Earlier today, the Philadelphia Eagles dumped veteran offensive lineman Shawn Andrews. The move was a long time coming, given a series of injuries and erratic behaviors.
Still, we can’t help but wonder whether a connection exists between Andrews’ antics and the long-term contract that he negotiated after only two NFL seasons.
He was the 16th overall pick in round one of the 2004 draft. In June 2006, the team offered and Andrews accepted a seven-year extension, which put him under contract through 2015. It was the ultimate example of the Eagles’ strategy for managing young players with promise — sign them to modest extensions before they become stars who will command huge money.
In any other business, this concept of buying low makes sense. In the football business, it’s potentially bad business.
Players who have become stars don’t want to hear that they accepted the risk that they would outperform the contract when they opted for security. Players who have become stars want to be paid like stars. And when a player who is under contract through 2015 is told by his agent that he has no leverage and no options, the dissatisfaction could have exacerbated the clinical depression Andrews developed in 2008.
A quick tour of Google shows that there apparently is a connection between depression and back trouble. Thus, there’s a chance that Andrews would have remained a productive member of the organization if the Eagles hadn’t dangled a long-term deal in his face prematurely.
Then again, if the back trouble would have developed with or without the depression, and if the depression would have developed with or without the frustration over a long-term, below-market deal, Andrews never would have gotten a second contract, given that his first one ran through 2008.
Either way, we continue to believe that the Eagles — who are very smart when it comes to contracts and the defunct (for now) salary cap — should resist the urge to lock up young players to contracts that the players eventually won’t regard as fair.
Then don’t sign it?
Hey dummy, they don’t operate on your back unless they need too
Nice line of serious inquiry/debate Florio, you might have a future here…………
I’m sick of hearing about what players consider “fair”. Not only are they adults, they are WELL represented by competent agents and/or attorneys and they know damn well what they are signing when they sign it. If they don’t want to take the risk that they will eventually outperform the contracts that no one was holding a gun to their head when they signed, then they have to accept that they won’t get the security of a long-term deal early on. They CAN’T have it both ways, and someone needs to explain to these players what the concept of “sanctity of contract” is all about.
Joe Banner and the Eagles front office smugly refers to their team as the NFL “Gold Standard” in that in their opinion, they do everything right in the way they manage their business. They just don’t win in the post season. Because of their success, they believe that they set the pace that everyone else follows. What tends to come from that is arrogance, stubbornness, and an unwillingness or inability to admit when you are wrong. About many things they are right. The seem to get it right when a veteran player has emptied is tank. But they get it wrong when they sign emerging stars to low paying, long term deals that ultimately result in hard feelings and a season full of tension between the player and team management. A classic case is Sheldon Brown last year. He has clearly played better than his contract would show. The Eagles are afraid of having to pay star players or lose them. So the alternative, business practice is to screw them. With the Eagles, first, last and always, it’s the money. They care nothing about the post season, only stability, continuity and status quo. That keeps the register ringing. Many of the Eagles fans who post here love the status quo, even though they don’t have a shot to win the Superbowl because of the way it “used to be.” Sure we have endured many years of losing seasons, and it could be that way again. But geez, what about doing what it takes to win it all for the sake of the fans. Most Eagles owners, in fact the guy that Lurie replaced was a carpet bagger from Florida who pocketed his fair share every year while guys like Reggie White walked out the door. But what is so different now, with the owner becoming a billionaire, and when former doormats like the Saints, Cardinals, Giants getting to the big game before the gold standard Eagles.
Wow. Thats all I can say at the fact that you just tried to link a mans clinical depression to him signing a 7 year extension. Holy shit florio does NBC force you to do crap like this?
So, this article is basically saying that the Eagles caused Andrew’s depression. These guys don’t have a gun to their heads to sign the long term deal. Don’t they pay an agent lots of money to assist them in making decisions?
I don’t know when Football became so gay
This is the most ridiculous article in the history of profootballtalk.com!! This is insane and just proves once again how terrible Florio is as a journalist. To even insinuate something like this is laughable! Congrats Florio you hit a new low!
Um Mike, they dont have to sign the extention. Stop reaching, there is plenty of news out there.
I don’t even know what to say. What a reach.
