Sheldon Brown and Demanding to be Traded

Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown, who signed a long contract extension in 2004 and who makes a handsome salary is, apparently, unhappy with commanding a handsome salary and playing for one of the NFL's elite franchises.  Claiming that he's been treated like a red-headed stepchild, and pouting because he thinks his agent has been disrespected by team management, Brown demanded a trade yesterday.  

Eagles management responded quickly and decisively, releasing this statement:

"It's very unfortunate and counterproductive that Sheldon has chosen to go public with his feelings about his situation. After thorough evaluation by himself and discussions with his family and agents, he chose to accept an extension of his rookie contract early that provided his family financial security for the rest of his life. It removed any concerns about health or performance that all other players in his draft class had to worry about. He has 4 years remaining on that contract and, after taking the signing bonus and his first 2 years of salary into account, we feel that Sheldon is being paid fairly. Focusing only on a player's salary for a given year is not a valid analysis.

There have been league MVPs, Super Bowl champion quarterbacks, and perennial Pro Bowlers who have been in a similar situation. All of their teams have required them to wait until their contract expired or there was only 1 year remaining before any adjustment took place. It is only in the most extraordinary, in fact, less than a handful of circumstances in the last 10 years that any players 2 new years into a contract with 4 years left have been adjusted. We don't think this qualifies as an extraordinary circumstance.

Sheldon's comments under the circumstances actually serve to devalue him in a trade if we were willing to consider it; which we are not."

I can appreciate that Brown thinks he's been disrespected, but the simple fact is that he's being paid a huge amount of money to play a game. Shut up and play.  And quit your whining.  Didn't you learn anything from the Terrell Owens debacle?  Or from watching what happened to Lito Sheppard last year when he turned into a petulant child?