Get Used to Brent Celek in Eagles Green

Today the Eagles locked up their second young player in as many weeks with the announcement of a six-year, $33 million dollar deal, $11 million guaranteed, for tight end Brent Celek. Just last week, Winston Justice agreed to a four-year extension worth $18.5 million, with $6 million guaranteed.

The deal for Celek will keep him in Philadelphia until 2016. On his new contract, ““I’m set. I can promise you I won’t be up here complaining about my deal.I owe it to them to play out my deal.”

We have seen this type of thing happen many times over with the current front office, lock up young talent very early on. In most cases, they tend to make these deals happen during or before they become household names. There have been times where these players come back and bitch and moan about their contact, which they knowingly agreed to early in their careers.

It certainly seems to me that Celek is not one of those players, and instead is ready to join the upper echelon of tight ends in this league as a Philadelphia Eagle. In the midst of a breakout season, Celek is 7th among NFL tight ends with 54 receptions, 5th in yards with 601, and 4th in touchdowns with five.

His blocking , questioned before the season, has been much improved. The route running, toughness over the middle, good hands, and ability to truck on after the catch have made him an integral part of the high-powered offense employed in Philadelphia. Still just 24 years old, Celek will have the opportunity to become one of the best Eagles tight ends of all time, joining the likes of Pete Retzlaff, Keith Jackson, and Chad Lewis.

I think this is a very smart move for the Eagles, who are extremely thin at tight end and have had trouble in the past maintaining quality players. While Celek is never going to be a Tony Gonzalez-type guy, he is capable of putting up Pro Bowl numbers. When you have that caliber a player willing to sign long-term (for relatively cheap), you have to pull the trigger.

The Eagles had around $3 million under the cap to play around with, and extending one of their young core players was a very strong possibility. With Celek’ signing, the funds are pretty dried up, meaning another extension is unlikely. Heading into 2010, the Eagles would have a huge cap advantage if the owners decide to extend the current CBA, which expires after this season. If they do not, we will have an uncapped year, which could get a little out of control.

Tags: Brent Celek, Philadelphia Eagles