When the Philadelphia Eagles and defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins agreed on a restructured contract this week, the process wasn’t a long, drawn-out one. Now that it’s done, Jenkins is relieved to have long-term stability with the waiting game now over. The length of the five-year deal is still the same, starting with last season, but financial terms are different. 
“Coming here last year, it’s a great team and great atmosphere,” Jenkins told Pro Player Insiders this week. “I wanted some security and to be somewhere that I liked and that liked me. It’s something that’s a relief that it’s over with, to have that security. I’ve been around the league long enough to know … what possibilities could happen.”
In his first season in Philadelphia in 2011, Jenkins posted 5.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss and 61 total tackles. He registered four sacks over his first three games as an Eagle, becoming the second defensive tackle in team history to open a season with one sack in each of the first three contests.
The former Packer said he isn’t looking back on his seven seasons with Green Bay, where he won a Super Bowl championship in 2010 with a career-best seven sacks.
“Now I’m an Eagle, and I look at myself as an Eagle and wanting to be an Eagle,” he said this week. “I didn’t even want to get to a point where I was making a decision on two different spots [to play].”
As the Eagles defense enters Year 2 of the Juan Castillo regime, Jenkins said his teammates are “hungry” to make a bigger impact in 2012.
“We’re excited to try and continue building on the success we had at the end of the year,” he said. “We’ve got mostly everybody coming back, and we’ve just got to have the attitude of wanting to improve and get better, day by day and week by week.”
The team avoided a potential for divisiveness in the locker room by bringing Castillo back as defensive coordinator in 2012, Jenkins said.
“It definitely makes it a lot more comfortable, especially all the success and all the improvement that we started to see and build up toward the end of the season,” he said of retaining Castillo. “Up front, we have the same squad coming back. So that’s definitely something you want to be a part of and get excited about.”
The Detroit native added that he wants to retire in Philadelphia.
“My kids are older now—my oldest one is in middle school—we like the schools that they’re in,” he said. “I wanted to be able to retire an Eagle. That was definitely something that we took into consideration.”
If restructuring his deal and taking less money helps the team win, Jenkins said he’s all for it.
“Obviously we have to wait and see what direction the team wants to go in with free agents, but whatever decision they make, you support them and stand by them. If what I did helped them, you’ll feel good about it.”
Since he broke into the NFL in 2004, the ninth-year pro ranks fifth among all undrafted players with 34.5 sacks, and also ranks fourth among defensive tackles with 12.5 sacks since 2010.
“We are very excited about having Cullen back on our football team,” general manager Howie Roseman said. “Cullen made an immediate impact for us this year on and off the field. We look forward to a great future together with him in an Eagles uniform.”
By Khalil Garriott
