This is how you handle a sticky contract situation.
You don't talk if you haven't been traded, and you show up for camp until you're told otherwise.
Lito Sheppard is a model Pro Bowler playing for a model franchise that has been up front about its intentions for months. They wanted to trade Sheppard but since they haven't received an offer that would match his value they've held on to him.
No one needs T.O.-like distractions during mini-camp. Having players complain about their contracts in the preseason is as distracting as your biology teacher standing over your shoulder while you hide your cheat sheet under your non-writing hand. So I hear anyway.
Why should he leave anyway? The Eagles are going to have plenty of cap space and hopefully give him a little bit of a bonus for the way he's played in the last couple years, even if last year was a bit of a down season for him. Who can forget the interception he had against the Cowboys when he took a Drew Bledsoe pass in the endzone to seal the game and the NFC East Divisional title?
The Eagles will be deadly with Sheppard, Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown and Brian Dawkins AKA Master Splinter in the secondary. And since they drafted about 73 linemen they should be deep enough to stop the run if they continue the eight to ten man rotation they've used in the past.
There's a reason Lito's last name is Sheppard and it has nothing to do with the "sheep"-ish grin he'll be wearing when the Eagles get back to the playoffs this season.
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