Philadelphia Eagles: 2020 could make-or-break Derek Barnett’s career

By picking up his fifth-year option, the Philadelphia Eagles have effectively made 2020 a make-or-break season for defensive end Derek Barnett.

Howie Roseman does not have a particularly impressive history of extending first-round draft picks to fifth-year options.

Granted, the sample size is relatively small, as Andy Reid retained player personnel duties from Roseman’s elevation to general manager in 2010, as did Chip Kelly for his fourth and final season as the Philadelphia Eagles‘ head coach, but his track record is rather striking.

Gosh, you’d think having an ability to extend a former first-round pick for a fifth year of service would be an asset, not some dark cloud that hangs over the franchise.

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But so far, it’s been just that.

Since returning to power in 2016 – fittingly four years after his first draftee post-Reid, Lane Johnson, was picked fourth overall in the 2013 NFL Draft – Roseman only picked up two (well technically three) fifth-year options.

Johnson didn’t have his fifth-year option picked up, but only because he’d already received an extension earlier that offseason. The same could not be said for Marcus Smith, as he was released after three underwhelming seasons in South Philly. Carson Wentz technically had his fifth-year option picked up in April of 2019, but that was quickly folded into a massive four-year, $128 million extension.

Okay, so one yes, one no, and one kind of. Not the worst track record.

That’s when things get ugly.

After putting up two encouraging seasons as a slot-only receiver in 2017 and 2019, the Eagles picked up Nelson Agholor‘s fifth-year option that would pay the then 26-year-old well over $9 million for a single season.

How did that go?

So needless to say, the process of picking up a fifth-year option is rather loaded, as players who are really good typically bypass playing on the option for a long-term deal, and players who are bad may not even make it with their team long enough to have their option declined.

But that player in the middle – one who is good enough to stick with their team for four years but not good enough to earn a long-term deal – is where things get interesting.

Will Derek Barnett be the first player in Roseman’s tenure who plays out his fifth-year option to earn a long-term deal or yet another casualty who has to take a massive pay cut to remain in the league on some other team like Agholor this time next year?

Needless to say, the pressure is on for Barnett going into this, his fourth professional season to earn a new deal before having to play out the 2021 season as a very well paid lame duck – or worse, be waived to avoid a $9.5 million payday.

Now to be fair, Barnett is not a bad player. Since appearing in 18 games in clean up duty as a rookie, he’s started every game he’s appeared in and has held up relatively well as the Birds’ right defensive end. His 15 sacks over 39 games are nothing to write home about for a former top-15 pick, but sacks alone do not define a defensive end’s success in the NFL, especially in Jim Schwartz‘s scheme.

Since becoming a starter in 2018, Barnett has recorded nine sacks, seven hurries, 20 QB hits, and 37 hurries in 929 total defensive snaps. Those numbers don’t rise to the level of his counterpart, Brandon Graham, but they are solid in a wide 9, 4-3 scheme that prioritizes pocket collapsing over five-second sacks.

It’d be nice to get more five-second sacks from Barnett too, but changing how opposing offenses run their gameplan while limiting opposing teams’ abilities to run the ball between the tackles is far more important when running a wide 9 scheme that can be exploited by interior runs up the A gap.

For what it’s worth, Barnett fills that role well, and is a steal at roughly $3 million a year, but will he continue to be when he’s making north of $9.5 million on the fifth-year option in 2021? How about in 2022 and beyond, when he’ll be playing somewhere on a second contract?

Per Over the Cap, Barnett’s 2019 play was worth roughly $6.9 million. Unless he can take his production up a few notches in 2020, he certainly won’t be worth $9.5 million and may find himself a cap casualty to avoid his full salary becoming fully guaranteed on the first day of the 2021 NFL calendar year. However, if Barnett were to suffer a season-ending injury in 2020, his contract becomes fully guaranteed regardless, a situation the Washington Redskins feared with Robert Griffin III in 2015 to the point where they benched their franchise quarterback for an entire season to avoid paying him $16 million the following season.

That probably won’t happen with Barnett but hey, you never know.

Despite some minor speculation about his future, it’s not too surprising that the Philadelphia Eagles picked up Derek Barnett’s fifth-year option. If he has a massive 2020 season, the team can simply offer up a contract extension and move forward with their defensive end of the future. But if he doesn’t, the team can always release their former first-round pick and avoid a massive payout – barring injury, of course. No pressure, right?