Philadelphia Eagles beef up their defense with Nelson, Ngata

After acquiring Michael Bennett the week before, the Philadelphia Eagles continue to beef up their impressive front seven with Haloti Ngata and Corey Nelson.

The Philadelphia Eagles front seven just keeps getting better.

Days after trading for three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Bennett, Howie Roseman and company worked their magic again and added a pair of former Super Bowl champions to further strengthen Jim Schwartz‘s already formative defense in 34-year-old All-Pro defensive tackle Haloti Ngata and sub-package special teams ace Corey Nelson.

With both players joining the team on one-year deals, the Eagles have once again found incredible value in free agency that not only helps the team in the short-term but does so without tying up any guaranteed money long-term.

Though these additions will likely come at the expense of current players like Beau Allen, Trey Burton and potentially even Nigel Bradham, the Eagles are again hoping that by buying low on solid, undervalued veterans they can find a few solid, short-term contributors. And hey, who knows, maybe they’ll hit another home run like they did one year prior with 2017 acquisitions LeGarrette Blount, Chris Long, and Patrick Robinson.

While these additions likely won’t be their last, let’s meet the two newest Eagles, and see how they can help the team moving forward.

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Haloti Ngata

Though this signing may have come out of the blue, adding a five-time Pro Bowler like Haloti Ngata to Jim Schwartz’s front seven actually makes a lot of sense.

As many of you already know, Philly had the best-run defense in the national football league last season, allowing only 79.2 rushing yards per game during the regular season and adding a human brick wall like Ngata to their rotation should make the unit that much more imposing.

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Currently listed at 6-foot-4, 335 pounds, Hgata established himself as one of the league’s premier run-stuffing nose tackles in Baltimore, before transitioning to defensive tackle as a member of the Detroit Lions from 2015-2017, where he continued to shine in a scheme derived from Schwartz’s own wide-nine. And while known mostly for his ability to clog up running lanes and body interior offensive lineman, the 34-year-old Oregon Duck alumni has actually been a deceptively good pass rusher, recording 31.5 sacks over his 12 year NFL career.

So, you may ask, why would Ngata, who could probably start for a number of teams, decide to join a deep defensive tackle rotation in Philly in what will reportedly be his final professional season?

Well, the decision actually makes a lot of sense for all parties involved.

For Ngata, he gets to finish out his career in a scheme virtually tailor-made for defensive lineman, where he can attack the offensive line without hesitation. Whereas other defensive schemes, like Baltimore’s, require defensive lineman to read and react on each play and defend multiple gaps, Schwartz almost never drops his lineman in coverage, instead allowing his big men to win their battles in the trenches. This simplicity should allow Ngata to contribute immediately, without having to spend exorbitant amounts of time learning the ins and outs of yet another scheme.

Furthermore, by joining a deep defensive line rotation that also includes Fletcher Cox, Michael Bennett, Destiny Vaeao, Elijah Qualls, and his former teammate Timmy Jernigan, Hgata should be able to play fewer snaps per game, while still remaining effective and fresh down the stretch. After losing much of the 2017 NFL season to a torn biceps, Ngata doesn’t want to go out on injured reserve, and by playing on a pitch count, it will limit his chances of getting injured, and alleviate any worries of the tackle being overworked in his 13 professional seasons.

And for the Eagles, the signing is almost a no-brainer.

With Beau Allen expected to leave in free agency (maybe to Detroit) and neither Qualls nor Vaeao having shown that they are ready to step into a bigger role in 2018, Hgata gives the Eagles yet another Super Bowl champion from whom their young core can continue to learn from. Though Hgata hasn’t played at an All-Pro level since 2011, the five-time Pro Bowler is still an incredibly disruptive force in the middle of the field and could help to free up one-on-one matchups for players like Cox and Barnett in 2018.

(Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) /

Corey Nelson

With Trey Burton set to sign with the Chicago Bears, and Najee Good an unrestricted free agent, Dave Fipps‘ special teams unit could use some serious reinforcements and Corey Nelson could be just the man for the job and potentially oh so much more.

A three-year starter at Oklahoma, Nelson was selected 242nd overall in the 2014 NFL draft and much like Burton quickly proved his worth as a do-it-all special teams player.

Though he only started six games in his four seasons with the Broncos, when Brandon Marshall missed time with a pesky hamstring injury in 2016, Nelson appeared in 53 games in Denver and logged an impressive 62 tackles and six pass breakups split as a reserve linebacker and special teams ace.

While Nelson isn’t a particularly well-known player, he does have a fan in current Broncos’ head coach Vance Joseph, who highlighted just how invaluable the ex-Sooner was to his defensive front in a 2017 interview with All22.com’s Jimmie Kaylor.

"“He’s our third inside linebacker, and our starting dime player in sub,” Joseph said. “In my opinion, Corey is a starter. On most teams, Corey would be a starter. If he had to play for us, I would have no problem with Corey being a starter for us. He has a huge role for us on defense. Obviously for [special teams coordinator] Brock [Olivo], he’s a full-core player for Brock. He’s a valuable part of our team.”"

Joseph was such a big fan of his former linebacker that his team apparently matched the one-year, $2 million deal the Eagles offered Nelson during the NFL’s legal tampering period, with the free agent linebacker instead deciding to take his services to South Philly because he “wanted a larger role”.

A larger role you say?

Well, with Nigel Bradham set to test free agency, and Jordan Hicks still recovering from a torn Achilles, the Eagles could have a deceptive need for quality linebacker play, with at least one starting spot up for grabs going into 2018.

And while Nelson has only started six games in his four professional seasons, he shined whenever given an opportunity to see the field. In 2016, Nelson had five games with at least six tackles, including a monster start against the Patriots on December 18th, where he recorded a career-high 13 total tackles in a 16-3 loss to the New England Patriots. With only Hicks, Mychal Kendricks, Kamu Grugier-Hill, Joe Walker and Nathan Gerry under contract in 2018, Nelson instantly becomes the team’s third-best linebacker, and could finally give Schwartz a starting caliber backup just in case a player like Hicks once again goes down with a season-ending injury.

Next: Trey Burton will be missed on offense

Though the Eagles could still use a premium draft pick on a starting caliber linebacker like Malik Jefferson in the 2018 NFL Draft, expect Corey Nelson to at least compete for a starting spot in training camp and much like fellow new recruit Haloti Ngata, could become a valuable rotational piece for Jim Schwartz’s defense moving forward.

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