Philadelphia Eagles give five-year contract to Demetress Bell – NFL News
Philadelphia Eagles have given a five-year deal to offensive tackle, Demetress Bell, who has played a few injury-riddled National Football League (NFL) seasons with Buffalo Bills.
Bell is expected to serve as a replacement for Jason Peters, who has been sidelined due to an injury. Peters is also expected to miss the next season.
Bell started his professional NFL career in 2008 after being drafted by Bills. He was not activated to play by the team in his rookie year due to lack of experience and he had to wait for an entire season to get his first NFL start, which eventually came
in 2009.
However, he was unable to show his true talent as his progress was constantly hampered by different injuries.
After being released by the Bills earlier this year, Bell became a free agent and began exploring different opportunities regarding his potential signing.
He reportedly met Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers and was also expected to meet officials of the Green Bay Packers. However, he has finally decided to join the Eagles, who needed him badly due to absence of Peters.
While appreciating Bell’s talent, Eagles’ head coach, Andy Reid, said that the team management was impressed by the performance of the player and said that the officials were happy to have him on the squad.
He said in a statement:
"Demetress was one of the top free-agent offensive linemen available this year, and we are happy to be able to add him to our squad."
The statement added:
“We had a chance to meet him over the weekend and study him extensively on tape, and we came away quite impressed with what we saw and heard. He's a great athlete.”
The statement from Eagles’ general manager, Howie Roseman, also echoed the same opinion about the player. Roseman also said that he believes Bell will be able to easily adapt and progress with his new team.
He said:
"Demetress is a guy we’ve followed since he joined the league. He’s a big, athletic left tackle and he has quite a few games of experience under his belt with Buffalo. He’ll excel with our style of play on the offensive line."
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