By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor
For the third time in less than a week, the Philadelphia Eagles have extended a lineman.
Following the extensions of defensive end Brandon Graham on Friday and center Jason Kelce on Saturday, the team has reportedly agreed to a three-year extension with offensive lineman Isaac Seumalo, according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Expectation is that the #Eagles will attempt to extend OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai this offseason, as well. https://t.co/9E2sZ9szSM
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) March 4, 2019
Seumalo has appeared in 41 games for the Eagles since being drafted in the third round of the 2016 draft. He can play every position on the line, so the presence of he and Stefen Wisniewski, who can play either guard or center, has allowed the team to deal with injuries in a far easier manner than many other teams.
As McLane states, the team will also look to extend Big V. The Eagles are set to lose Chance Warmack to free agency this offseason, so the team likely has an extra spot for an offensive lineman should the team choose to draft one.
The three-year extension means that the Eagles will have Seumalo under team control until 2022. The Eagles have Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata and Matt Pryor under contract until 2021, but Seumalo is the only one currently under control in 2022. Nigel Bradham and Fletcher Cox are the only other players the team has signed until then.
Since Seumalo was still on his rookie deal, his cap hit for 2019 was under $1 million. That means that his cap hit will rise and the Eagles will lose some cap space this season in an attempt to bring the cost down for the next two seasons. Kelce’s extension created some space for the 2019 season on Saturday and this deal may utilize that space.
The Eagles could choose to ride with Seumalo and part ways with the aforementioned Wisniewski to save $3 million in cap space, but that would leave the team with only Matt Pryor, who has yet to see game action, as the only backup guard behind Seumalo and Brooks, who suffered an Achillies tear in the divisional round of the playoffs.
The value of the deal is not yet public, but this page will be updated as more information becomes available.