Philadelphia Eagles: 5 reasons signing Jason Peters was a good idea
By David Esser
The Philadelphia Eagles now have a legit swing tackle on the roster if need be.
This somewhat falls along the same lines as having Peters around in case Dillard struggles, but adding another offensive lineman to the roster seriously improves the Eagles depth at the position.
In 2017, the Eagles’ offensive line depth was put to the ultimate test when Peters himself went down for the season. Doug Pederson and the rest of the coaching staff turned things over to Halapoulivaati Vaitai, and for all intents and purposes he did exactly what he was supposed to in that role. He was good, not great, but played just well enough to help the Eagles earn their first Super Bowl in franchise history.
Since then, the Eagles have used Vatai at a variety of different positions. He’s filled in at both tackle spots and even played some guard when Brooks went down. Vatai’s versatility and effectiveness eventually earned him a $45 million contract with the Detroit Lions this past offseason.
With Vatai now gone, there were some serious question marks regarding who would be the Eagles go-to backup tackle. Jordan Mailata has barely played, and rookies Prince Tega Wanogho and Jack Driscoll will have a rough go just adapting to professional football during this super strange offseason.
With Peters now back in town, Doug Pederson and the Eagles have their new backup tackle in case Dillard or Lane Johnson go down. In a scenario like that, Peters could fill in at either tackle spot with Matt Pryor taking over the right guard position.
It may seem silly to put so much value on “depth”, but again you only have to look as far as the team’s Super Bowl run to see just how important backup offensive linemen are.