Eagles adding Kyzir White could end a streak of bad linebacker signings

Another day passes. Another young NFL prospect is added to the Philadelphia Eagles by way of a one-year, prove-it deal. Vice president/general manager Howie Roseman is going to write the book on those once he hangs up those front office cleats (if there is such a thing).

If you were still holding on to hope that Philly might wave the magic wand and find a way to add Bobby Wagner, those dreams took a hit on Saturday afternoon as the Eagles announced they’re adding linebacker Kyzir White. To some, his wasn’t one of the more familiar names on the free-agent market, but if you eat, sleep, and drink football like the rest of us, you know the name well. Fear not, you’re covered here.

Here are a few things to think about as the Eagles add Kyzir White to the nest.

We’ve often tossed ideas back and forth about whether or not the Eagles value the linebacker position as much as they should (they don’t), but Kyzir White is someone that’s worthy of getting moderately excited about.

During his first four seasons in the NFL, he appeared in 47 games for the Los Angeles Chargers and made 37 starts. The results have been 278 total tackles including 177 of the solo variety and 13 that have resulted in a loss of yardage. Add that to 1.5 sacks, seven QB hits, four interceptions, ten pass breakups, and two forced fumbles.

As recently as March 21st, Pro Football Focus ranked him as the 39th-best free agent that was still available. Here’s what they had to say on the subject.

"White brings a strong all-around skill set to the table and he’s continued to improve during his four-year career. He moves around well as an underneath zone defender, and he’s at his best if he’s kept clean in the run game. White is a mid-tier starter on the outside."

This could be seen as one of the better Eagles offseason linebacker additions of recent memory, a theme that’s pretty common for the franchise. Last year’s signing, Eric Wilson, didn’t work out and was released on November 3rd after seven games. Jatavis Brown retired before the season began in 2020.

That brings us to Corey Nelson and Zach Brown. The former was signed on March 14th of 2018 and released on August 26th of 2018 before the season began. The latter was a late addition in 2019 on May 3rd. He was released on October 14th after starting the first six games of the season and tallying 31 tackles.

They’ve set a pretty low bar. Even still, White has the potential to be better than all of those guys. Let’s hope he’s a difference-maker. We’d still recommend adding a linebacker early in the 2022 NFL Draft if the Eagles are in position to do so.