Philadelphia Eagles: Jason Peters’ restructured deal sets a bad precedent

Well, in the end, everything worked out if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

It wasn’t always pretty. It led to a few heated discussions, but those are commonplace if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan. All we know is Jason Peters is playing left tackle, Matt Pryor and Jordan Mailata aren’t, and in what might be called a class move, the Eagles organization even saw fit to give ‘The Bodyguard’ a pay bump. There are two sides to every coin though, and you can also make a successful argument that this sets a horrible precedent. We’ll get to that in a second though.

The news was announced early on Thursday morning via an official team announcement. Thank Eagles Insider Dave Spadaro for that one, but following the restructure, Peters will make $8 million for the 2020 campaign. $4 million of that is guaranteed.

Let’s settle a few things for this Philadelphia Eagles fan base.

Call it buckling under the pressure. Say what you want about him holding the team for ransom or undermining head coach Doug Pederson‘s authority. You can even criticize the team’s decision to name Peters as a team captain following the way he’s handled this situation. All of that is fair, but one thing has to be mentioned though. Sure, we all had our theories, but why are we talking about another man’s money anyway? That’s his business and the team’s business.

What’s most important, or at least it should be, is this decreases the chances of Carson Wentz peeling himself off of the turf after every offensive play. In the end, that’s what matters. Philly’s first game pits them against a familiar foe, the Washington Football Team who boasts one of the most talented collection of pass rushers in the entire NFL. That’s a recipe for disaster if you’re a ‘Birds’ fan.

J.P. has lost a step. That’s obvious, but even at 38 years of age, he’s better than everything else this team has. 2020 may be his final run, so again, it was nice to see him do what was best for the team. It’s also nice to see the franchise look out for him financially, but there are two other things you should keep in mind though. One, this sets a bad precedent. The next time Wentz gets hurt, the backup quarterback can say he doesn’t want to play unless he’s paid like a starter. Second, if you were on the ‘pay Jason Peters’ bandwagon, don’t you dare criticize Zach Ertz for asking for a pay raise when his time comes around.