EAGLES ANNOUNCE ACQUISITION OF STACY ANDREWS

The Philadelphia Eagles officially have announced that free-agent tackle Stacy Andrews has joined the team. Andrews, who spent five years in Cincinnati and played in 2008 under the franchise tag, signed a six-year deal. Terms have not been disclosed. Though we heard on Friday that the deal averages $7 million per year, it remains to be seen whether the Eagles have protected themselves against the possibility that Andrews’ late-season ACL tear will impact his ability to play at a high level. Our guess was/is that the first-year compensation will be modest, and that a significant option bonus appears at the outset of the 2010 league year. (Though the 30-percent rule could be an issue in this regard, it’s our understanding that option bonuses don’t fall within the scope of the provision that limits salary growth between a capped year and an uncapped year.) The move reunites Stacy Andrews with his brother, Shawn. As the Eagles point out, they are only the third set of brothers to play on the same offensive line since 1951, joining Jay and Joel Hilgenberg of the 1993 Saints and Dave and Doug Widell of the Broncos circa 1990-92. The other potential benefit in this specific case is that the presence of Stacy Andrews could help revive Shawn’s career. He missed most of training camp due to clinical depression, and then the rest of the year after suffering a Week Two back injury against the Cowboys.