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JUDGE: Eagles make right call with Trotter

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Clark Judge

 
Updated Apr 5, 2002 10:02 PM ET
     
 
The Philadelphia Eagles made a tough decision on Friday afternoon, but it was the right one. They removed the ¿franchise¿ tag from star linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, making him an unrestricted free agent. The move means that Trotter is free to sign with the team of his choice, and expect the line to start forming now. Trotter was the Eagles¿ leading tackler the past three years, was named to the Pro Bowl the last two seasons and is on the cusp of becoming one of the league¿s premier defensive performers. So why did the Eagles give up on the guy? They didn¿t. Trotter gave up on them. He wanted more money — a lot more money — than the club was willing to offer, declined to sign the franchise tender and asked ... no demanded ... to be traded. In short, he wanted out. The Eagles didn¿t budge, hoping that time would soften Trotter¿s position, but it didn¿t. There were indications that Trotter might agree to stick around another year, but only if the club removed the ¿franchise¿ tag after this season. The club wasn¿t interested, but it got the idea: If Trotter was going to stay it wouldn¿t be for long. So the Eagles trolled the trade waters, seeing if there was interest for him. There wasn¿t, at least not enough to interest Philadelphia in a deal. In the end, it became apparent that if Philadelphia was to keep Trotter, it would do it at considerable risk to the part of his club that Coach Andy Reid believes in strongest — its chemistry. So the Eagles made the tough call. They released Trotter. ¿After reviewing the situation, we just felt like it was best for everybody to move in a different direction and put Jeremiah in a position that he made clear he¿d like to be in,¿ club president Joe Banner said Friday night. Banner sounded tired as he spoke, and you would, too, if you¿d been trying to sign the guy the past 14 months. The Eagles are one of the league¿s most adept teams at managing the salary cap, but re-signing Trotter proved more than difficult; it proved to be impossible. An offer of a multi-year deal last February was rejected, and the team¿s decision earlier this year to protect him as its ¿franchise¿ player — a move that would have paid Trotter $5.5 million this season — was met with protest. ¿He will never play there again,¿ agent Jim Sexton announced at this year¿s NFL scouting combine. And he was right. When the Eagles made their decision on Friday, they also made a decision to stop negotiating with Trotter. Barry Gardner will play his position next year, and Jeremiah Trotter will play in another city. It¿s too bad it had to end this way, both for the player and the club, but the Eagles had little choice. Sure, they could have done nothing and squeezed Trotter, forcing him to play in Philadelphia or provoking him to sit out the season. The Eagles held the cards here, with Trotter unable to play for another club unless they first relinquished his rights. And that¿s exactly what happened. Some people will portray this as a victory for the player, but I don¿t see it that way. The Eagles acted in their best interests, reluctantly expelling an individual — albeit a star player — to protect the best interests of a team. Convinced that Trotter could become a distraction, or, worse, disruptive, it put the chemistry of the team over the demands of one of its members. Salary-cap interests had nothing to do with Philadelphia¿s decision. The Eagles had plenty of room this year to absorb Trotter¿s contract. Saving money was not behind this move; keeping a team was. Call it addition by subtraction, but, ultimately, the Eagles were convinced they were better off without a miserable Jeremiah Trotter on their roster. I like Trotter. I admire his game. And I hope he knows what he¿s doing. In 1995, running back Ricky Watters left the San Francisco 49ers after he and the club couldn¿t agree on a new contract. Ironically, it was Philadelphia who signed him away, making him an offer the 49ers refused to match. It was supposed to make Watters rich. It did. It was supposed to make him happy. It didn¿t. He played hard, and he played well for Philadelphia, but the club spiraled downward and so did Watters¿ allure. After three years there he left for Seattle as an unrestricted free agent, and now he¿s looking for another home. Trotter had a home, and it wasn¿t all that bad. He was a centerpiece of one of the league¿s best defenses, a key performer on a Super Bowl-caliber club and someone who stood to make $5.5 million this year. I don¿t know about you, but that sounds pretty decent to me. It took guts to make the decision Philadelphia did, but the Eagles did the right thing. A year ago, Trotter languished through the first half of the season before finding himself, and afterward he conceded his failure to gain a satisfactory contract had something to do with it. Well, folks, if it could happen once, it could happen again. Philadelphia understood all too clearly and decided enough was enough. If Jeremiah Trotter didn¿t want to play for the Eagles, the Eagles would play without Jeremiah Trotter. That¿s easier said than done, but the Eagles have done it. Clark Judge can be reached at his e-mail address: cjudge@foxsports.com.
Tagged: Eagles, 49ers, Seahawks, Barry Gardner, Jeremiah Trotter

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