4 players the Philadelphia Eagles should avoid extending in 2022

Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett

Okay, maybe calling Derek Barnett a mistake is harsh. He did recover the fumble after Brandon Graham pulled off the greatest strip-sack in Super Bowl. He also pulled off a strip-sack of his own two weeks earlier in the NFC Championship that halted a Minnesota Vikings drive when the game was still up for grabs.

Barnett has had his moments, a game-ending sack of Andrew Luck in 2018 for instance, but his best moments as an Eagle have been few and far between.

We can argue about when it became obvious that the Eagles should move on, but the fact of the matter is they should have done it long before now. They probably should have traded him during the 2020 offseason, and instead, they honored the fifth-year option on his rookie deal. Once they realized that was a mistake, they could have traded him at last year’s deadline. They didn’t.

Then came the most recent offseason. Philly could have traded him before March 17th, but they didn’t and by deciding that they wouldn’t, they guaranteed him a one-year fully guaranteed $10 million contract that also counts $10 million against the Eagles’ 2021 salary cap.

Say what you want about Derek Barnett. Argue about what his legacy is, but one thing’s certain. His entire Eagles career hasn’t been worth $10 million, let alone this season.

Philadelphia has to cut ties at this point. The experiment hasn’t worked. It’s blown up in their faces. There’s no reason to bring Derek Barnett for one more second of an Eagles game after this season concludes.