Philadelphia Eagles: Could Jason Peters actually return in 2020?

If the market for Jason Peters never quite materializes, would the 38-year-old vet consider one final season with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2020?

I never thought I’d see the day where Halapoulivaati Vaitai has signed a contract in free agency before Jason Peters. Heck, I never thought I’d see the day where the player affectionately known as Big V is set to make more money than Peters when the two are both still playing, but these are weird, weird times we live in, Philadelphia Eagles fans.

On the very first day of free agency – really, the first day of the league’s legal tampering period – news broke that the Detroit Lions had agreed to a five-year, $50 million deal with Vaitai to replace departing veteran right tackle Rick Wagner. While the move may be a tad ambitious for a player as untested as Vaitai, its guaranteed money, $13 million, makes the move relatively low-risk (more on that here).

Peters, on the other hand, remains unemployed into the month of April, with very little in the way of substantive rumored landing spots.

More from Philadelphia Eagles

How could this be?

Peters may no longer be a surefire Pro Bowl left tackle, but he’s still pretty darn good. In 2019, he only allowed three sacks and 10 penalties on 872 offensive snaps – not great marks for the future Hall of Famer, but still good enough to be a top-15 left tackle.

Just for context, Andre Dillard, the player Philly traded up to select in the 2019 NFL Draft, had four sacks as a rookie on only 336 offensive snaps.

With very few true blue starting-caliber offensive tackles available in free agency, resulting in some massive payoffs for players like Jack Conklin, Bryan Bulaga, and Vaitai, surely some team would give Peters a one-year, $10-ish million deal to shore up their left side as a stop-gap blindside blocker.

So far, that hasn’t been the case.

Call it an unfortunate byproduct of having three legit left tackles with first-round grades in the 2020 NFL Draft, or an inability to bring in Peters for a tryout, but one has to wonder just how long it will take for the 38-year-old to land a new deal to continue on with his professional football career.

And more importantly for fans in the Delaware Valley, could a return to Philly become more and more appealing as free agency drags on?

Think about it, Peters performed at a much higher level than Dillard in 2019. While expecting the player affectionately known as ‘The Bodyguard’ to play all 16 games at a high level in what could go down as his 17th and final NFL season, starting out the season with Peters on Carson Wentz‘s blindside is by no means a bad idea. Peters would provide continuity, an immediate upgrade over Dillard, and an opportunity for his 24-year-old counterpart to take a little extra time to adjust to the game’s highest level.

Those are all short-term benefits for a team with a viable shot at representing the NFC East in the playoffs. On a more macro level, retaining the nine-time Pro Bowler would ensure that the final jersey Peters wears in the NFL is Eagles midnight green, the team that made him a certified star.

Could it potentially stunt Dillard’s development just a little bit? Maybe so, but Dillard is signed to a four-year deal with a fifth-year option that could keep him in the fray through the 2023 season, with a very lucrative contract extension all but guaranteed if he plays up to his pre-draft projection. Would having him sit six, 10, even a full season more really be that big of a deal if he ends of starting in South Philly until 2030? I’d venture to say no.

Heck, if things go south, the Eagles could even kick Peters inside to play guard if need be, as in 2019, he said he was willing to do whatever the team needed him to do, even kick over to the right side for the first time since the precipice of his career in Buffalo.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather have Dillard as a sixth man coming off the bench than the team’s current top bench option…. Matt Pryor? Jordan Mailata? Nate Herbig?

That trio has a combined 79 snaps of NFL action combined.

dark. Next. Timmy Jernigan could have been great

Despite his advanced age, owning the honor of being the second oldest offensive tackle in the NFL going into 2020 behind only Andrew Whitworth, Jason Peters is still a more than solid starting left tackle in the NFL. If his market never materializes in the lead up to the draft, maybe the Philadelphia Eagle should consider a reunion for one final dance with their franchise left tackle.

Home/Philadelphia Eagles