The Philadelphia Eagles have signed linebacker Mychal Kendricks to a four-year contract extension through the 2019 season. Per ESPN’s Adam Caplan, the deal is worth $29 million and carries $16.4 million in guarantees.
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At the beginning of training camp, after the Eagles traded away Brandon Boykin, Chip Kelly was asked if he’d had any discussions about trading Mychal Kendricks.
The annual rate of $7.25 million places Kendricks in the top-10 among inside and middle linebackers.
The contract may explain Kendricks’ absence from practice in recent days.
At 5-foot-11 and less than 240 pounds, Kendricks was also believed to fall short of Kelly’s rigid physical requirements for nucleus players. While Kendricks is one a few holdovers from the previous regime, he has blossomed under the watchful eye of Eagles head coach Chip Kelly and defensive coordinator Bill Davis. An injury would jeopardize any deal the two sides were working toward.
The 2012 draft was a good one for former general manager Howie Roseman, who selected Fletcher Cox, Kendricks and Vinny Curry with the Eagles’ first three picks.
Heading into his fourth season with the Eagles, he will bring experience the line needs with so many offseason changes and injuries.
Kendricks has 333 tackles, including 15 for loss and 9 sacks. He finished last season, in 12 appearances, with 83 tackles, four sacks and three forced fumbles.
Mychal Kendricks reached a new four-year extension with the Eagles on Monday.
On offense there’s a quarterback named Sam Bradford in the final year of his contract as well. There was no indication that a deal was close, however. The Eagles are solidifying the heart of their defense by keeping the in-house components intact, which is a much healthier way of remaining a consistent team than seeking out players in free agency. The Eagles worked out a new deal with veteran inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans, meaning they had three linebackers for two spots inside.
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The Eagles confirmed the move on Twitter. I’m not going to talk about it right now. “Write that down in ink”. “What have we got, three or four weeks?”
