The Philadelphia Eagles report for 2016 Training Camp starting Monday, July 25. Bleeding Green Nation is already breaking down the Philadelphia Eagles roster in a position preview series, but we're also going to be running a countdown series that's more geared towards unique thematic angles. We continue the series by taking a look at the veteran players on Philadelphia's roster. [The New Players]
Longest Tenured Eagles
Long snapper Jon Dorenbos is the team's longest tenured player. He first signed with Philadelphia back in November 2006. It remains to be seen how much quality snapping the 36-year-old Dorenbos has left in him.
Roles
This season is a little odd because even the Eagles don't truly expect to contend for a title. Howie Roseman said he's not sure if the team will make the playoffs. This offseason was mostly about focusing on the long-term outlook, hence the Carson Wentz trade. Re-signing Sam Bradford was a short-term move to help keep the team competitive in a weak NFC East, though. The Eagles still have some keys veterans they'll be leaning on this season.
The most important veteran is Jason Peters. The future Hall of Famer majorly struggled to stay healthy in 2015. He reportedly has a degenerative condition so his long-term outlook is sketchy. The Eagles are counting on Peters to be their starting left tackle in 2016. It's very important he stays on the field because Philadelphia doesn't have a ton of great tackle depth behind him.
Darren Sproles is another key veteran offensive player. The Eagles are very thin at running back. Sproles isn't a full-time rusher, but he's still fast as hell and dangerous in open space. Sproles is coming off a season where he posted near-career low marks in yards per reception and yards per attempt. Philadelphia will hope he can be more efficient this year in Doug Pederson's offense, which could feature him more as a pass catcher.
Brent Celek earned a contract extension this offseason despite coming off a down year as a blocker. He was surprisingly efficient as a receiver, though, posting 14.7 yards per reception. The Chiefs utilized a lot of tight end heavy formations in Kansas City so Celek could get a lot of playing time if Pederson carries that over. One would imagine he'll still be heavily used as a blocker.
Allen Barbre is seemingly the favorite to start at left guard, for now. Barbre struggled in 2015 but the coaching staff remains high on him. He'll have to beat out rookie Isaac Seumalo and Stefen Wisniewski in order to hold onto his job.
Leodis McKelvin is the only projected starter on defense who is currently 30 years old or older. He turns 31 in September. Defensive end Connor Barwin, meanwhile, will turn 30 in October. The Eagles are counting on McKelvin to be one of their two starting corners on the outside. Both Doug Pederson and Jim Schwartz praised McKelvin for his efforts during spring practice.
The special teams unit features two of the oldest players on the roster: Dorenbos and punter Donnie Jones. Jones was pretty good last year and he already beat out the "competition" that the Eagles brought in for him. Dorenbos has to beat out rookie long snapper John DePalma, which isn't necessarily a guarantee.
Last year as an Eagle?
Peters can be traded or cut next offseason for a savings of $9.2 million compared to only $2 million in dead money. He turns 35 next January.
Sproles is set to be an unrestricted free agent after this season. He turns 34 next June.
Barbre can be cut after this season for a savings of $1.8 million.
The days of Dorenbos could be numbered. Not only is he involved in a position battle this summer, but he's also competing on America's Got Talent. It remains to be seen if his success on the show could conflict with the team's football schedule. It's also worth noting Dorenbos is entering the final year of his contract. He turns 37 next offseason.
Jones is also in the last year of his deal but it shouldn't be hard for the Eagles to re-sign him if he continues to punt well.
Over 30 club
36
LS Jon Dorenbos [14]
P Donnie Jones [13]
34
OT Jason Peters [13]
33
RB Darren Sproles [12]
32
OG Allen Barbre [9]
31
TE Brent Celek [10]
30
CB Leodis McKelvin [9]
OL Andrew Gardner [7]