Jason Kelce at his retirement press conference.

But the Eagles have also said “goodbye” to All-Pro center Jason Kelce, who announced his retirement on March 4 after 13 NFL seasons. The future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee leaves a big hole on the offensive line, not to mention in the locker room. For his part though, Kelce is looking forward to watching the Eagles’ new additions in action — and one of them on Tuesday did his best to convince the 36-year-old to give it one more season in the NFL.

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Barkley makes his pitch

On the latest edition of the “New Heights” podcast, Jason and Travis Kelce welcomed Barkley onto the show to talk about his arrival in Philly. It didn’t take the former Giant long at all to try to coax Jason back onto the field for 2024.

Barkley described his emotions as akin to being “a kid in a candy store,” and he expressed his excitement about walking into the Eagles’ building for the first time. Kelce followed up by saying how fun it will be to watch Philly take flight in 2024, when it will hope to wrest the NFC East title from the Dallas Cowboys‘ grasp.Kelce’s emotional press conference a few weeks ago seemed to make it clear that the former Super Bowl champion is hanging up his cleats for good. But it speaks to the level of respect Kelce has garnered around the NFL — from rival teams as well — that Barkley could hop on “New Heights” and make the case for the star offensive lineman to play his 14th season as the Eagles plot a return to the Super Bowl in 2025.