Andy Reid's opening remarks: "We are here to introduce Jason Peters. 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."
Jason Peters
On his journey from an undrafted rookie tight end to becoming an All-Pro tackle: "It was a long road. I was on special teams to start out and I just went as far as I could go. That was the only opportunity I had to get on the field, so I took full advantage. They moved me to tight end and I did the same thing and then I moved to tackle. It was a small window but I opened it up."
On whose idea it was to switch him to tackle: "Actually it was (former Bills head coach) Mike Mularkey. I went up to his office and sat down with him. I told him to put me on the field and he (asked me) if I wanted to play tackle. It went from there."
On how often he played side-by-side with Eagles G Shawn Andrews when they were in college: "Probably about 90 percent of the plays."
On whether it will help with his adjustment here that he played with Andrews in college: "It will help. I know him. He's a good friend of mine. It's going to be fun reuniting myself with him."
On how difficult last season was for him:"It was difficult sitting out and not being with my team and kind of letting my teammates down, but it was something I had to do. It was difficult."
On why he felt like he had to sit out training camp last season: "It was a family thing. When I go to a team, that's my team to play ball. I have to support my family so I felt like I had to do it."
Andy Reid
On replacing Tra Thomas: "You know my feelings on Tra Thomas. Tra was a phenomenal left tackle here. We had our 75th year (anniversary) team a couple years back and Tra was the left tackle on that team. You're talking about the best left tackle in this team's history. But, age does take place in the game and Tra played a lot of years here. He did a phenomenal job. I know he's going to do a nice job in Jacksonville in a couple different categories – playing and in a leadership role down there. But, we needed to replace Tra and we tried to seek out the best left tackle in football. That's how we went about it. The Bills and the Eagles have a good relationship and we were able to work it out with them to where it benefitted, I think, both teams in a big way. We feel very privileged and honored to have Jason here with his ability and he's also a good person on top of that."
Jason Peters
On his opinion of the stat that he allowed 11.5 sacks last year:"That's the first time I've heard that stat. 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% on every play."
On how he felt like his year went last year:"I felt like it was okay. I could have had a better year. Any player who goes out and plays every play, you feel like you can dominate every single play. You're going to get beat on some plays. The other guys get paid too. I'm just here to play left tackle and give it all I have. I'm going to get beat on some plays and I'm going to get right back up and get in his face."
Andy Reid
On how he felt about Peters after watching him on film:"I came out feeling that he was the best left tackle in football. 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."
On what jumps out about Peters on film:"He's strong in both areas – the run and the pass game. I think he gives you an all-around, complete player there. He has the ability to dominate. They left Jason on an island the whole time the last couple of years and he was able to do that. Their protections are a little different than what we do, but it was nice to see him out there all by himself and have confidence that he can do that."
Jason Peters
On whether he feels like he has big shoes to fill:"Of course. Tra Thomas is a great tackle. He (left) big shoes to fill and I'm ready to try to fill those shoes."
Andy Reid
On the offensive line:"Stacy (Andrews) has the ability to play both guard and tackle. He has done both at a high level, so that gives us some flexibility there. Both of our guards also play tackle, so I have flexibility there. If we want to move one of them outside and Stacy inside, we can do that. I haven't made any final decisions on that. The bottom line is we have a group of good, young players here that we feel can come out and handle the great competition in the NFC East from a defensive line standpoint and in the National Football League."
On whether it will be difficult to assimilate changes into the offensive line:"I think in training camp we can make it happen. I go back to when Jon Runyan came in and the changes we had with (G Todd) Herremans in there and (C) Jamaal (Jackson) and so on. They just kind of fit in and work it out. It's good that three of the five have been here and know what they're doing. I think that it won't be that difficult for Jason or Stacy to pick the offense up."
On how surprised he was that Peters became available:"You know how I feel about offensive linemen, so I can't tell you I wasn't excited. Until a couple days ago, you really don't know exactly what is going to go down there. It worked out. If you would have told me that we would be able to get him after Tra left, I didn't think that was possible. It worked out."
On how this affects his draft board and how he factored the draft into the decision: "You leave the good players at the top. There are some very good offensive tackles in this draft. The tackles are going to go very high. For you to get from 21 to the top five or six or seven pick, that's going to use up quite a bit to get there. Then it's a 50/50 shot from there. We had an opportunity to get somebody who is proven and has done it in this league and actually played against the NFC East and was successful playing against the NFC East. We didn't feel that the compensation there was too great to do at all. We feel like it really worked out well for us."
On bringing in offensive weapons and addressing needs so far this offseason: "I'm glad we're putting those offensive linemen in as weapons, I like that. 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."
Jason Peters
On how his contract situation last year might have affected his play:"A little bit. 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."
On whether he is excited to play for a successful franchise in the Eagles: "It was a good feeling. I was happy. It blew my mind, first and foremost, for them to trade me. I was happy to come over and be an Eagle."
On whether it will be an adjustment for him to join a new team: "It will be an adjustment at first, but I don't think it will be a hard adjustment. We will get in minicamp, get in OTAs, training camp. We have time to get close before the season starts."
