Legends rarely get legendary endings. In Chuck Bednarik’s last season the Eagles went 3-10-1. In Steve Van Buren’s they went 4-8. Donovan McNabb was banished to the Redskins. Brian Dawkins also left on a down note. And then he left on the highest of notes.
At the height of the Andy Reid era, the Eagles were perceived by many to be cheap. Some of it was fair, some of it wasn’t. The team routinely let players walk or simply released them when they were 30 or 31, and replaced them from within or with low cost free agents.