Today, Jason Kelce is remembered as one of the best Philadelphia Eagles players and a Super Bowl champion. But things could have been different had he left the team prematurely. As absurd as that sounds, it was close to happening. Midway through his second contract, the veteran center nearly found himself cut loose from the Eagles after the 2016 season became the toughest year of his career. Rookie Isaac Seumalo was discussed as a replacement.

It goes without saying that it was a tough time for Kelce, and that’s why he decided to revisit that uncertain stretch, admitting just how close he came to leaving Philadelphia.

“Listen, I didn’t play well,” Kelce said of the 2016 season on Bussin’ With The Boys. “It wasn’t like it sucks when you’re going through it, but objectively, I didn’t have a great year. And thankfully, Jeff Stoutland, I think he was like the one guy in the building that was still like, no, Kelce is still the guy.

“He’s pretty much the reason why I was still there in 2017. And then, I personally had the best year of my career in 2017, and the Eagles won the Super Bowl. It was like a crazy shift of the off-season. I was like, could not have gone better. So yeah, it was very close.”

To understand how rough things got for Jason Kelce in 2016, you have to rewind to the year before. In 2015, the Eagles’ entire offensive line struggled, with Lane Johnson being the lone exception. So, heading into 2016, the team tried to fix things by bringing in Brandon Brooks and handing the play-calling duties to Doug Pederson.

On paper, things should have improved. But even with that extra support around him, Kelce still came out of the gates struggling through the first two games of the season. It showed up clearly on film.

For instance, in Week 2 against the Chicago Bears, Kelce had another tough quarter. He picked up two penalties on a single drive, including a holding call.

The numbers backed up what everyone was seeing on tape. According to Pro Football Focus, Kelce was graded as the worst center in the NFL that season. His grade did tick up slightly, from 37.4 in Week 1 to 40.4, but that was still the lowest mark of anyone on the Eagles offense. He also struggled with shotgun snaps more than usual, and had real trouble anchoring against bigger interior defensive linemen.

Interestingly enough, despite all of that, he still ended up earning a Pro Bowl selection that season, even though the dip in performance hadn’t gone unnoticed by anyone paying close attention. It got to a point where, according to Jimmy Kempski of Philly Voice, there was speculation that the Eagles were considering getting rid of Kelce during the offseason, whether through a trade or an outright release.

However, he turned things around.

Despite all the rumors and uncertainty hanging over him, Kelce came back for 2017, started all 16 games, and proved exactly why the Eagles had stuck with him. That season ended with a Super Bowl LII win over the New England Patriots.

His career started in 2011, when he joined the Eagles and set a franchise record by becoming the first rookie center to play all 16 games in a season. Over 13 seasons, he has played in 193 games. He finally retired officially on March 4, 2024, leaving the game as just the fifth center in NFL history to earn at least six All-Pro selections.

From nearly getting cut to cementing his legacy as one of the greatest centers in Eagles history, Jason Kelce’s turnaround says it all.