Reeeeaaaacchhh. Regardless of whether or not his back pain is related to his depression, he is lazy. And if the reason he is suffering from such severe depression is because he got paid millions of dollars, and I don’t care if it’s under market value or not, he is crazy. He’s been lazy since college and probably before that. And he’s probably been crazy since then as well. Crazy and lazy is a bad combo. Good riddance.
WOW!!! the scumbag lawyer in you is shining bright i smell litigation!!!!
if he didnt weigh in at about 350 and a goodly portion of that being above the waist, maybe just
maybe his back wouldnt have been as risky a proposition as it turned out to be.
his work ethic is suspect.
if he had character and could play
the Iggles woulda kept him and not somebody else.
What a waste
WTF kind of article is this? LOL such a ridiculous premise… Florio are you drunk and just now realizing that you need another story to fill the daily quota?
This is speculation on top of speculation on top of absolutely wild rumor-mongering. The Eagles apparently cause clinical depression. A new low for this site.
Florio c’mon dude, this ones a little out there.
As an Eagles fan, yes I agree, the way they do things has potential for problems (T.O., Sheldon Brown). But like others have said, the player signs the deal, and in this day and age, with information about about how the Eagles operate so widely known to even the most modest fan, the player can look at his agent if he’s mad since THAT’S HIS FRIGGIN JOB.
It’s his agent’s duty to tell him “well this what this team likes to do, maybe you should wait a year or two” etc. If those players want the instant gratification money, then let them have it, but as we know, Banner and Reid like to do things a certain way, and they probably aren’t gonna change. You can’t blame them for being shrewd at evaluating there draft picks two years or so in and making their move early.
Shawn Andrews had question marks around him coming out in 2004; as a fan I’m really disappointed with how all of this worked out. Cutting Witherspoon, alright I can handle that. But Andrews is still young and was a star before he got hurt. His contract was pretty damn good from the Eagles standpoint for what caliber of player he was. However I do understand the move even though I don’t like it – they’ve essentially paid Shawn Andrews $5million dollars to sit at home getting his Michael Phelps on.
But as far as this being some clever ruse devised by Shawn to get out of his contract as has been suggested, or Florio’s taking it a but further pseudo-blaming the Eagles for his back issues and depression – slow news day guys?
His brother Stacy will be a bust as well. Just wait and see. That’s what depressed his brother. Younger bro got more money.
maybe the eagles think they’re dealing with men and not children. and maybe you insult the character of the men who play in the nfl by insinuating they are incapable of foresight and can’t understand the dynamics of a longterm contract. sure, that may be the case with a few players. but the majority of players know what they’re getting into when they sign a contract.
as for andrews – he seems to be completely understanding of the situation, as per his twitter responses. the only thing that changed with him was not his desire to be paid more, but his fear of not being able to walk straight in ten years.
His clinical depression was caused by a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract?
And he hurt his back in the middle of a game where they were scoring at will because he was depressed?
are you serious?
logic: by having an employee sign a contract to work for them, the team caused the employee to need back surgery, get depressed, and not want to work.
dude, really.
they have agents. they are adults. if they’re too greedy to be satisfied with what they signed, they deserve to be jobless.
Paging Dr. Florio, psychotherapist …
[...] A quick tour of Google shows that there apparently is a connection between depression and back trouble. [...]
Mmmh, Google also tells me I can grow my penis by 4 inches in an instance, and that a internet hack mentions that Terry Bradshaw is dead.
Sorry, but too far is too far. Depression is in no way a thing to make fun of, or to make ridiculous comments about. I don’t think you understand what causes depression. So … shut up about stuff like this. That’s a slap in the face of a couple of million people who suffer from that ILLNESS.
Florio, i don’t know what you have against the Eagles but your hatred is deep and you always talk them down. They manage the cap just as good as anyone and these contracts are genius. For every player that compalins, there are three that play well with their contracts. (i.e. cole, parker, pattersen, brown, mikel, celek and so on) You guys in the media only look at the failed guys like andrews or lito shepard whom they end up cutting or getting draft pics for anyways. They will never change the way they give contracts
This article= EPIC FAIL
Florio, you gotta stop reaching. You’re better than th.. well, actually not.
if its not the front office its the fans…go back to law school florio and leave this organization alone. Its a good thing the guy didnt sign a 10 year deal cuz he might of jumped off a building…..
