Goodbye B-West

So it was announced today, via PhiladelphiaEagles.com that the Philadelphia Eagles will be releasing running back Brian Westbrook. I don’t think anyone is totally surprised by this news as he was due to make $7.25 million next season after playing in only eight games and not much a factor in any of. The one surprise may be how early the Eagles did make the move but I guess it shows how much Andy Reid wants the best for his former meal ticket.

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“Brian is one of the greatest Eagles of all time and he is even a better person and leader,” said head coach Andy Reid. “In my mind, there has not been a more versatile running back that the NFL has seen. I had a conversation with Brian this morning to let him know. This is by far the most difficult part of this job. We wanted to make this move now in order to maximize Brian’s chances of landing with another NFL team.”

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Many Eagles fans will hate this move but for the on-field product it’s a move that has to be made. $7.25 million even in an uncapped year is nothing to sneeze at. That money could definitely help in improving other areas of the team, like maybe a defensive end named Julius Peppers. Or maybe another healthier running back to compliment LeSean McCoy, someone like a LaDanian Tomlinson plus added depth elsewhere with the change.

There’s plenty of things the Eagles can do with that money to improve their team, much more then if they kept B-West at that price. It’s unfortunate that Brian wouldn’t take a pay cut either but hey with what he’s given the team can you blame him for wanting to stick with the contract he signed? Unfortunately for him this is the NFL and nothing, not even a contract is guaranteed.

Unlike other aging veterans the Eagles have released I truly believe this is one that weighed hard on both Reid and owner Jeffrey Lurie but again it was a move that had to be made.

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Lurie said, “Brian Westbrook is one of the most electric players in the history of this franchise and is certainly also one of the most popular. He was personally one of the my favorite players to watch each and every Sunday and his playmaking abilities, leadership and values will be missed.”

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The New York Giants fan in me is pretty glad B-West is gone from the Eagles but at the same time upset about it. When Brian was healthy he was always a terror for the Giants. Even when the Giants D was playing well he’d find a way to break them and it showed how truly talented this guy was. And honestly that’s what I’ll miss.

He was easily one of the most exciting players in the NFL over the past five seasons and watching him matchup with that Giants D was always a treat. No football fan can deny watching the chess match between that unit and B-West, it wasn’t will he break one, it was when will he break one. He was like a star basketball player, you can guard him but you can only hope to contain him.

I really hope and do believe Westbrook will find a job for the 2010 season. I’d like to see him leave the game on the field not on the injury list. ProFootballTalk.com says his options will be limited because of his concussion history and that makes sense. Not many teams will want to take that risk of signing a head injury prone player when its currently the most talked about type of injury in the league.

Even so I do think they’ll be at least one contender or at least one bottom feeder team that would look at bringing him in. He could be an off the bench weapon for a contender or a great teacher for a young back on a lesser team. Will he be able to swallow his pride and take such a role is the question???