Celek honorably discharged, Ngata to sign on with Birds
The Eagles are set to add a big defensive tackle with a dominating past. And no, it’s not Ndamukong Suh, who played for Birds defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz in Detroit.
Haloti Ngata, who starred for the Baltimore Ravens, where Eagles vice president of football personnel Joe Douglas worked, will join the Eagles on a one-year contract once the league year begins Wednesday, according to ESPN.
But the big news Tuesday is the Eagles released tight end Brent Celek, who turned 33 before the team’s Super Bowl LII championship victory over the New England Patriots.
Celek played his entire 11year career with the Eagles, playing in 175 of a possible 176 regular season games. Only kicker David Akers (188), safety Brian Dawkins (183) and wide receiver Harold Carmichael (180) have appeared in more games for the Eagles.
Celek also was the longesttenured active professional athlete of Philadelphia’s major professional sports teams.
Earlier in the day reports surfaced that tight end Trey Burton, who threw a touchdown pass to Nick Foles in the Super Bowl, had agreed to a deal with the Chicago Bears. Starter Zach Ertz and Billy Brown, who spent last year on the practice squad, are now the Birds’ top two tight ends.
Ditching Celek frees $4 million in salary cap space for the Eagles.
The Eagles took Celek off the board in the fifth-round of the 2007 draft. His best season came in 2009, when he registered a career-high 76 catches for 971 yards and eight touchdowns. The receiving yards are the second-most by a tight end in Eagles history, trailing only Pete Retzlaff’s 1,190 receiving yards in 1965.
Celek, a product of Cincinnati, is fourth all-time on the Eagles with 398 receptions. He amassed 4,998 receiving yards and 31 touchdowns, the eighth-most receiving yards and 11th-most receiving scores in club history.
In nine playoff games Celek had 27 catches for 257 yards and three TDs.
Celek led the Eagles with three touchdown catches in the 2008 postseason, including two in the NFC title game loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
In the 2010 season, Celek’s 65-yard TD play kick-started one of the most dramatic victories in club history, the 38-31 walk-off win over the Giants at the Meadowlands. DeSean Jackson ended it taking a punt to the house on the final play of the afternoon.
“Brent Celek defines what it means to be a Philadelphia Eagle,” the team said in a statement. “His dedication to his profession and this organization is unmatched and he will go down as one of the best tight ends in franchise history. Brent embodied the city of Philadelphia’s temperament and character with his toughness and grit. He has been a huge part of everything we have been building over the last decade and it is only fitting that he was able to help us win our first Super Bowl last season. Unfortunately, in this business we are forced to make difficult decisions, especially this time of the year. This one is as tough as they come, but in our eyes, Brent will always be an Eagle.”
Ngata (6-4, 335) spent the last three seasons with the Lions, where he missed a total of 16 games. Last season he played just five games tearing a biceps.
In a career primarily as a run-stopper, Ngata, who turned 34 in January, has played in 167 games with 31½ sacks, six forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and five interceptions. He’s also broken up 27 passes.
Adding Ngata, the 12th overall pick of the Ravens in 2006, indicates the Eagles after could lose tackle Beau to free agency,
The additions of Ngata and defensive end Michael Bennett, the latter in a trade to be announced Wednesday, would seem to spell the end for veteran defensive end Chris Long.
The Eagles’ defensive tackles now are Fletcher Cox, Tim Jernigan, Ngata and Destiny Vaeao. Allen