(S2) - Weekend PT #4 - Drama!

[HalfEatenOnionBagel]

One of the biggest controversies this offseason was of course the Matt James dilemma and as someone a little closer to the situation than a lot of the league I thought I would weigh in. To me the situation has been extremely overblown, mainly as a result of actions by James' agent, a certain Mr Z. As a fellow offensive lineman, I reached out to James following the draft to welcome him to the team and Philadelphia. I was excited to have some more quality talent on the line to work with.

It was at this time, however, that he informed me that he was in the middle of contract negotiations still. I thought nothing of it at the time as I expected a deal to get done quickly, out GMs are two fantastic guys and I trust them quite a bit. But, as everyone is now aware, negotiations completely fell apart and in the end the best resolution ended up being James being moved to Yellowknife to play for a team he was more happy with.

It is unfortunate what followed in terms of statements made by James' agent calling into question the character of our GMs. Matt seemed like a good guy who just wanted some extra compensation to help support his family but it's clear what his and his agent's expectations for what this amount of money should be were completely off base for a rookie contract. The team did what was necessary from a business standpoint and I think both parties came away better off because of it. I wish Matt had stepped in to stop some of the hatred that spread as a result of the incident but his agent likely advised him to stay on the sidelines in this one in order to get what he wanted. Unfortunately it seems as though Matt has instead embraced the drama that has erupted and even used it as a way to profit with anti Philadelphia merchandise. It's sad to see and to be affected by, but as Las Vegas QB Josh Bercovici would tell you, in this business any publicity is good publicity.