Eagles reward defensive starter in classy move by the organization

It’s been no secret that, over the course of the past few seasons, we’ve seen and heard some stories floating around about the Philadelphia Eagles organization that we truly wish we hadn’t been made aware of. Don’t act like you haven’t been listening to the gossip.

We’ve heard about a toxic culture created by the franchise’s vice president/general manager Howie Roseman. You remember that shouting match he had with Zach Ertz right?

There have been a few rumors, some confirmed and some unconfirmed, about everything from guys showing up late to meetings (or falling asleep in them) to a certain chairman and CEO being meddlesome yet uninformed about the football matters that he continues to stick his nose in.

It would be nice if those were the only stories, but they weren’t. There was the handling of Malcolm Jenkins, Doug Pederson’s decision to quit, and something about this red-headed quarterback leaving the team after becoming disgruntled. There were even rumors about two of said quarterback’s wide receivers being hell-bent on overthrowing him.

We could go on, but we won’t. You get the idea. Say what you want about Nick Sirianni and his long soliloquies about flowers and roots (or something like that), but the vibe is different. This team seems to be in a better place, and things appear to be more positive (knock on wood).

That being said, there’s more good news to report.

Eagles offer a goodwill gesture to Steven Nelson in a classy move by the franchise.

Here’s something that’s definitely worth a mention. When the Eagles signed Steven Nelson on July 25th to a one-year deal, his contract came with incentives, one of which being a $375,000 bonus he’d unlock if he played 90 percent of the defensive snaps for Philadelphia during the 2021-2022 NFL season.

He entered Week 18 having played 92% of the defensive snaps, but as you know, Philly made a decision to sit their starters versus the Cowboys. You can see where this is headed right?

By sitting, Nelson had no say in influencing the outcome of any of Dallas’ 61 offensive plays (or the 475 yards they racked up on ten drives). As a result, Nelson’s total percentage of saps played dropped to 87%.

What did the Eagles do? According to ESPN NFL Insider Field Yates, they paid him anyway. Take a look.

That’s a class move by the organization and something of note for two reasons. One, it helps shed the image of some that they’re an organization that no one wants to play for, and second, it adds more positive morale as the Birds prepare for the postseason.

Kudos to the Eagles leadership for this one. Stories like these are a whole lot more fun to tell than some of the ones that have been coming out of the NovaCare Complex more frequently than any of us would like.