Jason Peters

Talk about beefing up the offense.

Shortly after the Eagles 2008 season came to an end at the NFC title game in Arizona, reports surfaced that Donovan McNabb did not want to negotiate an extension to his contract unless the Birds front offense went out and got the five-time Pro Bowl signal caller more weapons on offense.

If you think of offensive linemen and a fullback as weapons, then the Eagles went out and paid big money to do just that as they acquired three starters at those positions.

The biggest catch – literally – was Jason Peters, an all-pro tackle from the Buffalo Bills.

The 27-year may be bigger than a Buffalo measuring 6-foot-4 and weighing in at a mammoth 350 pounds.

He joins a offseason of beefing up the offense starting with 242-pound fullback Leonard Weaver, acquired as a free agent after four seasons with Seattle.

Stacy Andrews – equally mammoth at 6-7, 342 pounds was signed as an unrestricted free agent after playing in Cincinnati for five seasons.

At Sunday’s press conference to introduce Peters, someone referred to the three as “weapons” – it was a term coach Andy Reid liked.

“I’m glad we’re putting those offensive linemen in as weapons, I like that,” Reid said with a smile. “I think that’s an important move. I think all of our moves have been important. We have to get ourselves ready to play. We have to do the mental part now and then the physical part and getting ourselves ready to play. We’ll start that after the draft.”

Eagles fans will be watching the news this week to see if the team makes a move to acquire an elite level wide receiver this week via trade.

At the top of everyone’s list is Arizona wide out Anquan Boldin. The stud wide receiver is not happy and wants out of Phoenix.

The team recently announced it would listen to offers.

Eagles President Joe Banner in interviews has not ruled out the Birds going after Boldin. The Eagles still have the 21st overall pick in this week’s draft and have tons of room under the salary cap to sign Boldin to the contract he is looking for.

So the deal could get done.

But Sunday morning was Peters day, and Reid made sure no one forget that.

“We are here to introduce Jason Peters,” Reid said to open the press conference. “Jason comes from Buffalo, which I think everyone is aware of. Obviously, his play over the last few years has been phenomenal. He’s an All-Pro left tackle in the AFC and a two-time Pro Bowler. We welcome him here to fill the left tackle position for us. We couldn’t be happier to have him be a part of our football team. I just want to reiterate that this is Jason’s day, and we just keep the questions directed towards Jason and his situation here. On the other hand, I’d also like to thank both his agent [Eugene Parker] and [team president] Joe [Banner] for working things out here and allowing this to take place in the last couple of days here. It has been a little bit of a whirlwind for Jason and again, we welcome him here with open arms.”

Reid was asked what he saw that jumped out after watching film on Peters.

“I came out feeling that he was the best left tackle in football,” Reid said without hesitation. “I’m not sure about the stats, but I watched every game and I felt he was pretty good. Obviously the players he played against thought he was pretty good because he was a Pro-Bowl and an All-Pro player. I’m not too worried about that. I also know he has a great offensive line coach here in Juan Castillo, who is very excited to have Jason aboard.”

The stats Reid referred to were those published by Stats Inc. that charged Peters with 11 1/2 sacks last season, reportedly the most for a starting left tackle in the entire NFL.

Peters seemed surprised when he heard the number.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that stat,” Peters said. “I don’t recall giving up that many. If they charged me with that many, so what? I’m an Eagle now. If I give up 11.5 sacks, I’m only human. I’m going to give 100 percent on every play.”

Like Boldin, Peters was not a happy camper last season, in fact he wasn’t a camper at all. The former Arkansas star held out until just before the season started. Many feel it affected his play. Peters disagreed, but admitted to hold out like he did was tough mentally.

“It was difficult sitting out and not being with my team and kind of letting my teammates down,” Peters said. “But it was something I had to do. It was difficult.”

Peters was asked whether his contract situation last year might have affected his play:

“A little bit,” He said. “I was thinking about it sometimes. If you get beat on a play and you think about your contract. It doesn’t affect me that much. I thought about it some early in the year but later on in the year it wasn’t a big deal.”

Peters said he knows he will be compared to Tra Thomas, the Pro Bowl left tackle who was an institution at his position.

“Of course,” Peters said. “Tra Thomas is a great tackle. He [left] big shoes to fill and I’m ready to try to fill those shoes.”