Just when I thought February couldn’t get any worse (I spent the whole month battling bronchitis while traveling somewhere almost every weekend), Brian Dawkins’ gut-punch departure for Denver was followed up by me dislocating my left knee last night on our staircase.

When it rains it pours.

My first reaction to the news that Weapon-X was no longer in the Eagles’ arsenal was one of shock, dismay and anger at management for allowing this to happen. But as more details of the contract and negotiations unfolded yesterday, my crossness toward Andy Reid, Joe Banner and Jeffrey Lurie abated somewhat. While I’m saddened at the thought of one of the most popular athletes in Philadelphia history in another uniform, I feel it was as much his decision to leave as it was management’s decision to let him go.

Let’s forget about the 5-year, $17 million face value of the contract and focus on the guaranteed money. On paper, it seems like $7-9 million (depending on which report you read) is more than manageable for a team as far under the cap as the Eagles, but that’s not really the point. If Dawk has only one more good year in him as a starter, that amount effectively makes him one the highest paid safeties in the NFL. Even as big a supporter as myself has trouble justifying that kind of money. Like it or not, Dawkins isn’t the player he used to be, and probably not the player the Broncos want him to be.

There is another factor at play here. Dawkins wasn’t just a great safety—a Hall of Fame safety someday—he was a team leader. Not just a team leader—the team leader. How much is that worth? Would the Eagles even have made the playoffs, much less advanced all the way to the NFC championship game, without Dawkins in the locker room to help keep the team focused and resolved during a mind-bogglingly frustrating season? And what impact will his departure have on Donovan McNabb’s approach to his contract situation?

It’s those kind of intangibles you can’t put a price on. Dawkins was already morphing into a situational player in Jim Johnson’s system, unable to keep up with the elite tight ends in the NFC East or cover center field with any consistency. If he thinks he can still play free safety every down, and he found a team that thinks so also and offered him an exceptional contract to do so, who are we to suggest he shouldn’t take it?

No question the Eagles will miss his unifying presence off the field as much as his disruptive force on it. But the latter of those just doesn’t measure up to the former anymore, and that makes $7-9 million hard to swallow. One day a year or two from now, Brian Dawkins will return to Philadelphia, sign one of those ceremonial one-day contracts, and retire as an Eagle. Of that I have no doubt. In the meantime, I can’t begrudge the man for taking several million dollars and a starting job; and I can’t begrudge the Eagles for not offering it to him either.

I suppose all good things must come to an end. Even though he’s not on team anymore, I’ll still wear my #20 replica jersey proudly. Goodbye, Dawk. We’ll miss you.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 1st, 2009 at 10:11 pm and is filed under Andy Reid, Brian Dawkins, Donovan McNabb, Eagles, Jeffrey Lurie, Jim Johnson, NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.