April 18, 2017
According to Field Yates of ESPN, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek will take a million dollar pay cut, reducing his salary from $4 million in 2017 to $3 million.
Eagles TE Brent Celek has taken a $1M paycut for 2017, per sources. He'll now make $3M instead of $4M.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 18, 2017
A season ago, Celek signed a contract extension that essentially served as a pay cut as well. Celek is scheduled to count for $5 million against the salary cap this season. That number would be reduced to $4 million.
Celek is easily still the best blocking tight end on the roster, although at the age of 32 he isn't quite what he once was in that regard. In recent years, Celek's receiving numbers have fallen off dramatically. In 2016, Celek averaged less less one catch per game and he did not score a touchdown for the first time in his career.
| Brent Celek | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD |
| 2007 | 16 | 178 | 11.1 | 1 |
| 2008 | 27 | 318 | 11.8 | 1 |
| 2009 | 76 | 971 | 12.8 | 8 |
| 2010 | 42 | 511 | 12.2 | 4 |
| 2011 | 62 | 811 | 13.1 | 5 |
| 2012 | 57 | 684 | 12 | 1 |
| 2013 | 32 | 502 | 15.7 | 6 |
| 2014 | 32 | 340 | 10.6 | 1 |
| 2015 | 27 | 398 | 14.7 | 3 |
| 2016 | 14 | 155 | 11.1 | 0 |
Celek is scheduled to count for $5 million against the cap in 2018. While he has had a long, productive career in Philadelphia, there's no way he will stick on the roster at that time at that number.
The 2017 NFL Draft is thought to be extremely deep and talented at the tight end position, and the Eagles could look to find a long-term replacement for Celek.
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