NFL free agents Eagles, Howie Roseman should be praised for ignoring

The Eagles were wise to ignore two of the more recognizable defensive stars.

There’s no shame in admitting this. Jadeveon Clowney confuses us. Ever since that massive hit as a member of the South Carolina Gamecocks on that guy from Michigan, he’s been a passenger on his own hype machine.

It seems like he’d be the second coming of Everson Griffen or something. We’ve seen signs from time to time, but he lacks consistency.

There it is, the word we were looking for, inconsistency. Talk to five different coaches, and you might get five different explanations of who he is.

He’s a three-time Pro Bowler (2016–2018). He’s one of the more feared defensive players in the game, but even though he’s billed as this ferocious defender, there are questions about his motor, why he too often plays out of control, and why no one can see that he’s actually a better run defender than pass rusher.

Sure, he tallied nine sacks in 2021 as a member of the Cleveland Browns. He fell off of a cliff in the two years that preceded his most recent season, tallying three sacks in 2019 and zero in 2020.

Clowney also looking for a big payday. He always is. We won’t lie. He should be seen as one of the more sought-after free agents that are still available, but Haason Reddick was a much better land for this Eagles team. Reddick plays hard on every down, and he’s much better at getting to the quarterback.