I don’t know about your hypothesis but I can tell you with 100% confidence that there is a direct correlation between this article and idiocy.
Teams in the NFL do not live up to their end of a deal if they feel the player does not perform up to the cost of the contract they are playing a player, and that is fine. Teams cut bait and move on all the time with millions left unpaid. Players are expected to just sit tight and let the prime years of their career go by grossly underpaid if their talent outgrows the value of their contract? I realize a contract is a legally binding document, but if both parties do not operate in good faith with each other, problems will arise. A deal is only a good one if both parties get good value.
A contract should be no longer than 3 to 5 years. In the final year of a deal, that is when you offer another 3 to 5 years. But locking someone up for 8 to 10 years is ridiculous. Especially, given the nature of injuries.
So let me get this straight, when that loon said that T.O. had 28 million or whatever number it was reasons to not be depressed, you freaked out that making a bunch of money has nothing to do with depression. Except in this case. Congrats, Florio, you are now dumber than TO’s publicist!
Whoever wrote this article is an idiot. First of all, depression causes back “pain,” not back problems. It’s like having a backache after sleeping in a bad bed or something. The muscles tighten up as a result of the constant bad feelings and thus you have muscle pains. So whoever googled depression and found that back pain as a result of depression would be the reason for someone to have 2 back surgeries in 2 years can’t analyze a sentence. Second of all, if your writing on this website you should know that if an NFL player is upset about a contract he doesn’t claim depression and have surgery due to back problems because he thinks he outperformed his contract. NFL players throw a temper tantrum until someone either releases them, trades them, or tells them to shut the hell up. That’s why they have agents, to negotiate. The birds were willing to restructure BWest’s deal 2 years ago so you don’t think they would atleast listen to what the agent of the best OG in the league has to say? The fact that he didn’t even try says that it has nothing to do with his contract. The guy has clinical depression, it happens. And everyone can say what they want about him not wanting to play football and how he gets paid millions of dollars to not be depressed, but no one is going to know until they experience it. It could be a chemical imbalance or something else out of his control. So before you make ridiculous conclusions that make you look like an ass, you better learn how to read and analyze.
@ tom.. quit crying you give Eagles fans a bad rep.. they’re trying and i believe they were pretty close the season before the last one, when losing to the Cardinals in the NFC Champ game..
and Florio, how are you gonna try to justify Andrews signing a long term deal early in his career is the reason he was depressed? a guy who was injured for the entire season during his FIRST GAME EVER should be thankful as all h*ll that they even offered him a long term deal.. but i guess you smart guys dont think about that when you write your stories..
Longterm undervalue contract = Depression = Back pain?
Huge leap.
No move a team makes or doesn’t make guarantees a Super Bowl title. The Eagles’ philosophy is that if you knock on the door long enough and hard enough that you’ll eventually knock down the door.
Brett Favre didn’t guarantee a title to the Vikings. Though many thought it would. It didn’t even get them to the SB let alone win it.
Steroid use by some Panther players in 2003 didn’t get them a SB. All that did was allow them to manhandle the Eagles’ receivers. Neither did twisting McNabb into a pretzel and and applying pressure to his ribs early in the NFCCG.
The Colts paid Peyton Manning over $21 million in 2009 season to throw away the SB.
The Vikings paid Favre more than $12 million to throw away the NFCCG.
Bears and Vikings were among the favorites to win the NFC with the acquisitions of Cutler and Favre.
Dallas has more talent than almost any other team and seldom experience the injury bug.
Kurt Warner, Fitzgerald, Boldin, Breaston, and a pretty good defense didn’t get a title for the Cardinals. Warner said of the ill-fated pass that the Pittsburgh D did a good job of disguising what they were going to do until after the snap of the ball. Why didn’t Warner throw the ball away and settle of 3 points instead of throwing a pick 6?
Every year since Snyder has owned the Skins, they have brought in the best players money can buy.
