PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Eagles signed offensive tackle Todd Herremans Tuesday to a three-year contract extension through 2016.
Herremans, 29, started all 16 games in 2011 at tackle, after primarily playing guard during his first six seasons in Philadelphia. A fourth-round selection in 2005 out of Saginaw Valley State, Herremans is the second longest-tenured member of the Philadelphia offense, having played in 95 games.
"It doesn't really make a difference whether it is at tackle or guard. I'm pretty open to the idea that if they need me, they may need me at guard and then move over to tackle again. It really doesn't matter," Herremans said. "It's been weird my entire career, with not ever reaching free agency. The deals have all been taken care of in house, and that's pretty interesting in today's sports world. Being able to spend your whole career in one city, it's pretty special and you don't see that anymore."
Herremans was part of an Eagles offense that set a franchise record in 2011 with 6,386 total yards, a season after it set a team record with 439 total points. He has also scored two touchdowns in his career, the first from Donovan McNabb at Seattle in 2008 and the other from Michael Vick at Dallas in 2010.
"I keep seeing veteran tackles around the league getting cut from trying to make (salary) cap space," Herremans said. "There are good players being released, and with the free-agent market being so flooded, I just feel really excited that the Eagles are willing to make this move with me."
Last season, as Philadelphia finished 8-8, the offensive line paved the way for LeSean McCoy's career year. The running back scored a team-record 20 touchdowns, including 17 on the ground. The line also allowed only 32 sacks in 2011.
"We are excited to be able to sign Todd to a new contract," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "Todd's intelligence, toughness, durability, and leadership are second to none. Very few players in the NFL can play at an extremely high level at both the guard and tackle positions, and Todd has done that for us.
"He has been a big part of the success of our offense over the last several years."
"I don't think that the team that we fielded last year was missing anything talent-wise. I don't think our coaching staff was missing anything and I don't think the players on the field were missing anything," Herremans said. "I just think it's like the first day of school, when you don't know anybody in the class and you just have to figure out who you're going to sit by, who will let you cheat off of them and that kind of stuff."
The Eagles actually finished just one game behind the New York Giants, who not only won the NFC East, but also the Super Bowl.
"As the season went on, we started coming together a lot more and it showed by us winning our (last four) games," he said. "We really feel that we don't need any extra pieces brought to us in free agency. We feel that the team we have in the locker room can make a great run and go to the Super Bowl next year."