The Philadelphia Eagles have reportedly signed tight end Brent Celek to a three-year contract worth $13 million with $6 million in guarantees, per Adam Caplan of ESPN.
#Eagles and TE Brent Celek agreed to a 3-year, $13m deal with $6m guaranteed, per sources.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) January 26, 2016
Celek was entering 2016 on the final year of a six-year contract and was set to count for $4.8 million against the cap before this new deal. No doubt his cap hit will offer some relief this upcoming season for the Eagles.
This is the second big personnel move made since the Eagles fired Chip Kelly, the other being the extension of Zach Ertz. And it falls right in line with what fans should expect from Philadelphia’s offense under new head coach Doug Pederson.
Pederson and quarterback Alex Smith utilized tight ends brilliantly during their tenure with the Kansas City Chiefs. Now the new head coach comes into a situation where he has Ertz — a brilliant pass-catcher who is just now starting to blossom — and Celek to work the middle of the field and create mismatches in opposing secondaries.
Celek is coming off a relatively quiet year where he caught just 27 passes for 398 yards and three touchdowns.
Paying him $6 million guaranteed is quite a bit of money to on a guy with that kind of production. However, the tight end has had some big seasons in the past. Perhaps that’s the player the Eagles figure they’re getting.
Also, Pederson and Celek are familiar with one another from when the head coach was an offensive assistant in Philadelphia under Andy Reid.
He turned 31 yesterday, so this is quite the birthday present for Celek.