BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Troy Vincent, the Pro Bowl cornerback who has been the soul and spokesman for the Eagles franchise for eight seasons, knows time is running out. He knows enough about NFL history, especially since the advent of the salary cap in 1994, that to get three straight cracks at the NFC Championship is a near impossible task. And, yet he knows that for this veteran group of Eagles, there is no other choice.

"We must win now," he says, staring straight into your eyes and meaning just that. "There is no future. This is the season. Get to the Super Bowl. Win it, or it's start all over around here."

That's why when young tailback Correll Buckhalter gets tackled in a training camp drill, Vincent quickly comes to his aid.

	Duce Staley rushed for 1,029 yards last season and scored eight touchdowns.

"I take care of him like he's my son," said Vincent in an interview. "We'll be walking back to the huddle and I'm like, 'You all right?' I tell him, 'Be smart. Take care of yourself. You're not feeling good, I want you to tell the coaches. I want you to sit out, because I need you this season. We all need you."

Why the special care and feeding of Buckhalter, the third-year back out of Nebraska who has barely made his mark in the NFL?

Two reasons: Buckhalter is trying to return from a season-ending knee injury. And Duce Staley, the Eagles star running back who had a team leading 1,570 total yards last season, has not showed up for training camp -- a holdout which costs Staley $5,000 in fines per day and has cost the Eagles a whole lot of unnecessary angst this summer.

While Staley stews in South Carolina demanding to be treated more fairly or paid more money (take your pick), head coach Andy Reid has come to a slow boil in the stifling heat and humidity of the Lehigh Valley.

Reid praises Buckhalter. He sees great things for Brian Westbrook, the second year back from Villanova who has showed flashes of promise as a third down specialist. As for Staley, Reid tries to be diplomatic. But there is no negotiating with the guy who showed Jeremiah Trotter, Hugh Douglas and Brian Mitchell the door in the last two years.

Big Red, as Reid is called, is not budging on this one. In fact, he told me he's not even sure that if Staley all of sudden got religion and decided to show up in training camp, he would want him back.

"Well, we'll see, Duce has to want to be here and that's where the ball lies right now and I had an opportunity to reach out to Duce and I was denied that opportunity to talk to Duce, so Duce has to make some decisions there," Reid said in an interview.

If Staley were to come back, would Reid welcome him back?

"I would have to talk to Duce," Reid replied, leaving no room for misinterpretation. Reid has lost patience with the Staley's holdout and Staley is beginning to burn some bridges.

"I have to deal with what is here," said Reid. "We are lucky to have some pretty darn good players at that position. You have to move on."

And the Eagles are already putting the plan in place to replace Staley's 1,029 yards on the ground and 51 catches. In the passing game, Westbrook and ex-Raider Jon Ritchie, a superb pass-catching fullback, will be used on third down as McNabb's safety valve. And perhaps this is the essence of Staley's problem -- going into the final year of a contract, which will pay him $2.2 million, Staley knew that he would face a severe reduction in the number of touches. And that could reduce his payday on the free agent market next season.

In an open letter to fans and his teammates, Staley insisted he wants to remain in Philadelphia for the rest of his career. But it was up to the Eagles organization, he said, to make a call to him to let him know where he stands.

"I just completed the best year of my career and I am heading into the final year of my contract with the team," Staley wrote. "I was just interested to know how I fit into the team's plans in the future, including an extension that would have me finishing my career with the Eagles. Unfortunately, not one person in the Eagles front office has given me any idea of what the future holds for me as a player for the Eagles beyond this season. This has come as a real shock to me. After a while, you start to wonder what's going on. Why haven't the Eagles front office even tried to talk to me and see what my thoughts are on the subject of my future? The reality is that they have not asked what my goals are and what I am trying to accomplish as a key player for the Eagles."

But Reid said that when Staley held out of the Eagles last mini-camp in the spring, Reid called Staley's agents, Derrick Harrison and Brantley Evans, so that he could talk to his veteran running back. Reid said he was told he could not talk to Staley.

What's more, Reid suggests that he met with Staley's agents in the spring and told them exactly where Staley stood -- that Staley would be in the running back mix with Buckhalter and Westbrook.

"Now Duce has opened up a can of worms," said one senior member of the Eagles organization. "The other backs are getting all the work and looking pretty good."

Of the more than 380 NFL veterans who are due to become unrestricted free agents in 2004, Staley is the only one not in training camp.

This is almost a repeat of last year, when Staley and Reid did not talk to one another for weeks after the Eagles tried to sign free agent running back Warrick Dunn, who wound up signing with the Atlanta Falcons for more money. Staley, who returned from the so-called Lisfranc foot bone fracture that no NFL player has successfully recovered from, felt as though the Eagles had seriously disrespected him, considering how hard he worked to get back to a level of major production.

Staley, voted the Eagles offensive MVP by his teammates last season, was the major reason why the Eagles survived the loss of quarterback Donovan McNabb on Nov. 17th of last year and still had the best record in the NFC.

	“	I have to deal with what is here. We are lucky to have some pretty darn good players at that position. You have to move on. ”
		— Andy Reid, Eagles head coach on Duce Staley's holdout

McNabb has been very public that he wants Staley in camp and that all parties should be working to make that happen.

