Now you can also speculate that the team made a mistake when assessing any particular move( I assume some will attempt that in regards to Dawkins) -- but that becomes a matter of imposing your non professional opinion vs the Eagles evaluation and their opinion of what is best for their team -------- not about how they do things differently then the other teams do.


Personally I generally like how this F/O operates. They take into account very little of fans emotional venting. Reid doesn't give the media anything, the F/O handles the Cap as well as anyone (not perfect but very very good) and most of all the have put a winner out on the field for the longest stretch ever in Eagles football.

So again I ask the question -- very specific --Is it fair to complain about the Eagles general way of doing business when the facts seem to support that it is SOP in this day and age of all 32 teams?


Several good articles on the subject-- http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/column...fri&id=4011564

And http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...in.html?cat=14

[BIGPHILLY]

It was just funny, because BP also seemed to jump back and forth in his post.

* The Browns are the owners of the Bengals - the Brown family.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Br...all_team_owner)

[FRESH]

In general, perhaps not.

However my recent anger has not been about a general practice or event, but rather a specific one.

If you would like me to point out the glaring difference, in MY opinion, I would be glad to. Otherwise I will attempt to not take your question to the specific.

[Eaglebreath]

I don't think it's a fair comparison. Mainly because Weaver is a good player that has been in the league for what? 5 years? Dawkins is one of the greatest players in franchise history, and he played his entire career in Philly.

Also, the Seahawks have Owen Schmidt on the roster, who is a good prospect, and chances are he can replace Weaver in his second year. Good luck to the Eagles in replacing Dawkins, even at this stage of his career.

[FRESH]

Now EB, you are going where I was trying not to go.......

[NoDakIggle]

Fair! Fair! Your asking me if it is fair. Who the hell cares if it is fair. I don't care about fair. I'll complain about anything I damn well please thank you very much. Fair! Sheesh, he is asking me about fair. Nobody cares about fair.

Ach, what was the name of that lawyer on Seinfeld that Krmaer went to. He didn't care about fair.

[MDFAN]

I don't think it's a fair comparison. Mainly because Weaver is a good player that has been in the league for what? 5 years? Dawkins is one of the greatest players in franchise history, and he played his entire career in Philly.

Also, the Seahawks have Owen Schmidt on the roster, who is a good prospect, and chances are he can replace Weaver in his second year. Good luck to the Eagles in replacing Dawkins, even at this stage of his career.

This wasn't about comparing Weaver to Dawkins............

[MDFAN]

In general, perhaps not.

However my recent anger has not been about a general practice or event, but rather a specific one.

If you would like me to point out the glaring difference, in MY opinion, I would be glad to. Otherwise I will attempt to not take your question to the specific.

Very specific question was posed-- You think they weren't when dealing with Dawkins (not relevant to this question )--- fine, that's you're opinion differing from the Eagles opinion --- not if they operate their business differently from the norm and therefore should be bashed.

[Eaglebreath]

This wasn't about comparing Weaver to Dawkins............

I thought it was about comparing how the FO's handled their FA negotiations, using Weaver as an example of what you labled SOP. I brought up Dawkins because it's not, and should not always be SOP. It needs to be evaluated on a player by player basis.