LITO SHEPPARD: SIGN EXTENSION OR GET BLACKBALLED

Two of the starting linebackers for the 4-3 Eagles, Omar Gaither and Chris Gocong, are signed through the 2009 season. The team may offer them long-term extensions before those contracts are up and teammate Lito Sheppard shared some thoughts about the practice with the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sheppard, who signed an extension running through 2011 during the 2004 season, has long been unhappy with his salary. He would have become a free agent in 2006 under the inital deal and saw Nate Clements sign for $80 million when he had settled for $25 million. Despite that, he warned his young teammates to be mindful of retaliation if they chose not to sign deals. “I always tell them this: First of all, you have to do what’s best for you and your family, but second of all, let’s put it like this, if you don’t take that money, watch how they do you,” Sheppard said. “If you take it, you just better hope you’re not mad two or three years down the line. That’s basically how it is right now. You can write a book about it. Talk to people around the league, they’re going to tell you if you don’t take the extensions, they’re going to get blackballed. You hate to say that about it, but that’s the way it is. It’s a dirty game and it’s almost like they’re forcing you to take the new deal when you come to the table.” He made reference to former Eagle safety Michael Lewis as a player who didn’t sign an extension and then got benched. He didn’t mention that Lewis got badly burnt by Joe Horn of the Saints in his final game as a starter, or that he’d struggled against the pass all season. Sheldon Brown, who also signed a long extension during the 2004 campaign, has another opinion on the matter. “It’s definitely a tough choice, but it’s just like the lottery. You’re playing with fire because if you look at somebody like [ex-Eagles safety] Damon Moore, he . . . tore his knee up. I just think in the end, if it’s good enough you, go ahead and take it and don’t be too greedy. If you perform more after that, you’ll get more.” Brown’s right. Sheppard was in no danger of being benched in 2004, he wanted security and got it. That he became unhappy when other players got more money is a seperate issue.