"Duce and I are very close," McNabb said. "As far as I'm concerned he's still with us. No matter how you look at it, he's still with us. He still wants to be an Eagle. He's still an Eagle and he's just waiting for an opportunity to get back with the family."

But there are many within the Eagles organization who believe Staley is just trying to leverage a release or a trade.

Sources say the Eagles are not going to release him. For one thing, the team most likely to sign Staley would be the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jon Gruden, when he was the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia under Ray Rhodes, drafted Staley and gave him his first indoctrination into the West Coast offense, which both Reid and Gruden run.

Wouldn't Eagles fans just love to see Staley in pewter and red when the Bucs arrive on Monday night, Sept. 8th for the season opener? That's not a good way for the Eagles to open their brand new stadium in South Philadelphia.

The Eagles are unlikely to be able to trade Staley. By holding out, Staley has reduced his trade value. What team would give up a high round pick for a player who is likely to be released at some point anyway?

Two seasons ago, Reid got a sneak preview of what Buckhalter could do in the NFC Championship game in St. Louis. Against the Rams, Buckhalter had 50 yards on six carries, including a 31-yard sprint up the sideline, which set up the Eagles first touchdown.

But Buckhalter left that game with a sprained ankle. Then, during the team's first mini-camp of the 2002 season, Buckhalter blew out his left knee in a non-contact drill. Thus, questions have been raised about his durability, especially since most running backs need at least one whole season to get re-acquainted with a surgically-repaired knee. That's a lot of pressure to put on a young, unproven back.

"Well, not for me, because I really just concentrate on what I've got to get done," said Buckhalter. "I've been out a whole year so I'm just trying to get back in the swing of things so I can't worry about what people are putting on my shoulders or worry about what Duce does. I've got to worry about what Correll does and what I have to bring to the offense because like I said I've been out a whole year so I got to concentrate on the things I got to get done for the upcoming season."

Buckhalter will be asked to do a better job on the blitz pick-up than he has in the past. But he will not be asked to play from the slot as a receiver like Staley did. That responsibility will fall to Westbrook, who has genuine pass receiving skills and who will also be the primary punt returner now that Brian Mitchell is wearing a New York Giants uniform.

Right now, two veterans -- Staley and Mitchell -- are being replaced by two unproven commodities. And in the NFC East, a reliable big-time back is a must. And judging by Troy Vincent's attitude, there is genuine concern about relying on Buckhalter for the entire season, especially a season at a critical juncture in the careers of so many veteran players.

"Can we build that same chemistry?" Vincent asked. "Donovan's back, he's healthy, but the components that made up those two championship teams, some of those components are missing. For example, Duce was an important piece of that puzzle. We figured him as one of the core components in making that run. He's not here with us right now, though Brian has stepped up and Buck has looked great during camp but we all were counting on Duce and we are still counting on Duce being part of this football team.

"With Al Harris leaving, Shawn Barber leaving, Hugh Douglas leaving, these were good football players for us, not just good athletes but good football players. They understood what coach Reid was trying to get across, the point he was trying to get across. They understood the plan, now we have some other acquisitions coming in, can they fill in and mesh with the rest of us to get it done? Because the window of opportunity is closing and it's no secret, it's now."

Vincent said he does not want to broker a deal between Staley and the Eagles organization.

"I don't want that responsibility," said Vincent, who won the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2002. "My responsibility is the guys we have in camp that we all stay focused on every single day getting a little bit better. Unfortunately I think I'm the only player outside of maybe Bobby (Taylor) that has spoken to Duce."

What has Vincent said to Staley?

"We need you in camp," Vincent said. "What's going on? When do you think you'll be in camp? You know, there's five or six of us that's in a similar situation where at the end of this football season we may be on our way and I don't think any of us know if we're part of the future of the Philadelphia Eagles, we're all handling it differently, but we need Duce. I mean we want Duce in camp. I think the coaches want Duce in camp. I think management wants him in camp. I think the two parties are going to have to come together and make it happen to get him here.

Vincent said that without Staley, the Eagles will have a difficult time reaching their goal this season, which is finally getting through the NFC Championship game and reaching the Super Bowl.

"It'll be tough -- I think with the combination of Deuce, Buck and Brian it's a tremendous combination. Can Buck carry the load? It remains to be seen, he's going to be a tremendous back. Brian is now, he's carrying a twofold part on this team, special teams and giving our offense some third down plays. With the combination of the three of them we have a legit shot. With the two of them, I don't know. I just don't know. We haven't been down that road yet to see."

And, he said, time is running out.

"We have to win it all now," said Vincent. "For this organization it's no secret, I don't know if a team can make a five, six, seven year run anymore with free agency. There's so much parity in the National Football League. And I remember when coach Reid took over the job his plan was a three to five year plan, and I think we're in year five, where this is it. Last year, we didn't just peek, we opened the door, we cracked the door to the Super Bowl. We couldn't have a better situation than what we had: we hosted the NFC Championship game, the weather, the fans, everything worked in our favor, we peeked through the door and it shut on us."

Vincent paused, then asked this question to himself:

"How many times can you actually make that run? And let's just be real, let's be realistic. It's now or the window is shut, and now you're rebuilding for the future."

Sal Paolantonio, who covers the NFL for ESPN, was a staff writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1985-95.