Among the many disappointments the Philadelphia Eagles had to put up with this year, one of the more glaring ones was the play of left tackle Jason Peters. Perennially one of the best tackles in the game for years now, Peters was always sort of overlooked because everyone just expected him to be great. Which, to his credit, he almost always was.
But this year? Not so much.
In between fighting off an assortment of various injuries, Peters got uncharacteristically beaten this year on the field, looking like a player the Eagles need to think about moving on from. But at 33 years old, I don’t think Peters is done and the Eagles need to keep him around.
I really don’t think that what we saw this year was Peters hitting his eventual decline. Being 33 certainly makes you a grizzled veteran in this league, but it doesn’t mean you can’t still be effective unless you’ve got some sort of major, recurring injury. Peters doesn’t have that.
What I think is more likely is that Peters just couldn’t handle Chip Kelly’s up-tempo and fast approach to the game. While everyone spent so much time talking about it draining the defense, I don’t think anyone really considered that it might drain the offense. And that’s even with his sports science and smoothie regimen.
Plus, sitting at No. 13 in the draft, the Eagles have a great shot at getting a good young rookie quarterback at that slot. Whether you want to bring Sam Bradford back or not doesn’t matter — the Eagles need a definite long-term answer and Bradford isn’t at that point yet. He might have been misused, he might not have ever gelled with Kelly’s attack or maybe he’s just as mediocre as his play made him look. The point is that the Eagles (or anyone else) don’t know that yet. There’s not even a guarantee Bradford wants to return at all. Quarterback stability makes or breaks teams, and getting that is essential.
Keeping Bradford right now is more of an immediate fix than it is a long-term fix, and I’d rather see the Eagles get themselves a Paxton Lynch or Connor Cook in the first round. The lack of a second-round pick makes the Eagles getting an important player there extremely critical. Personally, I think they need that passer more than they need to replace Peters.
I don’t think Peters is done yet, not by a long shot, and not with a coach who’s going to be more pro-friendly. They can wait to address his exit from Philadelphia next year. They can’t wait to get a long-term quarterback.
