From Mercury news
Stallworth has not said what exactly he wants in terms of a new contract, and he has been careful to keep the door into the Eagles' locker room propped open even while he has campaigned for a new job. A hefty signing bonus, possibly in the neighborhood of $5 million, is not out of the question, although it's likely Stallworth wants much, much more.
Last year, Antwaan Randle El signed a seven-year deal with Washington worth a reported $31 million, including $11.5 million in bonuses. David Givens got a reported $8 million signing bonus as part of his five-year, $24 million deal with Tennessee. And Keyshawn Johnson got $5 million up front from Carolina as part of his four-year, $14 million contract.
Randle El, Givens and Johnson, like Stallworth, are considered second-tier receivers.
After a nasty contract dispute with New England ended with an in-season trade to Seattle, Deion Branch got a $7 million signing bonus in his new contract with the Seahawks. His base salary for 2006 was $2.1 million.
The average of the top five salaries for receivers for this season is $7,613,000.
Stallworth obviously won't touch that figure. He was nagged by a hamstring injury during last season and did not crack the top 30 in receiving yards. Stallworth's reputation league-wide is not the strongest - he has never made it through an entire season and has not yet had a 1,000-yard season - although the Eagles had no problems last season with his attitude or performance.
Still, Eagles general manager Tom Heckert said last week that, like last year, they are prepared to go into the 2007 season with the receivers they have under contract. That would mean that Reggie Brown and Hank Baskett will be the Eagles' starters, with Jason Avant and Greg Lewis in the rotation.
Stallworth was the Birds' deep threat, but they apparently feel that Baskett will continue to improve in his second season and that Avant has a similar upside.