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The Eagles traded up to draft a left tackle in the first round last year, so they’d have an eventual replacement for Jason Peters.

Apparently, they want to continue making it eventual, rather than imminent.

Via Dave Zangaro of NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com, Eagles coach Doug Pederson said he hoped the 38-year-old free agent would return for another year.

“Heck yeah,” Pederson said when asked if he wanted the veteran blocker back next season.

General Manager Howie Roseman offered a more rambling answer, but even he left the door open to bring him back.

“A big part of this week is accumulating information,” Roseman said. “That’s what we do here. Obviously, when you’re talking about Jason Peters, you’re talking about a Hall of Fame player, a Hall of Fame person, someone that’s very special to us and played at a really high level last year. We’ll go through all those decisions this week.”

Perhaps Pederson’s enthusiasm was merely a sign of respect for Peters, or Pederson and Roseman weren’t on the same page — remember, the coach said that a couple of assistants would be back this season and they were fired the next day.

But Peters has continued to play well, starting 13 games for them last year. Dillard played well in his place the other three games when Peters was hurt, which led many to think they were planning to make the transition this offseason.

But as the Eagles talk about surrounding quarterback Carson Wentz with playmakers, it appears they’re considering protecting him with an old one.