About to retire, Andrews opted for another year with Stoutland
About to retire, Andrews opted for another year with Stoutland originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
If he did retire, Josh Andrews could have walked away from the NFL having played eight years, made close to $6 million and earned a full pension.
He’s 32 now, has three kids, and the plan was to hopefully go work for Nike back in his native Oregon either in product development or marketing.
“I was honestly really about to call it quits,” Andrews said Tuesday.
Then Howie called.
And just like that, Andrews’ plans changed.
“They needed some help at center, I was available and they called me,” he said. “So I'm like, 'Yeah, I'll come out and work out.' I was moving good, and they signed me. So that's how it went down.”
Just like that, Andrews put retirement on hold.
This is Andrews’ third stint with the Eagles. He signed here originally in the summer of 2014 as an undrafted rookie out of Oregon State and was on and off the roster and practice squad through the 2017 season, winning a Super Bowl ring even though he didn’t play a snap during the season.
He was in camp in 2018 with the Vikings before returning to the Eagles and in the middle of 2018 was signed off the Eagles’ practice squad by the Colts, whose offensive coordinator was Nick Sirianni. He had a couple stints with the Jets in 2020, the Falcons in 2021 and the Saints last year before rejoining the Eagles on Sunday.
In all, Andrews has played in 48 games with nine starts. He’s been released 10 times by six teams. He started a career-high six games at guard and center for the Saints last year and was the starting left guard on New Year’s Day when the Saints beat the Eagles 20-10 at the Linc.
Andrews said even though he was starting to think about retirement, he stayed in shape as camps began.
Just in case.
“I was networking and stuff,” he said. “You never know what's going to happen. Me being 10 years (in the league), the older you get, the more expensive you get. It's hard to stay in this business. Not for long, that's what the NFL is all about.
“When they called me, I was like, ‘Definitely coming back to Philly with Stout.’ It's a grad school of a Stoutland University.”
As a 10-year player, Andrews would be due a minimum-wage base salary of $1.165 million if he makes the final roster. And he's right - all things being equal, teams prefer young, cheaper backups.
But the Eagles really needed an upgrade at backup center with Brent Toth struggling the first couple weeks of camp and Cam Jurgens starting at right guard. Once Andrews showed up, he immediately took over the backup center spot, and Toth moved to 3rd-string left guard.
Incredibly, four of the 10 offensive linemen from the 2014 team are currently with the Eagles – Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Dennis Kelly and Andrews.
Still waiting for David Molke, Allen Barbre, Matt Tobin, Andrew Gardner, Julian Vandervelde and Jason Peters.
But really the fact that guys like Kelly and Andrews – who both began their careers a decade ago – are still playing is a testament to Jeff Stoutland.
“Stout's Stout, man,” Andrews said. “He's one of the greatest all-time in the league. He’s definitely one of the best coaches I've been around. …
“He wants to develop you. No matter where you're at, he continues to develop you. Some coaches aren't like that. He genuinely cares about you. He wants you to succeed from the bottom of his heart. And he yells at you, he wants you to be your best so you can play your best, so that's what Stout’s all about. It's still the same, since the (first) time being here.
“Kelce is a coach of his own. He's the extension of Stout. Lane, all those guys. D.K. (Kelly) is back now. There's a lot of guys, a lot of familiar faces. I appreciate those guys just helping me out."
