Eagles offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai is expected to command a solid market when he reaches free agency, tweets Mike Garafolo of NFL.com, who indicates “Big V” should earn a salary between $8MM and $12MM annually.
While the free agent tackle market hypothetically contains a few interesting options, veterans such as Anthony Castonzo and Andrew Whitworth are largely expected to re-sign with the Colts and Rams, respectively. Vaitai, only 26 years old, will present a youthful alternative among a crop of available tackles that also includes Jack Conklin and Bryan Bulaga.
The Eagles haven’t ruled out re-signing Vaitai, but it seems highly unlikely they’ll have a spot for the former fifth-round pick given the presence of fellow tackles Andre Dillard and Lane Johnson. Philadelphia announced today that veteran lineman Jason Peters will be allowed to test free agency, and it’s unclear if the club is interested in retaining him.
Vaitai played more than 70% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps during his first two years in the NFL, but he hasn’t topped 45% playing in either of the last two seasons. In 2019, appeared in all 16 games for Philadelphia and started three contests, grading as Pro Football Focus‘ No. 22 offensive tackle among 81 qualifiers.
How is he a youthful alternative to a younger Conklin?
Youthful alternative to the two mentioned before him. Conklin is in that group of youthful alternatives.
He is a back-up LT and marginal RT starter.
Decent RG as well who deserves a chance to start.
His ability to play everywhere was nice. 8mil would be a nice price to keep him for depth.
you’re being sarcastic I hope
salary cap is rising, so are the salaries. quality OL players are at a premium
Can’t spend 8m on depth.And he’s not staying to be a backup,if he has a chance to start elsewhere.
Is he a quality OL though? Sounds like Vaitai can fill in everywhere but not really do the job anywhere. That sounds more like $3 or $4 million of value than $8.
Would be nice for Seattle to pick him up.
$8M would only be $400,000 per letter in his first and last names…
Vaitai was a revolving door his first two years hence the drop in playing time. I’d rather the Eagles let Dillard and Seumalo develop than overpay for Big V in a cap crunch situation like this offseason.
Cap crunch?? Last I checked we have over or around 45 million in cap space after Bradham was let go. Paying a backup OL 8 mill is toooo much. We have multiple holes. Sign Yannick from Jax, as our big acquisition, 2 mid level DB, 1 safety, 1 LB, 1 stud WR. A great pass rush equals better secondary play. Our 2 big splash should be Yannick and WR (Robby Anderson , Devin Funchess (maybe sign a more team friendly deal), stay away from Amari,)
Turnstile
8-12 mil for a swing tackle? That kinda thing gets a GM fired
Hey, according to our writer he’s a “youthful alternative”….yeh when the rest of the O-Line drops dead!
Decent, versatile back up that can spot start for a few games. Needs help facing big time DEs. He has never been the guy from the start of the season for the Eagles so maybe if someone signs him to be starter somewhere he will elevate his play. As a Birds fan he’ll be a depth loss as the price tag is too high.
So are you saying that he’s worth $8-12 million?
As a Giants fan, many of our papers cover the Eagles and if memory serves me correctly, the Eagles didn’t play him tried and couldn’t trade this guy even with the offensive line woes so now suddenly he’s a “youthful alternative” as our astute author Dallas Robinson notes and worth that kind of money? Don’t get it!