After acquiring Jason Peters from the Buffalo Bills three years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles have gone after another Bills offensive tackle, signing Demetress Bell to a five-year deal. Peters ruptured his Achilles tendon last month and will have surgery, putting him out of football for at least four-to-six months.
To replace him while he is gone, the Eagles signed the former seventh-round draft pick from Northwestern State. Bell has an interesting story, as he didn't start playing football until he entered his new college, which was actually on a basketball scholarship.
From there, he played defensive end in his freshman year before moving to the offensive line the next season. The 6'5", 311-pound lineman is also apparently the son of former NBA Hall-of-Famer, Karl Malone.
A lot of people are also confused by the spelling of his name. For the past few years, it was "Demetrius," before they found out the correct spelling now. Interesting, really.
"Demetress was one of the top free agent offensive linemen available this year and we are happy to be able to add him to our squad," Eagles coach Andy Reid said in the statement. "We had a chance to meet him over the weekend and study him extensively on tape and we came away quite impressed with what we saw and heard. He's a great athlete."
