Source: Eagles OT Andre Dillard agrees to $29 million contract with the Titans
The 22nd overall pick of the 2019 draft, Dillard spent the last two seasons as Jordan Mailata’s backup.
Left tackle Andre Dillard, a former Eagles first-round pick, is headed to the Tennessee Titans on a three-year, $29 million contract, an NFL source confirmed to The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane.
Although he had a rough start to his career in Philadelphia, Dillard eventually showed enough to suggest he could hold down a starting job with a team lacking an offensive-tackle duo as good as the Eagles’ Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata.
» READ MORE: In Howie We Trust: Eagles enter free agency led by Roseman, the NFL’s best GM
The Eagles drafted Dillard at No. 22 in the first round of the 2019 draft as the heir apparent to Jason Peters at the time. But he struggled in his rookie season, particularly when asked to flip to the right side for a Week 11 game against the Seattle Seahawks. Dillard missed the 2020 season with a biceps injury suffered in training camp and lost a position battle with Mailata for the starting left tackle job the following summer.
Dillard spent the last two seasons as Mailata’s backup, but his previous struggles and relative discomfort on the right side kept him from earning the “swing tackle” label most teams covet from their top reserve at the position.
» READ MORE: Jason Kelce says he will return to the Eagles for a 13th season
He started five games for the Eagles in 2021 and played relatively well. He logged time at left guard last season, either as a fill-in for Landon Dickerson when he tweaked a nagging ankle injury or when the Eagles put the backups in to close out a blowout win.
With the Titans, he should have a chance to settle into the position he played exclusively during his high school and college careers. Dillard, listed at 6-foot-5, 315 pounds, was billed as an athletic but somewhat undersized left tackle prospect, but has put on significant weight since getting drafted.
Without Dillard, Jack Driscoll projects as the first tackle off the bench if Mailata or Johnson get hurt.
The Eagles also re-signed offensive lineman Brett Toth four days after having released him. Toth missed last season recovering from knee surgery.