6 Former Eagles Philadelphia Should Sign for a Reunion in Free Agency

4. Halapoulivaati Vaitai, G

The Eagles said goodbye to one of the best players on the team when Jason Kelce announced his retirement recently. Philadelphia knew this could be coming and had an in-house replacement ready in Cam Jurgens.

A second-round pick from Nebraska in 2022, Jurgens spent his rookie season as a reserve but then moved into the starting lineup in 2023. He played right guard for 11 games, missing six due to a foot injury. He performed well enough to give them faith he can start at center but that means there's a hole at guard.

Perhaps this can be filled with Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who originally started his career as a tackle for the Eagles.

Vaitai was a fifth-round pick from TCU who wound up starting 10 games during their Super Bowl-winning season in 2017. He filled in for Lane Johnson at right tackle early in the year but then had to replace Jason Peters at left tackle when he was lost for the season. He reverted to his swing tackle role when they returned but did well enough that the Detroit Lions paid him $50 million over five years when he hit free agency in 2020.

Once in Detroit, he moved to guard and started 28 games while playing 31. Vaitai battled injuries through much of his tenure in The Motor City which means he could potentially sign a team-friendly deal as he looks to prove he should still be a starter.