T.O. did exactly what I expected him to do, he showed up for training camp. Brian Westbrook, somewhat unexpectedly, decided not to show up for the first team meeting on Monday. It's unfortunate that BWest hasn't gotten a deal done. The word on the street was that with new agent Fletcher Smith, who also represents Super 5, Westbrook was close to inking a new longer term deal. Straight from ESPN:
Owens arrived shortly after 6 p.m. Players were due to report by 7 p.m. for a team meeting. Pro Bowl running back Brian Westbrook
didn't show up, even though he said earlier this summer he wasn't going
to hold out. Westbrook signed a one-year, $1.43 million contract in
June but wants a long-term deal."We've been very aggressive in
trying to secure a long-term contract for Brian. We had thought we were
making good progress in that regard. Unfortunately, Brian made a
counterproductive and almost unprecedented decision to not report to
training camp," the Eagles said in a statement.
Corey Simon is also holding out, but we saw that one coming. Found this interesting bit on Westbrook over on the Eagles Message Board, can't be 100% certain its accurate, but it's food for thought:
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Per a little-known league rule, if Westbrook stays out past August
8, he will forfeit the ability to become an unrestricted free agent in
2006. Players under contract who fail to report within 30 days prior to
the commencement of the regular season lose a year of service credit.
Anyway, is that Koy Detmer holding up the microphone in the T.O. pic (from Eagles.com)? At least we now have the Eagles to help us drowned out our Phillies sorrows. Real practices get under way Tuesday. You guys like my artwork on this one?
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