Getty Jason Peters is a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Doug Pederson has long been a master of gamesmanship during his tenure in Philadelphia. Why stop now?
Pederson seemed to deny a report that Jason Peters requested a pay raise to play left tackle. That was in one breath. In the next one, the crafty coach bemoaned that he didn’t “understand where some of these reports are coming from.” Again, not a flat-out denial but the assumption was that the controversial report wasn’t true.
“First of all, I don’t understand where some of these reports are coming from,” Pederson told reporters on Monday. “Jason Peters for us has done an outstanding job at right guard. He’s comfortable at right guard. We have some options at left tackle that we’re working through over there.”
When asked specifically if he had talked to Peters about switching from right guard to left tackle, Pederson said that would be a “private conversation.”
“To me, that would be a private conversation, one between me and Jason,” Pederson said. “I probably wouldn’t reveal that to you guys [the media].”
Pederson went on to emphasize how comfortable Peters is at right guard while dismissing potentially moving Lane Johnson from his starting spot at right tackle to left tackle. It’s too late into training camp to be shuffling his whole offensive line around.
“The fact that Jason has really embraced a new role for him, he’s done it well,” Pederson said. “He’s playing at a high level in what we’ve asked him to do there and he’s comfortable. As you guys know, it’s hard to disrupt too many positions with that offensive line.”
Matt Pryor appears to be the Week 1 starter at left tackle after the third-year player worked there for a second straight practice. Pederson’s other “options” include third-year swing tackle Jordan Mailata and rookie Jack Driscoll. A rumored flirtation with Riley Reiff was quickly squashed after the Vikings restructured his contract.
It’s still unclear how much more money — assuming the report is true — that Peters actually wants. The 38-year-old signed a one-year deal worth up to $6 million (with $3 million guaranteed) in July.
On Saturday, the head coach indicated that Peters would see some work at left tackle in Andre Dillard’s absence. That still hasn’t happened.
“We’ve got a couple of guys now, including Jason Peters, that we want to look at over at the left side,” Pederson told reporters on Aug. 29. “J.P. has done an outstanding job, coming in, playing the right guard spot. We’re going to continue to look at him there [at right guard].”
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Eagles GM Praises Peters Willingness to ‘Go In’
Last week, Eagles GM Howie Roseman told NBC10’s John Clark how excited he was for Peters’ transition to right guard. Remember, the team originally let the future Hall of Famer walk in free agency before bringing him back to take over for Brandon Brooks. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a huge market for Peters’ services.
Will Eagles keep JP at RG?
Howie Roseman last week told me how good JP looks at RG
“If you just came from a different country and you watch Jason Peters play RG right now and you watched his movement, You go ‘that guy must’ve been doing this for 10 years.’ He is a unique guy”
“It just shows what kind of person he is, that he’s just willing to go in,” Roseman told Clark. “If you just came from a different country and you watch Jason Peters play right guard right now and you watched his movement, you go ‘that guy must’ve been doing this for 10 years.’ He is a unique guy.”
Now Roseman will have to decide if that “unique guy” is worth more money to protect the franchise quarterback’s blind side, arguably the most important position on the field. Meanwhile, the head coach seems content to go into Week 1 with Pryor manning the spot. The season opener is officially 13 days away.
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