Sometimes, we just want to talk about football and that's all. Sometimes, as much as we hate to admit it, the behind-the-scenes stories and rumors find their way into the content's driver's seat. Then, there are times when both roads to a story intersect. Welcome to the life of someone who loves the Philadelphia Eagles.
If you're looking for some info on what players are doing, what familiar voices are saying, and of course, a hot take or two, there are probably better platforms to check out than X. Against our better judgment, however, we recently traveled into familiar rabbit holes.
Guess what we found when we got there.
Former Eagles CEO Joe Banner throws shade on DeVonta Smith's agent.
Yeah... X will get you every time. Shortly after waking up on Monday and posting something on our social media channels about Eagles mandatory minicamp, we probably should have logged out. Instead, we made the mistake of continuing to scroll.
Sadly, that led us to this.
Devonta Smith should fire his agent unless he overruled the agents advice. He completely misread where market was headed and signed a deal before all these deals reset the market. What was the rush? Another smart deal by Eagles but can only happen if player and agent allow it.
— Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) June 3, 2024
That didn't necessarily grab everyone's attention. We did hear a mention on 94 WIP-FM. We couldn't help but scratch our heads. Why Joe? ... Why? ...
For those who are interested, DeVonta Smith's agent is Kelton Crenshaw of Klutch Sports. Smitty signed a three-year extension worth $75 million and $51 million guaranteed with Philly on April 15th.
So, there was a thing, right? Jaylen Waddle cashed in with the Miami Dolphins on a new extension. The Minnesota Vikings made Justin Jefferson the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history shortly thereafter. Hence Banner's Twitter tirade...
We aren't the only ones who still call this thing Twitter, right?
There's your background. That brings us back to the present and recent conversations that we have heard about Philly locking guys in early to stay ahead of financial trends.
Banner wasn't quite done though.
It’s like people don’t notice when talking about Smith. All these players signed with their own teams and were happy where they were. They all did 3-4 year deals. He just got a bad deal for him, and good for the team.
— Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) June 3, 2024
It’s way below his market value https://t.co/8ZBzNwPivt
— Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) June 3, 2024
Things even took a spiritual turn.
Maybe god would have loved for him to make $28M per year and give the extra $3M to his church or other related people in need who could really use that money. https://t.co/Hq6ljYBlUq
— Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) June 4, 2024
Yeah, we aren't even going to touch that last part. Does anyone else hear a grumpy morning tirade.
Everyone has their opinion of Joe Banner. Frankly, as smart as we believe him to be (because he is), we never forgave him for being a part of that brain trust that allowed Brian Dawkins to get out of the door.
Speaking of which... Since we're talking about money, why didn't the Birds pay Dawk again?
Let's end this on a positive note. DeVonta is happy, and honestly, that's all that should matter most. Here are a few of the words he shared on 94WIP Afternoon Show with Ike Reese, Spike Eskin, and Jack Fritz after the ink dried on his extension.
"I feel like I'm in one of the top tier organizations... Howie [Roseman], Mr. (Jeffrey) Lurie, they take care of us. Anytime you're in the building you feel like you're with family... The relationships I've built in the city, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
He also added the following before a mandatory minicamp practice that was open to the local media. "You can’t be counting the pockets of others. I’m where I want to be.”
Yep. That's good enough for us. Let's get back to our regularly scheduled program.