Dissecting every Eagles unrestricted free agent: Might anyone return?
By Hunter Doyle
DE. Philadelphia Eagles. Derek Barnett. 96. player. 54.
The Eagles obviously have to move on from two of their defensive ends.
There is little reason to bring back Derek Barnett. He is good enough to earn a decent contract with another team that the Eagles won’t be willing to pay. Philadelphia has other areas on the roster to address with the rest of their money and they already have Reddick, Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham in the off the edge.
Barnett’s production relative to where he was picked has been disappointing. He can still affect the pocket and win on occasion but doesn’t get home for sacks or QB hits as often as you’d like. In his five seasons in Philly, Barnett accumulated 26 penalties and just 24 sacks. This should also be an easy decision.
Verdict: He had to go. The penalties are enough to make this decision.
Philadelphia Eagles. Ryan Kerrigan. 90. player. 54. . DE
You, the reader, had the same amount of sacks as Ryan Kerrigan this year. The veteran pass rusher finished the year with just three tackles and two quarterback hits.
After watching Kerrigan wreck games against the Eagles for years, it was frustrating to see offensive tackles push him around. While he hasn’t been the player he was earlier in his career, he was still a valuable rotational piece in 2019 and 2020.
The hope was that he would play a Chris Long type of role but that was not the case. Per PFF, he did have a 20.7 percent pass rush win rate and 15 hurries on the season. He was better than the sack and quarterback hit numbers show but the Eagles need to get younger at the position.