- The Eagles announced some changes to their scouting staff on Friday, including promoting Trey Brown from director of college scouting to player personnel executive college/pro and hiring Ian Cunningham to take over Brown’s old post. Brown was among a few candidates who interviewed last month for the Bills’ then-vacant general manager job, which ended up going to Brandon Beane. Cunningham’s new to Philly, having spent the previous nine years with Baltimore. There, he worked with Joe Douglas, whom the Eagles hired as their vice president of player personnel last year.
- After flirting with free agent receiver Jeremy Maclin, the Eagles are unlikely to pursue fellow pass-catcher Eric Decker, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link). Philadelphia, which was reportedly the runner-up in the Maclin sweepstakes, pursued the now-Raven because of their previous relationship with the wideout, per Garafolo. The Eagles don’t enjoy that sort of familiarity with Decker, and are comfortable with their current crop of wide receivers, which includes Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith, Jordan Matthews, and Nelson Agholor.
- After playing just 27 percent of the Eagles’ defensive snaps in 2016, linebacker Mychal Kendricks has been the subject of trade rumors throughout the offseason. For now, Kendricks is still in Philadelphia, and if he remains an Eagle this year, his role is unlikely to change, writes Dave Zangaro of CSNPhilly.com. The Eagles used their nickel package over 70 percent of the time last season, and they’ll probably rely on it heavily again; if so, Kendricks will continue to watch from the sideline as fellow linebackers Jordan Hicks and Nigel Bradham receive the majority of snaps. The 26-year-old Kendricks still has three years left on his contract, but releasing him would cost the Eagles $9.15MM in dead cap this summer. Barring a trade, then, he figures to spend the sixth year of his career with his only NFL employer to date.
- The Eagles handed Jason Peters a one-year extension Wednesday, and the club could move the veteran offensive lineman from tackle to guard at some point in the future, as head coach Doug Pederson told reporters, including Matt Lombardo of NJ.com (Twitter link). The switch would make some sense, especially from a contractual standpoint, as Philadelphia has already locked up its left tackle of the future — incumbent right tackle Lane Johnson. Johnson is earning $11.25MM annually, far and away the highest salary among right tackles, a sure sign the Eagles envision the former first-round pick eventually transitioning to the blindside.
The Eagles and Jason Peters have agreed to an extension, per a team announcement. It’s a one-year addition that should keep the left tackle in Philadelphia through the 2019 season. 
[RELATED: Eagles Didn’t Get Into Bidding War For Jeremy Maclin]
Peters told reporters on Tuesday that he wanted a restructured contract. What he didn’t tell the media was that his reps and the Eagles were apparently on the doorstep of getting something done.
Originally, Peters’ contract took him through 2018 with little in the way of guaranteed money. Now, he has $15.5MM in guarantees over the next three years and can earn a maximum of $32.5MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links). As a part of that $15.5MM in guarantees, $8MM will come in the form of a signing bonus. The new contract may allow Peters to retire with the Eagles. Meanwhile, the team may get some cap relief.
In 2016, the advanced stats at Pro Football Focus placed Peters as the eighth-best tackle in the NFL. His 88.3 overall score on PFF ranks as the third-highest showing of his career. For his career, he has made nine Pro Bowls and is a three-time first-team All-Pro.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
On Tuesday morning, left tackle Jason Peters strongly hinted to reporters that he wants the Eagles to restructure his contract (Twitter link via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer). Peters explained that he doesn’t want to have to worry about getting cut as he enters each year of his contract and also expressed a desire to retire as a member of the Eagles.
Earlier this offseason, the Eagles approached Peters about taking a pay cut. Those talks were not fruitful, but the Eagles opted to keep him at a base salary of $10.45MM (per Over The Cap) rather than replace him.
The 35-year-old has solid comp over the next two seasons, but he has little in the way of certainty. In 2017, he’s slated to carry a $11.7MM cap number. Next year, he’ll have an $11.25MM cap figure, but the Eagles would be left with just $1MM in dead money if they choose to release him.
Peters doesn’t have leverage, per se, but the two sides could come to terms on a reworked contract that benefits everyone. A revised deal could see Peters take a cut in base salary in the next two years in exchange for a bump in guaranteed money or even years.
Last season, Pro Football Focus placed Peters as the eighth-best tackle in the entire league. His 88.3 overall score on PFF ranks as the third-highest showing of his career. For his career, he has made nine Pro Bowls and is a three-time first-team All-Pro.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
We learned earlier today that the Eagles, not the Bills, were the runners-up for Jeremy Maclin‘s services, which came as something of a surprise given last week’s report that Philadelphia did not have interest in reuniting with Maclin. Per Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter links), Eagles head coach Doug Pederson claims he was not being coy when he said the team was not considering Maclin, but that the Eagles did not reach out to Maclin until the weekend, when they contacted him to gauge interest. However, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets the Eagles never really got into a bidding war with the Ravens, who ultimately signed Maclin and who apparently gave him “solid money” to come to Baltimore.
On Monday morning, it was reported that Jeremy Maclin was deciding between signing with the Ravens or the Bills. As it turns out, the decision actually came down to the Ravens and the Eagles, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). 
[RELATED: Ravens Sign WR Jeremy Maclin]
This news comes as a surprise since Maclin’s only two known visits were with Buffalo and Baltimore. Furthermore, Eagles coach Doug Pederson said last week that the team did not have interest in the wide receiver “at [the] time.” Apparently, Pederson was playing coy with the media and Maclin felt familiar enough with the Eagles that he did not require a visit to Philadelphia.
The Bills went hard after Maclin, but apparently they did not crack his top two. Running back LeSean McCoy started the recruitment effort early by reaching out to his former Eagles teammate and Maclin’s visit stretched into a second day, but Buffalo was still not to his liking. One has to wonder where the Bills will go from here since their wide receiver group continues to look shallow. The Bills could use at least one receiver with a pedigree like Maclin’s to provide support behind oft-injured star Sammy Watkins. Robert Woods, who was a solid WR2 for the Bills, left the team in free agency this spring.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
King Dunlap is calling it a career. The former Chargers offensive lineman will retire instead of pursuing an NFL gig in 2017, according to his agents (on Twitter). 
Dunlap was released by the Chargers back in March and even though he is retiring today, he did have opportunities to play elsewhere, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The Broncos were said to have some level of interest in Dunlap following his release, but we haven’t heard his name much in the last three months. That’s a sign that Dunlap has been thinking about hanging ’em up for a while now.
Dunlap, an Auburn product, entered the league as a seventh-round pick of the Eagles in 2008. After going No. 230 overall, he made several teams regret passing on him as he became a quality lineman for Philly. In his final year with the Eagles, Dunlap made 12 starts and parlayed that promotion into a free agent contract with San Diego.
In four years with the Chargers, Dunlap started in all 46 of his appearances. However, Pro Football Focus rated him as just the No. 53 tackle in the NFL last season in what was his second straight injury-shortened campaign. Dunlap, who turns 32 in September, will now get to heal from all of his nagging injuries as he exits football.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- Eagles rookie Nate Gerry‘s conversion to linebacker is going well, as Dave Zangaro of CSNPhilly.com writes. The Nebraska product has put on about 16 pounds over the past month in his effort to go from hard-hitting collegiate safety to professional linebacker, and he will have the opportunity to get significant playing time in an unsettled linebacker unit in Philadelphia.