Eagles withdraw franchise tag from Simon

By John Onan  |   Monday, August 29, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

Philadelphia Eagles
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Having grown tired of waiting for Corey Simon to sign a $5.13 million tender, the Philadelphia Eagles lifted his franchise tag and declared the defensive tackle an unrestricted free agent. The team had reportedly been in talks about trading Simon, but talks broke down because teams like the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens were concerned about their ability to meet Simon's contract demands.

Simon, the 6th overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, held out from training camp and missed the team's first three pre-season games as he was seeking a long-term deal. Now that the regular season is about to begin and teams are cutting down their rosters, it is unlikely Simon will find the kind of money he wants at this stage.

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid has been pleased with what he's seen out of the players who are looking to replace Simon as the defensive tackle positions, Hollis Thomas and rookie Mike Patterson. Thomas is likely to win the starting job playing alongside Darwin Walker on the defensive line.

When reached for comment, Simon said he was surprised that the team lifted the franchise tag, but he is excited at the chance to be a free agent, even though he will miss the guys he played with in Philadelphia.

Corey Simon had 34 tackles and 5 ½ sacks last season for the Eagles. In his five-year career in Philadelphia, he tallied 270 tackles and his 32 sacks rank second only to Andy Harmon in franchise history for a defensive tackle.
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