And the list goes on and on and on……………..
lol why do people come on here and write a book length comment……noone comes on here to read ur angry football rant…..we only wanna read florio’s b.s. for some reason
Quit writing articles just to post stuff….go back to your roots…..you became mainstream because you didnt do crap like this now it is becoming a daily occasion
WUBANGA 101, two things: PLEASE don’t refer to this as the WORST ARTICLE in the history of PFTalk.com,…it will only inspire FLORIO to post more ridiculous crap, …personally it’s hard to know IF it’s the worst crap he’s done, because his standards are so low, and 2] don’t mention FLORIO & journalist in the same sentence, unless you’re looking up the word oxyMORON in the dictionary
I had back surgery, and yes the pain killers can make you whack. So whack that I decided to look like a retard and sing ” My Michael Phelps Song”. Banner is to blame for a lot , but not this jerk offs antics. Now watch the Reid take an o lineman in the first round in the best defensive draft ever. Never ends, Go Phillies!!!!
“Thus, there’s a chance that Andrews would have remained a productive member of the organization if the Eagles hadn’t dangled a long-term deal in his face prematurely.”
___________________
With reasoning like that it was a wise decision to stop practicing law and do what you’re now doing.
Yeah, there’s a chance, about the same as the percentage chance of winning a lottery.
Worried about getting hurt playing football?
Dont play football.
If you sign a contract, it means that you accept the terms of that contract. I dont care if you ‘outplayed’ the deal. You signed it, and you take what you agreed to take and not a penny more. Thats Business 101, and how these assholes keep getting away with it boggles the mind.
So Florio, what you’re saying is that making this guy a multi-millionaire is what led to him becoming injured and/or depressed?
Well, needless to say I don’t agree with Florio’s article or a lot of these opinions. The Eagles do good business when it comes to contracts, and these players are well represented and it’s likely that their agents knew very well that the Eagles organization likes to lock up young players with big upsides early, so if it were a problem their well-paid agents should advise them against signing the contract so early on in their careers, or just put a clause in it just incase they outperform it.
Now as far as the Eagles being successful in business and contracts only and not being successful on the field and during post-seasons is just bullshit. Yes, the Eagles haven’t accomplished the ultimate success of winning the Super Bowl, but to say they’ve had no success during post-seasons is ridiculous.
This is a team who has only missed the playoffs twice this last decade, and only once went one-and-done in those playoffs. They had many NFC-east titles, multiple NFC championship appearances, a NFC championship and a super bowl appearance during that decade.
Now that is success, not the ultimate success of winning the Vince Lombardi trophy, and I am condoning them for not winning a super bowl yet. As any eagles fan I would happily trade in all the wins over the last ten years for just one super bowl victory.
I am simply pointing out that have indeed had a very fair share of success during the playoffs.
Both tombrookshire and billyjoegunrack are on the money. From a fan’s standpoint, we just want our teams to win championships, but some of the most financially successful sports franchises haven’t won all that many. And as far as the sanctity of a contract, regardless of what is on the paper, teams guarantee nothing beyond what’s paid up front. Compared to other sports it’s a bad deal for the players. Athletes who can hit a major league slider one time in four are much better off.
Are you seriously trying to make the argument that his depression and his recurring back injuries are due to an unhappiness with his contract – and ultimately this is all the Eagles fault? This is the most ridiculous argument I have ever heard, and quite frankly, this is some seriously piss poor writing on your part.
Andrews is a HEAD CASE!
I know they don’t teach anything close to logic down in West Virginia, but up the road at Pitt, you’d be taught that your argument is absolutely atrocious.
I check this site out a few times a day. This by far is some of the most ridiculus crap I have ever read. You talk about conjecture…. Are you serious? The Eagles caused this idiot to become depressed? WHAT? That is beyond a stretch. This guy was, is and will continue to be a nut job. A waste of talent and God given ability. The Eagles can be considered guilty of a lot of things but for you to sit there and try to blame them for this crackpot’s “depression” and “back pain” is just plain irresponcible. I really have to question coming back here on a daily basis after reading something as stupid as this. It’s a shame because I really enjoy this site. Thanks Florio.
