The Jason Peters Saga is About the Game vs. the Business

Buried in Jeffery Lurie's therapeutic nearly hour-long virtual presser with the local and national media Sunday evening were a few football nuggets in the new COVID-19 world.

Lurie's thoughts on the pandemic's potential effect on the 2020 season were interesting but even more so in the wake of Jason Peters' reported unwillingness to move back to left tackle in the wake of Andre Dillard's season-ending biceps tear.

Lurie and Peters have a very close relationship that far exceeds the typical owner/player dynamic and whether Lurie was trying to send a message or simply "shooting from the hip" as he claimed, the result was an acknowledgment that players will need to embrace uncertainty and versatility in order to get through 16 games.

"We will do the very, very best we can as a league and as a team to try to keep everybody as safe as possible," said the Eagles' owner. "It's inevitable there's going to be ups and downs here, but I think we have a significant roster size, we have positional flexibility. We know going in that there's going to be some unusual games where players might be playing positions they've hardly ever played."

Lurie wasn't addressing Peters specifically but the timing was interesting coming off a practice in which young left tackles Matt Pryor and Prince Tega Wanogho were dominated by Josh Sweat and Casey Toohill. The lengthy Sweat was particularly disruptive against Pryor, who was given the first opportunity to replace Dillard while Peters tries to wrangle a little more money out of Lurie.

"That's part of being a professional athlete," Lurie said of moving around at a moment's notice. "We embrace it. Honestly, (Eagles head coach) Doug Pederson, his staff, [Eagles Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie (Roseman) and his staff, we've embraced the unpredictability of (COVID-19).

“We know that in any given game, there might be one quarterback available or maybe there will be no tight ends and the wide receiver will have to play tight end, or our defensive end is going to be a defensive tackle; or a cornerback is going to have to be a receiver; our long snapper may not be there."

Just not the right guard, who is actually a left tackle, moving back to LT for the good of the team.

There's more going on here than meets the eye and it starts with Peters feeling disrespected by being moved for a lesser player in Dillard.

Remember to those of us who follow the game and understand the context of age and the Branch Rickey-inspired sentiment of, 'it's better to give up on a player a year early than a year late,’ the shift to Dillard made perfect sense.

Yes, you were going to have the Jim Schwartz-trademarked start-up costs when it came to Dillard but the goal wasn't just about 2020, it was about 2021, 2022, and perhaps another five years down the line when Peters will surely be long retired.

It's difficult for any successful player to hand the baton to a lesser one even at age 38, however, and that's almost surely what Peters is thinking.

While the Peters camp claimed they had other options in free agency and waited things out in Philadelphia because that's where the veteran wanted to be, outside organizations certainly weren't tripping over themselves to knock down doors for a 38-year-old LT, even one coming off a successful season.

Peters took what he could get and now that the screws are tightened on the other side, he's playing hardball.

John Matuszak playing O. W. Shaddock in North Dallas Forty, a brilliant film from the late 1970s, explained the player mentality succinctly.

“Every time I call it a business, you call it a game. And every time I call it a game, you call it a business,” Shaddock screamed at a coach in the locker room.

Now focus on Lurie's take.

"I think the contingencies, the teams that embrace it will have some advantage, having players that are welcoming the opportunity to step in when needed," he said.

The owner wants to talk about the game and Peters wants to revisit the business.

So for now it's Pryor, perhaps Jordan Mailata, and Wanogho for the Eagles.

"I think one other thing is that I think when coaches – it's counterintuitive a bit here – but when coaches are willing to employ rookies and second-year players early on, even though they haven't had OTAs and preseason games, it's going to allow you to have more flexibility in October, November, December and the playoffs," Lurie explained.

"Instead of saying, 'oh, there's a rookie, they're not going to play much this year.' It's counterintuitive, but it should be the opposite. We need in September and October to get every possible rookie and second-year player involved, and I know that's the approach."

John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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