Eagles give Avant 5-year deal

JASON AVANT doesn't run real fast and he isn't a diva. Somehow, Avant has overcome these potentially crippling NFL wideout handicaps to become a solid cog for the Eagles, who yesterday rewarded him with a 5-year contract worth as much as $18 million, with $8 million guaranteed, and a $7 million payout this season, a source close to the situation said.

Like fullback Leonard Weaver, the other restricted free agent the Birds tendered, then signed to a longer deal (in Weaver's case, 3 years), Avant is a leader who exemplifies team values. It's hard not to infer that management understands the importance of emphasizing those traits, with a young locker room containing several impressionable young stars.

"Jason is an important component of our offense and we're glad to get him signed to a long-term contract today. I really admire his approach to the game of football and his approach to life in general," general manager Howie Roseman said in a statement released by the team. The Eagles tendered Avant at the second-round level last week, amid rumblings they were close to a longer deal.

"He's an extremely hard worker, yet he's very humble. Plus, he's an extremely tough competitor on the field. I'm glad he'll be a Philadelphia Eagle for the long haul."

Avant thanked everyone involved, including his wife, his late grandmother, his cousins, Jesus, and "the Eagles organization for taking a chance on me. Those people, Mr. [Jeffrey] Lurie, Mr. [Joe] Banner, Howie Roseman and coach [Andy] Reid, they were in a tough position, because I didn't run the best 40-time and it was kind of looked down upon at that time."

Preparing for the 2006 draft, Avant suffered a broken arm and couldn't really get off the line like a sprinter, either at the NFL scouting combine, where his times were recorded as "inj," or 3 weeks later at Michigan's pro day, where he ran a 4.62.

Avant told yesterday of his disappointment when the first three rounds, and the first day of the draft, passed without his name being announced. Avant said he was bolstered by a call from thenPatriots safety Rodney Harrison, whom Avant had met through one of his brothers.

"He called me and said, 'You just have to let this be fuel for you; to prove a lot of people wrong. That it's not about a 40 time, it's about being a good football player,' " Avant recalled. "I'm just thankful to coach Reid and those people that were there, Culley, and all those that helped draft me, for looking past the 40 time and really focusing on what type of player I was. I owe a lot of people for it and I'm just thankful for that, and I'm going to continue to try to make them proud."

Avant has carved a niche as a slot receiver, fearless over the middle, who rarely drops a pass. As he said yesterday when asked if he worries about the Birds' quarterbacking situation, "my job is to go across the middle, catch the ball and get hit."

Avant last season set career highs in catches (41), yards (587) and touchdowns (three). He saw action in only eight games as a rookie but has developed steadily since.

Avant attributed at least part of his work ethic to Harrison.

"I met him as a sophomore in high school. One of my brothers knew him. He would call me sometimes 12 o'clock, 1 o'clock in the morning and say something like this, 'Hey, I knew you would be asleep. I just got done doing 200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups, and I'm a winner and you're a loser. Click.' . . . That type of thing inspired me. It used to have me running around the projects in Altgeld Gardens in Chicago at 12 o'clock at night, running receiver patterns when everyone else was partying. I'm thankful for it."

Avant has spoken several times of how his cousins' gang-related activities sometimes threatened his safety growing up, of his religious awakening the summer after his freshman year at Michigan. He was asked yesterday how he made himself into a reliable slot receiver.

"I think it has something to do with not considering yourself as too good to do things," he said. "I'm thankful to be in this position. When I play the game of football - this is true, this is from my heart - it's not something that I want to go out and get all the catches. I'm just thankful to be out there on the field each moment. I'm coming from a place where people are getting shot in the streets, and I know that could have been me . . . it makes no sense to me to go out and want all the accolades and the credit. I'm just thankful being out there. When I have an opportunity, wherever it is, I want to make the best of that opportunity. Not for me, for winning, and also for my teammates. A lot of guys put in a lot of work, and I don't want to be that one that let them down in a critical situation."

Perhaps not coincidentally, Avant's agents, Doug Hendrickson and Michael Sullivan, also represent corner Marlin Jackson, scheduled to visit the Eagles today after he concludes a visit in Baltimore. Jackson is coming off back-to-back season-ending knee injuries, but the Birds seem quite interested.

Now that you know not signing any big-name free agents the first weekend of the big auction means the Birds will be able to keep Stacy Andrews, you feel way better about the whole thing, right?

Right?

A source close to the situation said yesterday evening that the Eagles have decided they will pay Andrews' $4.1 million roster bonus, due next month. The source said that means Andrews, in the second year of his 6-year, $38.9 million deal, will be an Eagle this season, despite starting just two games in 2009 after signing as a touted free-agent offensive lineman.

Last month, a source told the Daily News there was little chance Andrews would remain on the roster if he did not agree to restructure his deal. A source confirmed that has occurred, with Andrews' base salary this season dropping from $2.95 million to $1.15 million. The Eagles have freed up more money (for free-agent signings?) by releasing Brian Westbrook and Will Witherspoon. (Witherspoon reportedly will visit with the Titans today, by the way.)

Andrews' agent, Rich Moran, did not respond to requests for comment last night.

For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read the Daily News' Eagles blog, Eagletarian, at www.eagletarian.com.