Philadelphia Eagles: Mark Barron is an intriguing reclamation linebacker

Down a pair of 2019 starters, the Philadelphia Eagles should sign safety-turned-linebacker Mark Barron to compete for snaps across from Nathan Gerry.

Mark Barron is an NFL linebacker who wears the number 26.

For those unfamiliar with the conventions of NFL numerology, that is unusual, but to be fair, Barron is sort of an unusual player.

Initially drafted seventh overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2012 NFL Draft as a hard-hitting, range-y strong safety – the highest any player from the University of Alabama had been selected at the time – Barron became a weakside NFL linebacker by accident midway through his fourth professional season in the NFL.

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After being traded to the eventual-LA Rams for a fourth and sixth-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft midway through the 2014 NFL season, Barron started out the following season backing up incumbent starting strong safety T.J. McDonald through the first four games of the season. However, after the team’s starting weakside linebacker, Alec Ogletree, suffered a season-ending broken fibula in Week 4, the Rams made the at-the-time unconventional decision to kick Barron to inside linebacker and inadvertently created one of the more intriguing matchup defenders in the NFL.

Despite his then-slight sub-220 pound build, Barron found a ton of success at his new position right away – amassing a team-high 116 combined tackles and three forced fumbles as one of the lone bright spots in an otherwise disappointing 7-9 season – the last season of professional football St. Louis will see for the foreseeable future.

Fun Fact: Barron, Rodney McLeod, and Chris Long all played together on that Rams defense, and combined for four sacks, seven forced fumbles, and 217 combined tackles. Cool.

From there, Barron signed a five-year, $45 million deal with $20 million to continue to fill a hybrid linebacker/safety-role in Greg Williams‘ 4-3 defense and followed up his breakout 2015 with an even better 2016. We’re talking a career-high 118 combined tackles, two interceptions, and eight passes defensed from the linebacker position. Had things remained copacetic going into 2017, Barron could very well be entering the final year of his massive extension this fall, but the hiring of certified offensive guru Sean McVay – and the subsequent hiring of Wade Phillips – halted his momentum right in its tracks.

Suddenly miscast in a less-than creative 3-4 scheme that only utilized two inside linebackers instead of three, Barron still played well in 2017 – picking off a career-high three passes – but after suffering through an injury-shortened 2018 season, the then-29-year-old was unceremoniously released to save money and was forced to relocate to PA to play for our fair state’s other professional football team.

It went alright but was nothing to write home about.

With Ryan Shazier still unable to return to the field, Barron was signed to add speed and range to the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ linebacking corp next to Vince Williams but was used more as a part-time player after the team traded up 10 spots in the first round to procure their weakside linebacker of the future Devin Bush. Barron played 750 largely unimpressive snaps and was released a year into a two-year deal worth $12 million.

And here we are, double-digit days into the 2020 NFL league year and Barron remains a free agent with no obvious destination. Four years removed from being one of the league’s more intriguing defensive playmakers, a player tailor-made for the modern-era of sub-package-focused defensive fronts, Barron is one more bad year away from being out of the NFL entirely.

Boy, if only there was an NFL team in desperate need of linebacker help who just so happens to have a thing for former safeties.

I think you know where I’m going here.

Despite having almost completely rebuilt their secondary in free agency – with Malcolm Jenkins, Ronald Darby, and potentially Rasul Douglas on the way out, and Darius Slay and Nickell Robey-Coleman in – the Philadelphia Eagles‘ linebacking corp may be the worst in the entire NFL. With only one 2019 starter, Nathan Gerry, returning for the 2020 campaign, the Eagles very well may have to rely on the likes of Duke Riley, Alex Singleton, and T.J. Edwards to play meaningful minutes in 2020.

That is not a winning formula.

Sure, the team did sign ex-Los Angeles Chargers swing linebacker Jatavis Brown, but he only recorded 10 defensive snaps last season and is a borderline fit to play linebacker full-time at 5-foot-11, 221 pounds.

Enter Barron, who would not only immediately upgrade the team’s vacant weakside linebacker position, but could be a revelation in the nickel and dime packages.

Now weighing in at a very respectable 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, Barron is agile enough to take on running backs like Ezekiel Elliott, big enough to body up on tight ends like Evan Engram, and fast enough to even keep up in the slot if switched onto a wide receiver in zone coverage.

Barron has also proven himself to be one of the better coverage linebackers when the ball is in the air, as evidenced by his 13 passes defensed as a 4-3 weakside linebacker. Is deflecting passes in the air a pivotal skillset for a linebacker to possess in the modern-day NFL? No, not really, but if you know anything about Jim Schwartz‘s defense, you know he loves back-end players who can play the ball and make plays in coverage.

Jalen Mills and Will Parks can make plays in space but may struggle against bigger foes. Barron’s addition would give Schwartz let another versatile space defender, just one with a bit more meat on his bones and a reputation for dishing out some of the hardest hits in the NFL (check some out here).

Speaking of Mills and Parks, after signing three safeties to new contracts so far this offseason, it feels like a borderline inevitability that the Birds will use the big nickel package as their base defensive packing, with either NRC or Cre’von LeBlanc ‘slotting’ inside against three wide receiver sets. That, however, doesn’t mean the Eagles can solely rely on Gerry to soak up some 1,800 linebacker snaps – literally. Signing Barron to a one-year, prove-it deal similar to the contract signed by Parks would allow Howie Roseman to enter the draft without a massive hole on his depth chart, and allow the grizzled general manager to avoid overdrafting for need.

In 2019, Nigel Bradham had an average value of 6 per Pro Football Reference. Barron’s number came in close behind at 5 despite playing out of position in a less than favorable scheme for his skillset. With a chance to freestyle more in zone coverage behind the massive wall of humanity known affectionately as the Eagles’ defensive line, it’s entirely possible the 30-year-old could at least replace Bradham’s production at a fraction of the cost.

Am I a bit bullish on Barron as a player? Yeah, probably so, but sometimes a player and a scheme just make sense together. Barron is bigger, faster, more prolific, and more experienced than Gerry, Kamu Grugier-Hill, and whichever other college safety the team opts to draft and kick inside next, and personally, I’d like to see how one of the best possible version of an NFL ‘moneybacker’ would fit into Schwartz’s scheme.

Next. Could Jason Peters actually return in 2020?. dark

After two down years playing in 3-4 defenses, Mark Barron probably isn’t going to be looking for a massive payday at the tender age of 30. He also clearly isn’t the highest in-demand free agent linebacker on the market, with plenty of teams presumably uninterested in his services altogether. But for a team like the Philadelphia Eagles, who value athleticism and ball skills over interior thumping, there isn’t a better fitting weakside linebacker left on the open market.

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