Jason Kelce: Nick Sirianni admits Eagles have lost ‘one of the best players in NFL history’ following center’s retirement… but claims they have ‘a lot of good pieces’ who could replace him

The Philadelphia Eagles are tasked with replacing an all-time NFL great this offseason following the retirement of Jason Kelce, head coach Nick Sirianni admits.

Kelce, 36, decided to bring the curtain down on his storied football career earlier this month after his 13th season in Philadelphia ended with a wild-card round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He leaves as one of the most important figures in Eagles history, having played an integral role in the team’s first and only Super Bowl victory in 2018, while also helping them reach the grand masterpiece. of football once again five years later.

While announcing his decision, an emotional Kelce broke down in tears during a tearful farewell speech in Philadelphia, where members of his family and Sirianni looked on.

And as he begins to lay out his plans, the Eagles coach believes they have to replace one of the best players in NFL history at center next season.

“We’re obviously losing one of the greatest players not only in Eagles history but in NFL history,” Sirianni said at the NFL Annual League Meeting on Tuesday.

“One of the best centers of all time, so obviously there are going to be things we’re going to have to work on to replace that.”

“But the good thing is these guys have been around Jason for three, four, five, six, seven years, so we’ll see who it is (replacing him) at center, we’ll see who the right guard is.”

But I know we have a lot of good pieces. We’ve got Landon (Dickerson), Lane (Johnson), two guys that are Pro-Bowlers and have been for the last few years, Lane has been for a long time.

“Jordan Mailata has played very good football, Cam Jurgens had a lot of good minutes last year and we will see how the rest develops.”

Sirianni was also asked about the possibility of Tyler Steen, selected by the Eagles in the third round of last year’s NFL Draft, being an option to step into the offensive line when Kelce is no longer around.

“Steen has a lot of different qualities,” he said. “She’s versatile and I think she can do a lot of different things. So when you have guys that are versatile, there’s flexibility as to what you can do with them, what piece goes where.

But we are excited about it. Obviously, what I feel and what everyone feels is that coach (Jeff Stoutland) is going to bring out the best in these guys, and Tyler is going to benefit from that training.

‘Tyler will also benefit because he is a really good player that we picked in the third round. Excited about his evolution, some of the minutes he got last year.

“I think it’s a great option and we’ll see what happens.”