August 24, 2015
At the beginning of training camp, after the Eagles traded away Brandon Boykin, Chip Kelly was asked if he'd had any discussions about trading Mychal Kendricks. After all, the Eagles are loaded at inside linebacker. They traded the 2013 rushing champ for Kiko Alonso, signed DeMeco Ryans to a contract extension, and drafted ILB Jordan Hicks in the third round of the 2015 draft.
"Mychal Kendricks is not going anywhere," Kelly said. "I can tell you that right now. You can write that down in ink, not pencil. Mych's not going anywhere." Chip wasn't lying. Today the Eagles announced that Kendricks signed a contract extension that runs through 2019. Kendricks will earn more than $7 million per year, per Adam Caplan of ESPN:
#Eagles and LB Mychal Kendricks agreed to a 4-yr, $29 m contract extension with $16.4m guaranteed, per league source.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) August 24, 2015
Over his last 16 games, Kendricks has 115 tackles, 7 sacks, 5 forced fumbles and 2 INTs. Kendricks is under six feet tall, which of course doesn't mesh with Kelly's "bigger people beat up little people" mantra. However, he's one of the most athletic linebackers to come out of college... ever.
With the Eagles' logjam of talented ILBs, it was somewhat of a mystery how Kelly and defensive coordinator Bill Davis would use Alonso, Kendricks and Ryans. It's probably safe to say Kendricks might get some playing time this year.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
