Rumors reveal that the Eagles may be moving on from Timmy Jernigan
Word around the league is that the Philadelphia Eagles do not intend on bringing Timmy Jernigan back in 2019 without a re-structure.
It’s almost time for the NFL Free Agency market to open up, and the Philadelphia Eagles have some significant moves that they have to make. As the Eagles are currently projected to have the second-worst cap situation in the NFL, some tough moves have to go down before Free Agency opens up. First, the Eagles will start with either trading or letting Nick Foles walk. Then, it sounds like the Eagles will make a tough decision regarding Timmy Jernigan.
Just two years ago, the Eagles traded for defensive tackle, Timmy Jernigan from the Baltimore Ravens. Early on, Jernigan proved that he was a major help to the Eagles front line, therefore, Howie Roseman locked him in with a big deal extension worth $48 million over four years. Unfortunately, Jernigan didn’t follow up his signing with substantial performance.
Not only did Jernigan seemingly drop off in production towards the end of the Eagles Super Bowl run, but he also suffered a potential season-ending back injury during his second offseason in Philly. Right then and there the Eagles considered cutting Jernigan loose to save money, but they held onto him in hopes of a late-season return. Jernigan came back and was a help to Fletcher Cox and Haloti Ngata up front, but he’s no $11 million man heading into 2019
Will the Eagles keep Jernigan around?
According to Pro Football Talk’s Josh Alper, the Eagles have no intentions of paying Jernigan $11 million for this upcoming season. Considering that his cap hit is a high $13 million, according to Spotrac, Jernigan is more than likely to restructure or get released. Considering that Roseman’s idea of restructuring isn’t much of a pay cut, the Eagles could realistically release Jernigan. As his production is still a question mark since his injury, it may not be worth it to pay him so much guaranteed money in an attempt to free up cap space.
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The Eagles need help at defensive tackle, and the loss of Jernigan and Ngata will be significant. Jernigan is undoubtedly a need, but the Eagles could find out if there’s a cheaper, more productive option out there or in the draft. Losing Jernigan would not be ideal, but taking such a large cap hit because of him wouldn’t be either. We should learn more about the situation very soon as the Eagles prepare to travel to Indianapolis for the NFL Combine.