Eagles center Jason Kelce could retire this offseason, but head coach Nick Siranni is doing everything he can to get Kelce to stick around.
Sirianni told Angelo Cataldi that he’s working on getting Kelce to stick around.
“I sent him two kegs of beer yesterday,” Sirianni said, via NBCSportsPhilly.com. “You know what, he’s awesome and I’ve told him how much we want him back. He’s an unbelievable leader. Everything you hear about—if you don’t know Jason Kelce personally, everything you hear about him is as advertised. He’s awesome, he’s a great leader, he’s a great player.
“He’s the backbone of this team, he’s so smart as a football player, like he makes us go as a team. As long as Jason wants to play. I think in the middle of the year I said, ‘You got five more years in you?’
“As long as he wants to go, we want him to go. And I’ll be trying to convince him every single day that I can, to come back and play, and we’ll see how it goes. Ultimately, Jason has to do what’s best for himself and what is best for his family, but we would love the opportunity to have Jason Kelce back on this football team to help us lead the way again.”
Sirianni may want to talk to Dick Vermeil about how seriously the NFL takes it when a coach gives a player alcohol or anything else not counted toward the salary cap, but there seems to be little doubt that the Eagles will make it worth Kelce’s while to return if he wants to. Technically Kelce is under contract with the Eagles for 2022, although the void years in his contract mean he and the Eagles would need to come to an agreement on a new deal for him to return. It doesn’t sound like that will be a problem — if Kelce wants to keep playing.