Fear Factor

One aspect of the Shady contract extension that has gotten very little notice is some comments made by Drew Rosenhaus.  He told Dave Spadaro in the 1-on-1 interview that the deal had to get done this summer.  I guess Drew and Shady had no interesting in playing out the final year of the contract and hitting the open market or dealing with the franchise tag.  This certainly makes a lot of sense for a workhorse runner like Shady.  All it takes is one play and a RB’s career is significantly changed due to injury.

Rosenhaus also talked about how there was a lot of pressure to get the deal done before the start of OTAs.  Drew mentioned Jason Peters and Terrell Suggs getting hurt in their workouts.  He talked about Tampa DE Da’Quan Bowers rupturing his Achilles.  He also talked about rookie Darius Fleming tearing his ACL at rookie camp.

Going to OTAs without a new deal “would have weighed on us”.   Drew was flat out nervous about sending Shady into OTAs with no new deal.

Drew never said that Shady would have skipped them, but had the deal not gotten done, you wonder what course of action might have been taken.  Drew would have probably advised Shady to sit.  The risk isn’t worth the reward.

Luckily Drew and/or Shady was able to emphasize the importance of getting a deal done to the Eagles.  Howie Roseman didn’t mess around either.  Andy Reid did what he could to keep the negotiations active and productive.  It doesn’t feel like either side was fighting for the last nickel, as has been the case in some other situations.  Both sides wanted to get the deal done quickly and it happened.

Now Shady has the safety net of guaranteed money and he doesn’t have to fear injury.  He can just go play and do his thing.  The most dangerous thing for players is trying to avoid injury.  That’s when they do something weird and can get hurt.  Just be your normal self.

Whatever the causes and reasons, it sure does feel good to know Shady is locked up long term.

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One of the differences between Shady, who got the deal, and DeSean, who didn’t get a deal early, is that Shady had emerged as a great player.  DJax is a great talent and dynamic playmaker, but Shady is someone that was talked about as arguably the best RB in football.  The Eagles will pay elite players.

DJax was all over the place, in terms of play and also his emotions/personality in the locker room.  DJax let contract questions affect his play.  Shady never did.  You feel comfortable with giving Shady the big money.  With DJax…there were some doubts.  In the end, the Eagles decided the risk was worth it, partially based on the fact that DJax finished out 2011 the right way, on and off the field.

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I don’t know if you guys have heard about Bucs DT Brian Price and the tragic situation he’s been dealing with.  His sister recently died in a car accident.  He has not handled the situation well and actually had to be hospitalized.  Price is planning to adopt his two young nephews that lost their mother.

Price lost two older brothers while growing up.  He always had his big sister to comfort him, but now that she’s gone, he is not handling things well.

I hope Price is able to get through this.  Football is the last thing on his mind now, but it can be a good distraction for him.  His football family can be there for him (coaches, teammates, and fans).

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For ScoutsNotebook, I posted some thoughts on whether the crazy offensive numbers of 2011 were an anomaly or not.  There is no definitive answer, just an interesting question.