Eagles Sign Tackle Demetress Bell To Five-Year Deal
By Spike Eskin
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – When Jason Peters left Buffalo to play with the Eagles, Demetress Bell took his old job with the Bills. He'll have to fill Peters' shoes again, this time in Philadelphia.
The Eagles have signed tackle Demetress (yes, it is Demetress and not Demetrius) to a five-year contract, the team announced. Bell will fill the spot vacated by Jason Peters, who will likely miss the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Peters is widely considered to be the best tackle in football.
"Demetress was one of the top free agent offensive linemen available this year and and we are happy to be able to add him to our squad," Andy Reid said via the Eagles Insider Twitter account. "We had a chance to meet him over the weekend and study him extensively on tape and we came away quite impressed with what we saw and heard. He's a great athlete."
"Demetress is a guy we've followed since he joined the league," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said via the same Twitter account. He's a big, athletic left tackle and he has quite a few games of experience under his belt with Buffalo. He'll excel with our style of play on the offensive line."
Eagles offensive line coach Howard Mudd has a system that benefits linemen who are particularly athletic, adding new life to the career of guard Evan Mathis, and favoring players like Peters and tackle Todd Herremans.
Terms of the deal were not released, but be careful to note "five years," can mean many different things in NFL contracts, as many are not guaranteed deals.
KYW's Matt Leon spoke to CSN's Ray Didinger about the signing:
