Philadelphia Eagles: Timmy Jernigan could have been great

As Timmy Jernigan’s three-year tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles comes to an end, let’s take a look back at what could have been.

After three seasons, 34 games, and a championship parade down Broad Street, Timmy Jernigan is no longer a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Granted, after signing Malik Jackson, and Javon ‘The Gravedigger‘ Hargrave to long-term, big-money deals over two subsequent offseasons, it was abundantly clear the Florida State product was not long for the Eagles’ world, but by signing a one-year, $3.75 million deal with the Houston Texans, any chance of a third straight return to South Philly have officially been squashed.

And really, it’s a shame things turned out this way because Timmy Jernigan could have been great.

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The 48th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, Jernigan found initial success as a 3-4 defensive end with the Baltimore Ravens, but fell out of favor with the club when it became apparent he was not in Ozzie Newsome‘s long-term plans. Though he amassed 13 sacks on 1,465‬ defensive snaps over his first three seasons with the Ebony Birds, Jernigan never became an every-down defensive lineman in Dean Pees‘ scheme, and this became expendable.

Howie Roseman exploited that expendability – and his relationship with Joe Douglas – to acquire Jernigan from his neighbors down I-95 in one of the most lopsided trades in either franchise’s recent history.

For the price of the 74th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft- used to draft Chris Wormley – the Eagles got Jernigan on the final year of his four-year, $4.38 million rookie contract, and the 99th overall pick in that very same draft.

That’s right, the Eagles got two Super Bowl starters, Jernigan and Rasul Douglas, for the price of a player who never played more than 46 percent of the Ravens’ defensive snaps, never recorded more than 1.5 sacks in a season, and was traded in-division to the Pittsburgh Steelers along with a 2021 seventh-round pick for a 2021 fifth-round pick.

Yikes, almost any return is going to look like a steal for the Eagles in that scenario.

And here’s the thing, it was a monster steal right from the jump. Jernigan finally gave Fletcher Cox a formidable partner in the middle of then-second-year Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s wide-nine defensive front and helped the $100 million defensive tackle make his third straight Pro Bowl appearance. No longer capable of double-teaming Cox between the tackles, the Eagles’ defensive line finished out the season eighth in team sacks with 44, while fielding the fourth-ranked overall defense in the NFL.

Jernigan’s own performances were particularly impressive, even if his 2.5 regular season sacks left a bit to be desired. Filling the role of a disruptor, a pocket collapser, Jernigan was rewarded for his efforts with a four-year, $48 million extension with $13 million in guaranteed money nine games into the 2017 season, a deal that would have run through the 2021 season.

But alas, it was not meant to be.

Three months removed from winning the Super Bowl, Jernigan underwent successful back surgery that would keep him out of football indefinitely. While the conditions of how exactly Jernigan suffered a back injury may never become public knowledge, as highlighted by The Philly Voice’s Jimmy Kempski, he accepted a reworked contract that removed $11 million in guaranteed money and allowed the Eagles to move on from the then-26-year-old for the low-low price of $3 million.

Jernigan eventually returned to the field for three games in 2018, five if you count the playoffs, but was more or less a nonfactor in the Birds’ title defense.

No longer obligated to pay Jernigan in 2019, the Eagles declined his option and allowed him to test the market, a market that was virtually non-existent. Jernigan eventually re-signed with the club on a one-year deal and even started nine of the 10 games he appeared in, but the magic was just… gone. Jernigan only played 27 percent of the team’s defensive snaps and was allowed to walk once and for all in free agency.

Now tasked with joining the Texans’ front seven, presumably in place of recently departed defensive tackle D.J. Reader, Jernigan will have a third chance to find a long-term home in the NFL. Paired up with J.J. Watt, who has only played 16 games once over the last four seasons, the Texans’ first line of defense should be pretty good, even if Jernigan is far from an ideal fit to play nose tackle in first-year-defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver‘s 3-4 scheme.

And as for the Eagles? Well, it looks like they’ll be just fine in 2020.

Next. Starting Avonte Maddox on the outside isn’t too crazy. dark

While they had to take the scenic route to get there, the Philadelphia Eagles have finally found a long-term partner for Fletcher Cox in the middle of their defense in Javon Hargraves – two really if you count Malik Jackon. Even if Rasul Douglas ends up being traded later this spring, I’d say that Howie Roseman still deserves a ton of credit for his forward-thinking trade, even if we only got glimpses of what could have been over Timmy Jernigan’s uneven tenure in the 215.

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