I’m not an Eagles fan, but what the hell, man. So your theory is his contract caused depression, that then lead to his back pain, which resulted in him needing surgery and his recent release? So if the guy had a few extra million in his stock portfolio, he would of been all better? That is some x-files type stuff there. Where’s that hick Vox and his obsessive Eagles comments? I need a laugh.
It’s funny you forget to mention the fact that his longtime friend dying of a heart attack (because he was incredibly overweight) might’ve exacerbated his depression. Or the fact that he was incredibly overweight could have been a contributing factor to all of the back problems he suffered. Or the fact that he’s a competitor, and having to spend so much time off the field for injuries could’ve depressed him. This is an epic reach. Shawn Andrews had all of the promise in the world but for someone who needs clinical treatment for psychological issues it is absolutely absurd to blame a team who is committing to paying him millions of dollars as “giving him no options” and “exacerbating his depression.” I am with you on most things that you post and most stances that you take, but no way on this one…
Quite simple… and similar to the Josh Cribbs and Brady Quinn contracts in Cleveland, these guys need to stop blaming and punishing teams by threats of holding out and not working hard to keep their employment. They need to, simply, FIRE THEIR AGENTS. Their agents are the ones that do the work in regards to the contracts. Any agent that allows their player to get locked up long term like that when they are a player with potential to “play above that contract” is an idiot and doesn’t deserve a job as their representative!
Simple… Stop letting ignorant people negotiate your pay!
“Either way, we continue to believe that the Eagles — who are very smart when it comes to contracts and the defunct (for now) salary cap”
No they’re not.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1107402/index.htm
THE TOUGHEST agent in the business has nothing on a good old-fashioned clerical error. Consider that the Eagles paid their star running back Brian Westbrook a $3 million roster bonus he was due. Then they paid him again. Until Westbrook, who signed a five-year, $24.9 million deal in 2005 gives back the extra cash—and he says he will once he figures out exactly how much he owes, since the money was taxed—the team runs the risk taking a salary-cap hit. To avoid that, Philly filed a grievance with the NFL.
This article is pure speculation on Shawn’s state of mind. This is so stupid. Way to reach for one on this one
OHHHHH!!!! Now I get it Florio! I’ve had this who depression thing wrong, see I get depressed because I DON’T have money and long term security for my family. This changes everything…
I have to agree with the consensus of the other posts, this is irresponsible nonsense. Most Eagles fans that follow the team know full well that Shawn Andrews has always had a pretty flamboyant personality. He’s never really been an intense football type of guy. A number of people on 610 have said that Andrews is probably the type of guy who played football because it was a sport he excelled it but never really loved. His personality was probably the source of his depression, not his contract.
Yes, we all get it, Florio. You’re not a fan of the Eagles practice of locking up young players but this is pretty ridiculous. Most NFL players that aren’t happy with their contracts stage holdouts until their teams end up trading them or redoing their deals. For some reason, you think that Andrews chose a differant approach. Despite the many NFL players whose holdouts effectively led to new contracts, Andrews felt completely helpless and depressed which in turn led to his injury. Do you actually read these articles before you post them?
The Eagles don’t play fair; they only think of themselves. That’s why they hold onto players that want out but the Eagles can’t get something good for.
Hey Tom Brookshire
I dont know what fantasy land you live in but to say the Eagles are the gold standard and the Giants are a doormat you need a dose of reality. Thinking like that is exactly the point of why your team has not won a NFL championship since 1960.
Now, this is reality, The Eagles are a good franchise, not a gold standard thpough. The Giants are also a good franchise. Those are the facts. Don’t call my team a doormat when you have not won anything. Get real.
“A quick tour of Google shows that there apparently is a connection between depression and back trouble. ”
A quick tour of PFT shows there’s a connection between former lawyers and BS.
“A quick tour of Google shows…” LMAO hahahahaha! Now THAT’S what you call journalism.
Football became so gay when these guys started making monopoly money. Once you’re rich you lose any killer instinct you ever had. Plus it attracts the wrong “hearted” people. People used to play because they loved the game, now they play because it’s either a way off the streets or just simply to a life of ungodly wealth.
40 years ago, a guy like Shawn Andrews would have gotten his ass kicked in his first training camp and never even seen the field. Those were football players…mean sons of bitches. Not like these sleek brothers running around today.