Shawn Andrews Signed to Contract Extension

Offensive guard Shawn Andrews was signed to a contract extension earlier today. He was drafted in the 2004, first round, 16th overall after the Eagles traded up in the draft to get him. It wasn't a pick that recieved enormous amounts of praise from fans but it was definilty a solid pick at that. He was really the only highlight of a pretty weak draft complete with guys like Matt Ware, JR Reed, Thomas Tapeh and Bruce Perry. All of those guys still have some potential to make an impact on the roster but as of yet, it hasn't happened. With guys like Tapeh, Reed, and Perry a lot of progress was halted because of injurys. In the first game of the year in 2004 against the New York Giants Andrews got some reps but after being in the game for not long at all he broke his leg. It was an injury that didn't ruin the teams Super Bowl chances that year but definitly hurt knowing that there was a player with great potential who now had to sit out the entire year. So after not playing all of 2004 he came into 2005 in OK shape but he definitly knew he needed to prove that he was worthy of his first round selection. He had a pretty successful 2005 becoming a 2nd alternate in the Pro Bowl but the one thing that really seemed to hold him back was his conditioning. He had so much potential and size but after not playing football for a year he had gained about 40 pounds. So throughout the entire season he had made comments, along with other peoples comments, that he needed to lose weight. This offseason he stayed true to his worth and lost about 40 pounds. Many people are talking about how great of shape he is in and so that hard work right there seems to have prompted this contract extension. He is definitly going to be the starting RG this year, as he was last year, where he started all 16 games. He definitly has what looks to be the abilitiy to have a phenomenal career and I think it will start this season. I'm sure he will be in the Pro Bowl by the time this year is over and he will now be a constant force on our offensive line. This move is exactly true to form to the Eagles front offices theory. They like to draft their own guys, not spend loads of money in free agency, and then eventually lock the players up for a long time. It has been very evident that having a core nucleous of players year in and year out have always been a big part of Andy Reid's Eagles. Not only does this extension help out the Eagles by guaranteeing Andrews will be a permanent force on the offensive line but it does provide Shawn with some financial security. It's a very hard life playing in the NFL in the aspect that at any moment you can be cut. Yes the NFL can cut you even if you have 10 years still left on your contract. So it doesn't guarantee that you will be here no matter what. But if a team is willing to invest that much money into a player it shows that they are serious about having them around for a long time because they aren't going to take the cap hit of having to cut them.This was a contract extension simliar to those we have seen with Lito Sheppard, Greg Lewis, and Sheldon Brown over the last couple of years. Once a player seems to have really shown their potential the Eagles will do everything in their power to lock them up for years to come. This also is one of the first of many of these situations I believe we will see this year. A few of those that could occur will be Michael Lewis and Brian Dawkins are both on the final years of their contract and I would be surprised if they both don't have new contracts before the season is over.