Eagles add star-caliber center Bentley
Saturday, March 11, 2006By MARK ECKEL
Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA -- By the time you read this, Pro Bowl center LeCharles Bentley already will be an Eagle.
Bentley, who went to the Pro Bowl last season as a member of the New Orleans Saints, agreed to a mega-deal with the Eagles before free agency began at 12:01 a.m., according to a source close to the situation.
A key member of another team, which also was interested in Bentley, said the Eagles had a deal in place with the center for close to a week, and waited through the several delays to the start of free agency.
The league and the players union agreed to put off the start of free agency for a total of eight days as a new collective bargaining agreement was finalized.
All the terms of Bentley's deal are not known, but according to the source he will earn a guaranteed $17.5 million over the first three years of the contract. More than half of that money will come in either a signing bonus, a roster bonus or a combination of both.
Bentley, a 2002 second-round pick (No. 44 overall) of New Orleans, just completed a four-year deal with the Saints that paid him a total of just around $3 million and included a $1.55 million signing bonus.
The 6-foot-2, 313-pound Cleveland native out of Ohio State played in -- and started -- 14 games as a rookie, missed three games his second year with a knee injury, and two games last year with a leg injury.
He was named to the Pro Bowl as a guard after the 2003 season, but did not go because of the knee injury and was replaced on the NFC roster by Steve Hutchinson of Seattle. Last year he was named to the Pro Bowl as a center.
The Eagles are expected to play Bentley at center, letting veteran Hank Fraley and Jamaal Jackson compete for the backup job. Jackson, who played well late last season, could be moved to guard or tackle, where he played at Delaware State.
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Right tackle Jon Runyan, an unrestricted free agent, said no deal is done with him yet -- by the Eagles or anyone else.
"Unless it's done and they haven't told me," Runyan said on his way home from Daytona, Fla. where he spent "Bike Week." "To be honest with you, I have no idea what's going to happen."
Buffalo, Arizona, Tampa Bay and Houston are four teams believed to have some interest in the 32-year-old tackle who has not missed a start in 10 years.
"I'm just glad the labor deal finally got done," Runyan said. "Not just for me and free agency, but for the future of the league."
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Word is starting to spread that the Eagles could sign wide receiver David Givens of New England.
Givens, 25, has gotten better each of his four years with the Patriots and caught a career-best 59 passes for a career-high 738 yards last year as the Pats' No. 2 receiver.
New England would like to keep him, and other teams also could get involved.
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Two other free agents on the Eagles' wish list, 36-year-old quarterback Jeff Garcia and 32-year-old running back Mike Anderson, may not be signed until later in the week.
Garcia, who was the starting quarterback in San Francisco when Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg had the same position there, almost certainly will be signed by the Eagles, according to those close to the situation. It may just take a day or two.
Anderson, who has interest from several teams, may weigh his offers, while the Eagles also may take time to gauge the market for a dependable backup running back coming off a 1,000-yard season.
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Wide receiver Terrell Owens is due his $5 million roster bonus from the Eagles Wednesday, which means he'll be released Tuesday, unless the team pulls off a stunning trade between now and then.
The guess here, as it has been from the start, is that Owens lands somewhere in the state of Florida -- Miami, Tampa Bay or Jacksonville -- in that order.
