September 06, 2022
Jason Peters is on the other side of the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry now, and like many, he's aware of how weird it seems.
"Yeah, a little bit," Peters said when he met with Dallas media for the first time on Monday. "That was our rivalry. The Dallas-Eagles rivalry goes deep, so it's kinda weird, but I'm here in my home state and ready to roll."
His vocabulary to describe the team changed too. What was "arrogance" when he was an Eagle is "swagger" now.
"I mean, I don't really call it arrogance. They have swagger, you know?" Peters said. "Pretty much the same thing. The swagger, they go week in and week out with that swagger. You can tell how the defense plays, [Quarterback Dak Prescott] and [running back Ezekial Elliott] scoring, and everybody showing their emotions on their shoulders. I like that, to be honest.
"That's how we did it in Philly and that's how we're gonna do it here."
Peters, who spent 11 seasons in Philadelphia and is without a doubt one of the franchise's greatest offensive linemen, officially signed with Dallas on Monday to join the team's practice squad.
After losing starting left tackle Tyron Smith until at least December with a hamstring that tore off the bone, the Cowboys were left scrambling for offensive line help and turned to the 40-year old as the quick-fix for depth.
He won't be ready right away though, likely needing at least the first couple of weeks of the season to get back up to speed.
Peters said that after playing 15 games for Chicago last season, he still had a desire to play and continued doing cardio and weightlifting through the offseason, but that until he could get the pads on again, he couldn't fully get into game shape.
"I felt good about it, but I wouldn't press," he said. "But when [owner and general manager Jerry Jones] called, I came."
Speaking of Jones...
"At the end of the day, me and Jerry go back to Arkanas, so when he called me, we sat down and we talked," Peters said. "It was like love at first site. We were talking about the Hogs, we were talking about the [1964] National Championship and how it changed his life, and me being a Razorback, how it changed my life and gave me an opportunity to be here today.
Yeah, that's...odd...
Granted, Peters is hardly the first to make the Eagles-Cowboys switch and vice-versa, and certainly won't be the last.
The Eagles meet the Cowboys Week 6 at the Linc on Oct. 16 then Week 16 down in Arlington on Christmas Eve.
If all goes to plan, Peters should be on the Cowboys' roster by then, which would set him up for possibly one last stop in Philadelphia.
But whether the Eagles and Cowboys are battling for the division or Prescott is leading the league in sacks by that point is anyone's guess.
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