Jason Peters wants more money. Should the Eagles pay him?
30 August 2020 Uncategorized
When the Eagles resigned Jason Peters late this offseason to play right guard in place of the injured Brandon Brooks, that was really the only thing they resigned him for. By all accounts, he was not in their plans at left tackle, as they were fully engaged in giving the second year Andre Dillard the reins over the position and he hadn’t looked too bad.
What happens way too often with this Eagles team lately though, is that there is seemingly an injury curse that hangs over this team and true to form, Andre Dillard was diagnosed with a torn bicep at the end of last week and was announced to be out for the season after undergoing surgery to repair it. Prayers up to him, and hopefully next year we get to see him strut his stuff, but in the present, the Eagles are now without a solid left tackle option.
Enter Peters back into the equation. Peters, who of course was the Eagles 11 year starter at the position, is on a contract that pays him up to $6 million for incentives, but only pays him $2.8 million guaranteed. One can definitely argue that Peters is underpaid for his resume as a probable Hall of Fame LT, no matter how old he is. That would explain why this morning we have learned that Peters is indeed asking for a raise if he were to play left tackle this season for the Birds, as seen below.
Sources: Jason Peters to #Eagles: Pay me more to play left tackle.
My story on why Doug Pederson hedged on moving the future Hall of Famer back to his long time position after Andre Dillard’s injury. https://t.co/hLLp6ojrkw
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) August 29, 2020
Based on this, we have to see it from Peters’ view. The Eagles only signed him to play a position he had never played before. This contract did not factor in any injuries to Dillard, we as fans only figured, “Well if Dillard struggles, which is possible, then at least we have JP to come slot in at LT for us!” Peters must think he is underpaid to take on the stresses of an everyday left tackle and it is hard to disagree with that fact. Peters has the upper hand in the leverage area of this negotiation with Howie Roseman, and based on the rest of the bodies that the Eagles could throw out at left tackle, it is hard to envision a scenario where Peters doesn’t at least get some sort of raise, even given our precarious cap position.
Photo Credit: Philadelphia Inquirer/Yong Kim