The Eagles have signed right tackle Winston Justice to a four-year contract extension. Justice was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
According to Adam Schefter it's a four-year, $18.15 deal, including a $6 million signing bonus.
A second round draft choice of Philadelphia in 2006, Justice has developed into one of the most productive performers on the Eagles offensive line this year. He has started all 10 games at right tackle in 2009 and has helped the Eagles post the sixth highest point total in the league (266).
The 25-year-old Justice has played in 21 regular season games during his NFL career (11 starts) and three playoff contests. He credits a strict offseason workout regimen and a new-found spirituality for the progress he has made throughout his NFL career.
"I think I’ve come a long way," Justice said. "One of things that my offensive line coach always told me was that hard work pays off and I took that mindset. Even when things were looking bad I always believed and had faith that hard work does pay off and I worked pretty hard and I think it’s paying off now. It’s a blessing.”
A native of Long Beach, CA, Justice was a three-year starter at USC and helped pave the way for three Heisman Trophy winners, QB Carson Palmer, QB Matt Leinart and RB Reggie Bush, and helped the Trojans capture the national championship in 2003.
"Obviously Winston was a guy that we really liked coming out of the draft; we moved up to get him.," GM Tom Heckert said. "I think through a lot of hard work from Winston here he has steadily improved and right now he’s turned into a very good player for us. He’s playing as well as anybody we have on the offensive line and that’s a credit to Winston. We’re happy to have him signed here for the next few years."
The Eagles also signed CB Geoffrey Pope off the Bengals practice squad and cut CB Jack Ikegwuonu.
Pope (6-0, 186) started the 2009 season on the Bengals active roster and appeared in four games, playing mostly on special teams. He was waived on October 8, but was signed to their practice squad the next day and has been there for the balance of the year.
Originally a rookie free agent signing of the Miami Dolphins in 2007, Pope spent the entire preseason there but was released as part of the team’s final roster cutdown. He signed to the New York Giants practice squad on September 3 and remained there for the entire regular season before being promoted to the active roster for their playoff run, appearing in both the NFC Divisional game and NFC Championship game.
Pope spent the 2008 preseason with the Giants and was briefly on their practice squad before signing to the Bengals practice squad on September 3. He was promoted to the active roster two weeks later and appeared in eight games, playing mostly on special teams.
After beginning his collegiate career at Eastern Michigan, Pope transferred to Howard University in 2005 and amassed 79 tackles and four interceptions in two seasons. The Detroit, MI, native attended Detroit Jesuit High School, where he lettered in football, basketball and track.
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