In five days, he is expected to be on the field at the NovaCare Complex for the Eagles' post-draft minicamp. It's his job, one he has almost always done well as long as he has been healthy during his six NFL seasons.

The trade talk about Sheppard probably is not going away anytime soon. The Daily News reported yesterday that Sheppard's agent, Lamont Smith, was trying to shop the two-time Pro Bowl cornerback to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a package of 2009 draft picks.

Smith, through his receptionist, said he would not comment. Sheppard did not return a phone call. An Eagles source said Smith's attempt to cut a deal with Jacksonville was news to the team. The same source said there were no trade discussions involving Sheppard with any team yesterday.

Eagles coach Andy Reid said he planned to meet with Sheppard at some point before the team's first practice Saturday. That meeting did not take place yesterday, according to the Eagles source.

It is entirely possible that this saga could end with Sheppard's being dealt elsewhere, but the only way that should happen is if the Eagles get a valuable veteran player in return, someone who could help them win in 2008. The Eagles don't need draft picks in 2009. Thanks to Saturday's deal with Carolina, the Eagles have two first-round picks and a total of nine selections in next year's draft.

Good players in 2008 are what the Eagles need and, at least on paper, they have the best trio of cornerbacks in the NFL right now. That's a valuable thing to have in a pass-happy league.

The trick for Reid is making this cornerback situation work, and it might not be any easier than making the Donovan McNabb-Terrell Owens relationship work after T.O. turned his contract dispute into a public assault on the quarterback and a traveling circus starring himself and agent Drew Rosenhaus.

Sheppard, like Owens, is unhappy with his contract, and his discontent is only slightly more justified than Owens' was in 2005. Owens wanted to renegotiate a seven-year deal after just one season. Even though Sheppard signed his deal in 2004, it was a five-year extension of his rookie deal, and it included an $8.7 million signing bonus.

That means Sheppard is in the second year of his extension, and he is coming off a year in which he missed five games because of injury. If Sheppard were to play out his current contract, he will have been paid more than $30 million in 10 seasons with the Eagles. It is difficult to sympathize with that plight even if the Eagles did just give fellow cornerback Asante Samuel a contract that will pay him $32.14 million over the next three seasons and $57.14 over the next six.

Is Samuel that much better than Sheppard? No. In fact, he might not be better at all. But when the Patriots tried to negotiate an extension with Samuel in 2006, and he did not like the terms of the signing bonus, the young cornerback risked a career-ending injury in the hope of eventually being rewarded in free agency. It worked out well for Samuel. Sheppard could have taken the same risk but decided the lure of an $8.7 million signing bonus and $25 million deal was too good to refuse.

Sheppard, by the way, made a good decision. His close friend Sheldon Brown made the same decision in 2004 and is also locked into a contract through 2012 that has lost some of its market value since the expansion of the NFL's salary cap. But, again, it was a decision he made and he has to live with it. If Brown plays out his extension with the Eagles, he will have made more than $30 million in 11 years with the team.

This situation is not just about money anymore. It's about having three good cornerbacks, and at least one of them would get less playing time if things remain status quo. Samuel is going to get 100 percent of the playing time at left cornerback, an announcement Reid made right after the Eagles signed the free agent last month.

Is there a way to keep Sheppard and Brown from becoming disruptive in the locker room if they are asked to share playing time at right cornerback? One of Brown's greatest strengths is playing the slot receiver in nickel coverage because he is also outstanding at blitzing in those situations.

Regardless of what plan defensive coordinator Jim Johnson devises, however, it's going to leave either Brown or Sheppard on the bench at times, and that scenario, combined with a volatile contract situation, could be combustible for a team that learned the importance of chemistry the hard way in 2005.