After the Chicago Bears finished beating the Miami Dolphins 20-13 in Week 1 of the preseason, Jason Peters‘ representation, Elite Loyalty Sports, reported the six-time All-Pro tackle had agreed to terms with Chicago on a one-year deal. Peters last played for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2020, starting and playing in eight games.
The undrafted tight end converted tackle was signed by the Buffalo Bills in 2004, playing five seasons in Buffalo before being traded to Philadelphia. Peters went on to play eleven seasons for the Eagles organization, earning nine Pro Bowl selections and being selected to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.
Any addition to the Chicago Bears offensive line is a Positive
At age 39, Jason Peters is well past his prime after constantly battling injuries on the back half of his career. In 2020 alone, Peters was placed on the injured reserve three separate times with a December placement on the IR ending his 2020 season.
Peters is also reuniting with his old offensive line coach from Philadelphia, Juan Castillo. Castillo was offensive line coach from 2009-2010 before taking on the role of defensive coordinator for the next two seasons. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the relationship between the two was a factor in Peters’ decision to join the Bears.
Current Bears head coach Matt Nagy was also starting his coaching career in Philadelphia at the time, first as a coaching assistant and later as offensive quality control which means both he and Peters could already be on a first-name basis.
When healthy, Peters is a starting-caliber tackle that has experience playing both tackles, but is most comfortable at left tackle. With neither second-round tackle Teven Jenkins or former first-round tackle/guard Germain Ifedi playing this week versus Miami and Jenkins failing to practice at least once during training camp, it makes sense to add another veteran presence with over 200 starts in his career and a 2020 season that featured zero penalties called against him.