Gee, Sheldon Brown's saga sure sounds familiar ...

April 22, 2:15 AMPhiladelphia Eagles ExaminerGordie Jones

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Would Sheldon do this? Next question!

There was more Tuesday from disgruntled Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown, who told the Inquirer’s Bob Brookover that some of his teammates are also unhappy with their contracts – he mentioned defensive end Trent Cole and defensive tackle Mike Patterson in particular – and that “without a doubt there are going to be more problems” between the players and the front office.

If you think about it, all this has faint echoes to 2005, when Terrell Owens claimed he had “outperformed” his contract, which he had signed before the previous season. Management stood firm, Owens made himself a nuisance (particularly to Donovan McNabb, whom he called a “house man”) and reports emerged that others players were just as dissatisfied as T.O. with the way the Eagles went about their business.

The end result was a splintered locker room and a 6-10 season – though there were certainly other factors that contributed to that, like a spate of injuries, including McNabb’s sports hernia.

One can only guess how this will turn out. Brown, repeating what he told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio a day earlier, told Brookover he feels disrespected, that it’s not about the money, etc., etc. But he's not sure what he's going to do next. He admitted that he has considered holding out, though it’s not clear what that would accomplish. And certainly he would have to go some to be as disruptive as Owens was.

The Eagles have habitually tried to sign their core players to long-term extensions early in their careers. But all too often the player finds that while the deal looked good when he signed it, it doesn’t look that way a few years down the road. That is particularly true in the case of Brown, since the salary cap has blown up since he signed his extension in 2004.

Brown acknowledged all that in his interview with Brookover. Goodness knows what his next move will be. But should he want an example of what not to do, he need only think back four years.