On Wednesday, Jason Peters inked his name to a one year contract extension, ensuring the Eagles have his rights through the 2019 season. If Peters plays out this contract, he will be 37 at the conclusion of it. While Peters has already earned the unofficial status of "Philadelphia Sports Legend", he only wants two to achieve two more things before he declares an end to his likely Hall of Fame career: to win a Super Bowl, and to retire as an Eagle.

As is expected when anyone aged 35 signs a contract extension, many fans questioned the decision by the Philadelphia front office. As a huge fan of Peters both on and off the field since his arrival, I was personally ecstatic with the news. I believed Peters could play until he is 40 if he wanted to. I believed he could be the anchor on the OL of the first Super Bowl winning Eagles team. I believed he could be Carson Wentz's personal body guard for the next 3 years, easily. But many didn't share this optimism. "Lineman fall apart rapidly in their mid 30's." "His level of play will rapidly decline any year now." "He isn't the player he used to be." In a bold attempt to combat the negativity, I began looking into what happens to an Offensive Lineman once they turn 35. The following is what I found:

Since the NFL Merger of 1970, in 329 instances, an offensive lineman aged 35 or older has played in at least 1 game during an NFL season. Out of the 329 individual campaigns:

115 had the lineman start every game for their team (35%)

124 featured a lineman who played in every game for their team (38%)

30 resulted in a Pro-bowl appearance

7 seasons ended with a 1st team All-Pro Honor

Only 10 times did the lineman play in the Super Bowl, and in 3 of those instances, his team won.

Every NFL franchise has been represented, including the Eagles on 10 separate occasions.

If you narrow the 329 campaigns down to unique players, you will find that 157 individuals achieved this feat at least once. Out of these 157 individuals:

1 made it to at least their age 41 season (less than 1%)

2 made it to at least their age 40 season (1.3%)

3 made it to at least their age 39 season (1.9%)

9 made it to at least their age 38 season (5.7%)

18 made it to at least their age 37 season (11%)

41 made it to at least their age 36 season (26%)

116 finished after their age 35 season (74%)

37 started every game of their final season in the league (24%)

26 went Undrafted

18 are currently enshrined in the Hall of Fame

Only 3 (Mick Tingelhoff, Jim Otto & Larry Little) went undrafted and are enshrined in the Hall of Fame

If Jason Peters plays 1 snap this season, he will only be the 4th offensive lineman over the age of 34, since 1970, to be both undrafted & in the Hall of Fame (eventually).

Just take a second to acknowledge how incredible of a feat that is.

If the Eagles are able to follow through on Jason's biggest dream of winning the Super Bowl, Peters would be the first Offensive Lineman in the history of the sport, at any age, to win the big game as an undrafted, Hall of Fame (eventually) player.

Regardless of what happens from here, we, the dedicated fan base of the Philadelphia Eagles, have been very lucky to watch Jason Peters play. Odds are good we will never see as special of a player wear midnight green again. I will end with a quote from the big man himself:

"The fans. The organization. The fans deserve a Super Bowl. Get into the playoffs, make the Linc rock, you know, get home field, and go from there. Like I said, the city of Philly deserves it."

We love you, Jason. Bring the Lombardi home to us. We have waited long enough.

*All statistics & information was easily found using the Play Index tool found at pro-football-reference.com. Thank you as always PFR!!