3 Philadelphia Eagles that may have overstayed their welcome

Cue the controversy. Are we certain that the Philadelphia Eagles should have reached out to the ‘Bodyguard’?

This one may not be a popular selection, especially with guys like Corey Clement, Vinny Curry, and Derek Barnett floating around, but hear me out. One of the longest-tenured players currently on the Eagles roster and in franchise history, Jason Peters is in the twilight of his career. He became a free agent in March and remained unsigned until recently when the Eagles brought him back again.

Why didn’t anyone else sign him? can we argue that the only reason the ‘Birds’ brought him back was that right guard Brandon Brooks suffered an ankle injury? Had Brooks been healthy, would they have asked Peters to rejoin the team?

It’s true that, even on one of his worst days, Peters is better than half the offensive lines in the NFL, but in 2019, there were major signs of regression. Often, he looked like he was a second too slow and his false start penalties have gone up in recent years. Why? He needs to get off a little early to give himself an advantage. To be truthful, there were moments where he could have been called for a few other false starts and the referees were simply allowing him to slide.

Seeing Peters play in the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ for one more season provokes mixed feelings. On the one hand, it’s great to see a walking Hall-of-Famer come back for one last ride. Nothing would beat seeing him raising the Lombardi Trophy once again and then calling it quits afterward.

On the other hand, Peters is getting up there. He’s 38, almost ancient for an NFL star. It probably won’t happen, but no one wants to see him benched. That would hurt. The long and the short of this is ‘Father Time’ is undefeated.

Wouldn’t it be better if Peters calls it quits and walks into retirement with his dignity? After all, there’s nothing else for him to achieve (other than winning another Vince Lombardi Trophy. He has the All-Pro designations, the Pro Bowls accolades, and a Super Bowl ring. No one wanted to see Roy Jones fall off of a cliff. No one wants to see Tom Brady decline. No one wants their final memory of their hero to be seeing him limp off of the field. The proverbial sunset is already there for him to ride off into, and maybe ‘The Bodyguard’ should retire already instead of waiting for the game to retire him.