Philadelphia Eagles

Eagles' Peters responds after sports column suggests trading him

Published Dec. 3, 2015 3:57 p.m. ET

foxsports

No matter how you slice it, Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jason Peters is one of the best players at his position. His resume includes seven Pro Bowls, two seasons as a first-team All-Pro and four seasons as a second-team All-Pro. When Philly Voice columnist Jimmy Kempski included Peters as one of five players who shouldn't be on the roster in 2016, Peters didn't take too kindly to it.

Peters' Instagram post was a direct response to the following rationale for getting rid of Peters:

LT Jason Peters: Peters turns 34 in January and is currently the third-oldest offensive lineman in the NFL. While Peters has had a tremendous career and is a borderline Hall of Fame talent (he isn't getting in), his career is clearly in decline and he has experienced multiple injuries of the "nagging" variety this season. In 2016, he'll count for $9,300,000, of which the Eagles can save $6,300,000 by releasing or trading him. If the Eagles are realistic about their Super Bowl aspirations next season (they shouldn't have any), they could try to find a trade partner that is a legitimate contender in need of a tackle. They wouldn't get a ton for him, but with a large number of holes to fill, every lottery ticket counts.

Kempski brings up some valid concerns -- allocating a large chunk of your cap to a 34-year old veteran who has seen injuries crop up recently is probably not the best method for success. However, Peters has continued to play at an elite level when healthy in 2015. The Eagles might also be skeptical about getting rid of one of their core players after observing the effect of moving on from players like LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin.