On Tuesday afternoon, Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider announced that longtime offensive lineman Jason Peters will retire, putting an end to a 21-season career in the NFL that should land him in Canton.
Peters will become an assistant to the Seahawks’ vice president of player affairs, Maurice Kelly, Schneider told reporters.
Peters, also known as “The Bodyguard,” went undrafted out of Arkansas and converted from tight end to offensive tackle after signing with the Buffalo Bills. But Peters played the majority of his career with the Eagles — spending 12 seasons in Philadelphia from 2009-20 and helping the Eagles win a Super Bowl in the 2017 season.
The Eagles acquired Peters through a trade with the Bills, after the Pro Bowler was unhappy with his contract and had missed offseason workouts and training camp in 2008 to voice his displeasure. The Eagles signed him to a six-year, $60 million contract extension. Meanwhile, the Bills received first- and fourth-round picks in the 2009 draft and a conditional sixth-round pick in 2010.
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“Man, great, great player,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman told reporters at the NFL scouting combine on Tuesday. “That trade that we made — I was a personnel director at the time — the guy is just a freak of all freaks. They called him ‘The Franchise’ for a reason. You felt every Sunday going into a game that you had no worries, no matter who the pass rusher was.
“Elite athlete, elite teammate, world champion, in my mind a no-doubt first-ballot Hall of Famer. Just an incredible career. … I don’t think I’d be standing up here if it wasn’t for the success of guys like that. I’m just really thankful for Jason Peters.”
A nine-time Pro Bowler, six-time All-Pro (including two first-team nods), and a member of the NFL’s 2010 All-Decade team, Peters played for five NFL teams — the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, and the Seattle Seahawks, in addition to the Bills and Birds.
Peters, 43, was the oldest player on an NFL roster after re-signing with the Seahawks in 2024 to join the team’s practice squad. The year prior, Peters appeared in eight games with the team in the 2023-24 season, starting two.