Eagles Debate Table: Is it restructure or cut for Jason Peters?

As Jason Peters isn’t getting any younger, is there a chance that he gets released this offseason without restructuring his deal?

What in the world are the Philadelphia Eagles going to do with the longtime veteran left tackle, Jason Peters? As Peters turned 37 this past January, the 16-year veteran has made it very clear that he has no intentions of retiring. A torn ACL last season couldn’t convince him to call it quits. Torn biceps and other multiple injuries couldn’t make him re-think his future in the game of football. So why would we ever assume that age would be the factor that makes him hang it up?

As Peters said earlier in the 2018 season, “they are going to have to kick me out,” we now have to think long and hard about whether that’s a logical decision or not for the Eagles. It’s easy to say Peters is old and always injured so the Eagles should get rid of him.

Let’s really think about whether that’s a good idea or not. Was Peters hurt a lot in 2018? Sure. Reality is though; he didn’t miss a game. There were plays that he took off and a game where he got pulled out early, but aside from that Peters was available for the most part.

At the beginning of the year, he struggled. Towards the end of the 2018 season though, Peters was pretty efficient in protecting the quarterback. Not to mention, when he was missing in the game against the Houston Texans due to a concussion, he was really missed. Halapoulivaati Vaitai has had his shining moments in the past, but we’re not sure that a healthy Vaitai is any better than a banged up Jason Peters if we’re honest. If Peters cap hit for 2018 weren’t a large one, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

Is it restructure or bust for Peters?

According to Spotrac, Jason Peters’ cap hit for 2019 is over $13 million. That’s 6.7-percent of the total cap, which is the second-most on the team. You would think that naturally, the Eagles would ask Peters to take some sort of pay cut to help the team out. Considering the circumstances though, the front office knows better. Peters has made it very clear in the past that he won’t be taking any less money as long as he’s on contract.

Some players would get cut after refusing to do so, but Peters isn’t just “some player.” We’re talking about a future Hall of Famer, who just played through an entire season with what could be considered a season-ending injury. A player like that already did enough favors. So now we ask if Peters should at least be asked to restructure his deal.

Restructuing contracts is Howie Roseman’s formula to freeing up cap for now, and worrying about it later. We’ve seen multiple restructures in the past, and the guy on the opposite side of Peters, Lane Johnson was the last to do so. We haven’t seen Peters restructure at all in the past, which could indicate that he’s been asked to do so, but hasn’t accepted the idea.

So at this point, we must ask, is it restructure or cut at this point for Peters? Is that $13 million cap hit just way too much to take right now? Or are the Eagles going to have to accept it and roll with him for the third and final season of his contract? Let’s hear your opinions, Eagles fans.