The Philadelphia Eagles Big Splash: Jason Peters

The Philadelphia Eagles have signed premier left tackle Jason peters. Peters was disgruntled with his contract situation in Buffalo. He had not shown up to training camp and had made it public that he wanted a new contract. Peters is a two-time Pro Bowler and at 27 years old is very much in his prime.

The Eagles have signed him to a contract that would make him the highest paid left tackle ever.

The effect of Peters is great; Peters will anchor the offensive line. Peters will open up holes for Westbrook, Westbrook is expected to be 100 percent in week one and Peters will help Westbrook who is getting older put up similar numbers to the 2007 season.

If you noticed in the NFC championship game McNabb was getting pressured and had to run outside the pocket, a lot of the pressure was coming from McNabb’s left side. Peters will buy time for McNabb which will keep McNabb in the pocket longer in the pocket which will comfort McNabb and improve his accuracy.

I personally believe that getting Peters is more of a priority than making a trade for Anquan Boldin. I am not saying I would not have liked Boldin in an Eagles uniform but Peters was a much bigger need.

Not only will Peters anchor the offensive line, which now has become one of the elite offensive lines in football, but the reason I believe this is a smarter move than trading for Boldin is that the Eagles play in the rough NFC East, where they will have to face the 2008 leader in sacks DeMarcus Ware two times a year, they will face Osi Umenyiora two times a year, they will also face the biggest splash of the 2009 offseason Albert Haynesworth two times a year, they will be facing three dominant pass rushers six times in the regular season.

Even though this might rule out the possibility of trading for Anquan Boldin, the Eagles did not overpay for Peters and they still have pick No. 21 in the draft, they were going to draft a left tackle anyways, now they have one less need and can go draft a running back such as Knowshon Moreno or a wide receiver such as Darrius Heyward-Bey.