The Tim Jernigan situation certainly came as a surprise.
That's because it might have caught the Eagles off guard, too.
First, it was Jernigan undergoing offseason herniated disc surgery. Two days after the news broke, the defensive tackle reportedly had his contract restructured, converting his $11 million guaranteed 2019 base salary into non-guaranteed money (see story).
Now, it looks like the 25-year-old Jernigan, coming off his first season with the Eagles, may miss the Sept. 6 opener and possibly more, putting a potential dent in the team's defensive line depth (see story).
With all of this, there are a lot of unknowns. However, the contract restructure between both parties speaks volumes.
"This reeks of he was doing something [the Eagles] didn't approve of," NBC Sports Philadelphia's Rob Ellis said on this week's edition of the Eagle Eye podcast. "I'm not saying he was out doing handstands on a motorcycle, but maybe there was an unsupervised workout, I don't know. But there's no way he and his agent are amending his contract the way that they did unless they have the goods on him.
"The second thing is it screams of [the Eagles] didn't know and they're ticked off because they weren't informed or else they may have done a different thing in the draft. Howie (Roseman) may have traded up to try to get a third-rounder and grab a guy there. That's what this reeks of and I guarantee you if you give Howie and (Joe) Douglas and even Jeffrey Lurie some truth serum, they're really not happy with this at all because guess what? There's no more Beau Allen, there's no Vinny Curry. I know they have versatile guys along that line, but their biggest strength is their depth and the ability to rotate guys, and now this changes things."
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It changes things for the Eagles, but even more so Jernigan.
"This could cost Jernigan a lot of money, not just down the road immediately but in long term because a herniated disc is one of those injuries where you don't fully recover from that - you tolerate it," NBC Sports Philadelphia's Derrick Gunn said. "Let's face it, football players have a high threshold of pain, but that's an injury even where though they say, 'OK, he's good enough to go,' it always comes back to haunt you somewhere. He's still a young man - this could cost him a lot of big money down the road."
For the full podcast and assorted breakdown, listen below.
You can also subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Art19, Stitcher, Google Play or anywhere you get your podcasts.
• 2:00 - Carson Wentz shooting for Week 1; does he need to change style of play?
• 11:00 - The weirdness of the Jernigan situation.
• 14:00 - Falcons QB Matt Ryan gets paid.
• 18:30 - Cowboys TE Jason Witten retires, heads to the broadcast booth.
• 24:00 - Redskins allegations of mistreating their cheerleaders.
