Should Brian Westbrook Have Shown Up at the Philadelphia Eagles' Training Camp?

2,100 total yards, 12 total touchdowns, and 90 receptions out of the backfield doesn’t often walk through the door. Luckily enough for the Philadelphia Eagles, it did.

Brian Westbrook showed up to training camp on Thursday, ending speculation that he would hold out as he and his newly-minted agent Todd France look for an upgrade on the contract he signed four years ago.

Westbrook said that “there was definitely” a possibility of waiting this thing out.  However, he realized the likely frenzy that would occur if he was not present, and decided it was best to let his agent handle the negotiations.

Rather than instigate a potentially ugly situation, Westbrook handled things professionally by joining his teammates on the campus of Lehigh University for yet another training camp. And that’s what makes a guy like Brian Westbrook so valuable.

In this day and age, so many players hold out, looking for leverage in the business that football has become. Westbrook let his peripherals speak for themselves.

His 2,104 yards were a team record, and his 90 catches put him up to sixth in franchise history in receptions. Beyond the beauty in numbers, Westbrook constantly plays through injuries and is clearly the most important player on this Eagles squad. 

That was all the leverage he needed.

But here’s the question: Would we have faulted him had he held out?

The answer is rather simple, and it should be an emphatic no.

As Eagles fans, we clamor for the franchise to open up their deep pocketbooks to bring in top–notch free agents. Westbrook may as well play this as being a free-agent because he has thoroughly outplayed his contract. 

In 2005, he signed a five-year, $25 million extension, which just three years later has become chump change. He deserves some guaranteed money right now, for he knows that the horrifying age of 30 is just around the bend. That’s the age when running backs supposedly start running downhill and when some are let out of their big-time contracts in order for the team to save cap space.

When the season gets underway, Westbrook will be 29-years old and is approaching the back end of what has been a heck of a career. But right now, he still is what he is: an elite, pass-catching super-back that does it all and never seems to complain.

But now the complaints are being heard. Westbrook believes he deserves LaDainian Tomlinson-type dollars, and who can blame him for that? Tomlinson was given $21 million guaranteed in 2004, which four years later is still big money for a superb running back. 

Westbrook wants more than that, believing with inflation over these few years, that number is closer to $30 million.

Whether or not he deserves THAT much money is another subject for another time. We all know he does deserve some type of compensation for playing well beyond the limitations of his ordinary contract. 

Westbrook also has seen what goes on around him in the past. As part of the Eagles' technique when dealing with veteran players, not many of them stick around past 30.  B-West knows this, and he wants to bank as much as possible before the word "retirement" can rear its ugly head.

Countless franchise staples have been tied to the old oak tree behind Lincoln Financial Field and put out of their misery. Jevon Kearse, Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent, Duce Staley, and Jeremiah Trotter are just a few of the names that have been axed from their contracts as they met the downswing of their careers. 

In most cases, the Eagles are correct with their assessment of the players. They know when to say when. 

With that said, there is no denying the frugality of this franchise. Management calls it “salary-cap positioning” every year. But what is it exactly that you position yourself for? To pay the best players, of course.

Rarely do the Eagles make a big splash with trades or free-agent signings. Yes, Kearse was a beautiful pickup at the time, and everyone with a pulse knows about the Terrell Owens situation and how that ended.

This season, Asante Samuel was brought in and given big-time dollars to make a very good secondary exceptional. They swung and missed on an attempt to nab a top-notch wide receiver, as they looked at names like Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Roy Williams in the offseason. They also came within inches of signing Randy Moss to a three-year deal.

So, we can say they are trying.

According to Eaglescap.com, the Birds are over $19 million under the cap, meaning there is more than enough to go around.

What should anger the fans with this contract situation is how the Eagles have handled it. This should be a no-brainer, really. Instead of acting like they didn’t realize that Westbrook was outplaying his old deal, why not have a new one in place? 

Why not have something on the table this summer before the dispute came to a possible holdout?

Franchises need to keep their players and fans happy, first and foremost. If they care at all about those two groups, then this will need to be a swift restructuring.

The Philadelphia Eagles have been accused of penny-pinching for years, and this seems no different. By giving Westbrook what he wants, it makes him happy and makes the silver-and-green fanatics happy to know that B-West is safe in the nest. So unless they want 2,100 total yards, 12 TDs, and 90 catches to be unhappy, they need to open up the wallet. 

And open it quickly.

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