Bramble and the Birds

Off-season Moves

This offseason has just begun, but that hasn’t stopped the Eagles from making several extremely crucial moves. The first move that the Eagles made was to solidify Nick Foles’s blind side. Jason Peters signed a 4 year contract worth 38.3 million dollars with 19.5 million dollars guaranteed. Peters, when healthy, is an extremely valuable entity to the super bowl contending team that Chip Kelly is trying to construct for the 2014-2015 season.  

               
Peters is a 6 time pro bowler and a 2 time First-Team all pro. If he continues his dominance from the 2013 seasons then I’m sure Nick Foles will be one happy camper. But the Eagles weren’t done on the offensive line, they also signed center, Jason Kelce. The Eagles locked up Kelce for 6 years for 37.5 million with 10.4 guaranteed.

        
 Kelce, who originally walked on as a linebacker at the University of Cincinnati has worked his way to one of the most elite and consistent centers in the NFL. Keeping the same offense line together is crucial. They have developed a great chemistry together and that will continue to grow as long as they can all stay healthy.

             
 Now that the Eagles locked up their offensive line and have the protection they now needed to make sure that their offensive weapons were intact.  First the Eagles went after their big 6’3 target on the outside, Riley Cooper. Cooper is coming off of a career year in 2013. His receiving total of 835 yards eclipsed that of his previous three seasons combined. Also, his 8 touchdowns were three more than he scored in the previous three seasons combined. It’s safe to say that Cooper earned his new 5 year 22 million dollar deal.

 

               
The Eagles didn’t stop there with signing their explosive weapons. Coming off of a torn ACL, Jeremy Maclin says that he is ahead of schedule on his recovery and apparently, the Eagles believe so as well. The Eagles signed Maclin to a 1 year contract that is up to 6 million dollars.  Maclin has been an extremely consistent and reliable target through his time in Philadelphia. Through the past three seasons Maclin has added 22 touchdowns and was on the verge of being a thousand yard receiver several times. 

 However, with all of the weapons on the outside; Maclin, Cooper, Desean Jackson, etc there someone had to go. Unfortunately, that man was the hardworking, selfless Jason Avant.  The Eagles released Avant shortly after making the signings of their other key pieces. Avant has never been a superstar by any means, but he has been a leader in the locker room and was always willing to do anything as long as it benefited the team.  It is sad to see Avant go, but the NFL is a business and the Eagles felt it was in their best interest to make this move.