Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek would make an interesting trade target for the Kansas City Chiefs.
It’s July which means we’ve got time for a hypothetical exercise.
Specifically, I want to talk about Brent Celek. The Philadelphia Eagles tight end is a former favorite of Andy Reid, a well-known team player who has good hands and is an even better blocker. Despite his skills, however, Jimmy Kempski of the Philly Voice recently wondered whether Celek has a place on the Eagles long-term given a number of factors: his age (32), his cap hit ($4 million this year, $5 million in 2018) and the presence of Zach Ertz and Trey Hudson. Kempski predicts that Celek is likely playing his final season with Philly. That’s a reasonable assumpton.
If Celek wants to play football and he’s not going to play in Philly, there’s one destination that makes more sense than others given the playbook familiarity and relationships. The question is whether or not Celek would be a good fit with the Kansas City Chiefs, either at the present point or in 2018. It’s worth a closer look because Celek is actually more than just “some old tight end,” if that’s the category you automatically placed him in.
It needs to be stated from the outset that Celek’s is cost prohibitive in his current amount. He’s taken a pay cut for the Eagles before, and he’ll likely have to do so again to stay on the roster. That would be true of any team. The Chiefs are already paying top dollar for their primary tight end, so adding millions more rather than a cheap, developmental option isn’t a luxury Brett Veach can afford. So any sort of hypothetical acquisition here comes with this in mind: Celek would need to agree to a restructured (read: cheaper) deal.
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Ever since Reid left Philly, Celek’s targets have dropped dramatically. At one point, Celek was regularly getting 80-90 looks per season (or even as many as 112), yet the moment Reid left, that total dropped to 50. That’s not a statement of Celek’s talent, as if he suddenly lost the ability to catch the football. Instead it shows that Celek was no longer as important to a new offensive scheme. Being back in Reid’s offense, Celek would know it well enough to become a capable target once again, even alongside Travis Kelce.
Even more important is that Celek is an great blocker. It’s a real shame that Celek has never once received a Pro Bowl nomination because he’s always been a very underrated tight end without any real weakness. He’s an asset for the offense on running and passing downs who can surprisingly stretch the field.
Even as he’s used less and less, he’s become more effective in his limited role. Over the last two years, Philly has only targeted Celek 54 times total, yet Celek has caught 41 of those, good for an incredible 76% catch rate. That’s a much higher total than at any other point in his career. It’s also important to note that in two of the last four seasons, Celek has put up his career-best totals in yards per reception, doing more with less catches than ever before. He also only has 2 drops the last 3 seasons.
Think about this: what if something happens to Travis Kelce? It’s not a stretch given that Kelce has missed a full season already in his short NFL career, missing his entire rookie campaign after a preseason injury. How much would the offense change knowing that the next man up is either Dallas Cowboys cast-off Gavin Escobar or Demetrius Harris, who has a serious issue holding on to the football? Tight end is such a key component for this offense, and no one knows that better than Celek himself.
If Celek were even available this year via trade, he’d be an immediate upgrade behind Kelce, providing a nice all-around veteran who can immediately step in and help the offense in every facet. He would also provide an instant leader who could be the main cog in case something happens to Kelce—not that he could equal Kelce’s production, but he’d halt any steep fall expected from Kelce to another option currently on the roster.
Celek has missed one game in his NFL career, back in 2012 when he appeared in 15 of the Eagles regular season games. And if you’re curious whether or not he’s still hungry to play football, check out this recent quote from his positional coach from Eagles minicamp:
"“Every day he comes in and he’s trying to get better. You can tell it’s important to him. He enjoys it, he always wants to get better … Just little things. You’d think a guy playing 11 years would have all the answers, but he doesn’t. He’s always asking questions. `How do you do this? What do you see here? What do you see there? Can we work on this? Can we work on that?'”"
If Celek is indeed a loose board on the Eagles floor, so to speak, and could be pried up with a cheaper draft pick or another player, it might be worth a look.