The 2023 offseason was a tough one for the Philadelphia Eagles. Coming off of a season in which they went to the Super Bowl, the Eagles had to have been expecting it. They lost multiple key coaches from their staff and players from the roster as teams around the league poached hoping to find the same level of success.
The NFL is a copycat league and once one franchise begins having success, others want to try and replicate it. General manager Howie Roseman did a good job of filling in the holes that were created, but some losses are going to hurt more than others.
In the opinion of center Jason Kelce, the loss of offensive guard Isaac Seumalo is the biggest blow. Seumalo departed Philadelphia, signing a free agent deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He agreed to a three-year, $24 million contract in March.
Kelce had some very high praise for his former teammate, who he is going to miss lining up alongside every week. In Kelce’s eyes, Seumalo is one of the best and smartest guards in the entire NFL.
“I think he’s one of the best guards in the NFL, and I think he has been,” Kelce said, via NFL.com. “I think he’s one of the most consistent players I’ve ever been around, one of the most consistent people I’ve ever been around. So we’re not going to replace Isaac, there’s going to be someone new in there, and they’re going to have their attributes that they’re going to excel with, and I’m looking forward to seeing who does a really good job with that.”
Seumalo lined up next to Kelce at left guard for the better part of the last seven seasons. He played in 81 games during his tenure with the Eagles, starting 60 of them. During that time, Kelce learned to appreciate the approach that Seumalo brings to the game.
“Isaac is a really, really special player,” Kelce said. “I know we’ve said that here for a long time, and I still don’t think people really truly grasp what he did for our room. And me personally, I think he’s probably the smartest player I’ve ever been around. Really, really gifted physically, mentally, across the board. So I think the Steelers are getting a steal, that’s a good pun, I guess.”
The Steelers certainly have to be happy about the player they are getting. Kelce heaped a ton of praise on his former Eagles teammate who will now be tasked with blocking for Kenny Pickett and opening up holes for Najee Harris in the running game.
Replacing someone of Seumalo’s caliber certainly won’t be easy, but the Eagles have done a good job of building out the depth along the interior of their offensive line. As long as Kelce is still anchoring the unit, they should be able to find success in the trenches.
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