Unsentimental Eagles play no favorites when cutting players

After it's over, Banner knows he usually gets the blame for not offering a new contract, or a sufficient one. Within the Eagles, Banner is, in effect, the designated adult. You don't usually see him walking around shaking hands or trading jokes with players, or sales staffers for that matter. That's not his personality anyway, but he consciously doesn't cultivate friendships in the locker room, acknowledging a certain distance, knowing there is always an end. Reid typically deals with the players. Banner typically deals with their agents.

"They remember the guy who's responsible for somebody leaving much more frequently than how I am also the guy who gave the contract to the guy that stayed," Banner said. "There are a number of players who we eventually lost who had two or three or four contracts here. I'm actually the guy who gave them those contracts. That gets forgotten in the end."

Also, the Eagles may have their formulas, but Banner pointed out that nothing is cast in cement.

"Listen, we've had a group of players that we thought we signed to contracts that would make sure they'd stay here until they retired," Banner said, mentioning Thomas, Runyan, and even Dawkins. "People say you don't sign contracts with players in their 30s. They all signed contracts well into their 30s. In the case of the names just mentioned, we were all really excited about that. They were all great guys, great players - an important part of a big chunk of the history of the franchise.

So, Banner said, "we thought we had signed contracts that insured they would retire as Eagles. . . . But then they just decided to play even longer than that."

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Contact staff writer Mike Jensen at 215-854-4489 or mjensen@phillynews.com.