Chicago Bears: Philadelphia insider gives a horrible take on Jason Peters

Has Jason Peters performance for the Chicago Bears hurt his overall career?

Alright, as I mentioned, what Rob Maaddi says next regarding Jason Peters on Jon Zaghloul’s Sports Talk Chicago podcast is absolutely dumbfounding to me. How petty is Maaddi about how Peters has handled himself contractually the last few years? That’s the only reason I can understand his next comments. Maaddi goes on to say the following about Jason Peters:

"I just wonder how much of his Hall of Fame positioning is he tarnishing his last two, three seasons? He went through a couple things last year in Philly where he didn’t want to switch positions and play guard after always being a left tackle. He eventually did, he started the season as guard, but then had they move him back out to tackle and then he wanted more money for going back out tackle. It ended on a bad note and I wonder how much that will hurt his legacy."

Alright, I’ve already pointed out just how great Jason Peters has been for the Philadelphia Eagles, right? However, Rob Maaddi’s last comment about how he believes Peters may be tarnishing his Hall of Fame positioning/legacy by continuing to play is just asinine. How can anyone think that a 39-year-old left tackle (undrafted by the way) who has nine Pro Bowl appearances and two First-Team All-Pro appearances is hurting his Hall of Fame stock when he’s playing at a great level once again?

Now, has Jason Peters been elite this year for the Chicago Bears? The answer is no. However, he’s probably playing as close to elite as any left tackle has played here in Chicago over the years. His 2021 season is on par with Charles Leno’s 2018 performance. He has a PFF grade this year of 76.8 compared to Leno’s 2018 grade of 75.7.

Now, I understand that Leno’s performance was not Hall of Fame worthy, but Leno was also 27 whereas Peters is 39. Seeing a 39-year-old left tackle play the way Peters has this year, giving up four sacks thus far, screams to me as another reason to put him in the NFL Hall of Fame, not the opposite.

Again, outside of Peters’ 2020 performance where he was forced to play guard instead of tackle, he has been above average to elite. He has been an All-Pro and continues to thrive this season playing on a new offensive line, with a new offensive scheme. Nothing about his performance in 2021 is a negative at this point. He’d have to fall off a cliff efficiency and performance-wise for me to think Maaddi is even remotely close to being accurate by his take.

That said, check out the rest of the podcast as Maaddi weighs in on Matt Nagy (agree with him) and Justin Fields.