Brent Celek agrees to deal with Philadelphia Eagles

Nov 26, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek (87) jumps over Detroit Lions strong safety Isa Abdul-Quddus (42) to score a touchdown during the second quarter of a NFL game on Thanksgiving at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /

The Eagles were pretty successful last year, running 2-tight end sets in Chip Kelly’s Spread Offense. And even though new head coach Doug Pederson isn’t a Spread Offense coach, he at least wants to use a lot of double-tight ends sets. The New England Patriots were wildly successful with Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski until Hernandez went to prison.

Plus Pederson learned a lot about how to use tight ends under Andy Reid in Philly, even though he won’t be using Reid’s West Coast Offense. So the eagles agreed to a 3-year deal for $13 million, $6 million guaranteed with tight end Brent Celek. And they do so one day after the Eagles and Zach Ertz agreed on a 5-year, $42 million extension.

Celek will likely be the in-line tight end, allowing Ertz to move focus on his primary strength as a pass-catcher. But Celek is a good receiver himself, finishing last year with 27 catches for 398 yards and three scores on 32 targets. As hard-nosed as he is, he does 371 catches for 4,713 yards and receiving yards in his career with 30 touchdowns.

The deal will keep him in an Eagles uniform through 2018 when Celek will be 34. So the could very well be rare player in teams sports today that starts and finishes his career with the same team. Celek was scheduled to make $5 million in 2016, so the $6 million guaranteed money is a little raise in 2016.

Then he’ll also get two more years at a salary of just more than $4 million and it saves the Eagles money under the salary cap. And at the same time, the contract is a nice reward for showing up and going to work consistently. Celek has appeared in 149 career games, including playoffs, with 120 starts, missing only one game in his pro career.

Not including playoffs, he has played in a total of 143 regular season games. His 371 receptions ties him for fifth-most in franchise history and his career yardage total is the 10th-highest in team history. He trails only Pete Retzlaff among Eagles tight ends in receiving yards, receptions and receiving touchdowns.

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