Philadelphia Eagles: Three free agent linebackers the team could still sign

Mark Barron (last played for Pittsburgh)

Easily the most decorated player on this free agent target list, former Pennsylvania rival Mark Barron has a NFL playing career than spans across eight years with three teams.

Drafted as a strong safety to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in 2012, Barron didn’t really breakthrough as a NFL player until he had his position changed on the Rams. Used primarily as a weak side linebacker in Los Angeles’ system, Barron recorded back to back 100+ tackle seasons in 2015 and 2016.

Barron played a fairly big role on the Rams defense that ended up going to the Super Bowl in 2018, but was released the following offseason due to LA being in a literal cap space nightmare. The Pittsburgh Steelers picked him up on a two-year $12 million contract shortly after his release.

Barron played in 15 games for the Steelers last year, and started in nine. He recorded 82 tackles, three sacks, one interception, and one fumble recovery. He recorded two double digit tackle games, and overall had a pretty above average season. The Steelers released him primarily due to cap space situations, as the team is eyeing down mega-extensions for defensive standouts Minkah Fitzpatrick and TJ Watt.

Barron turns 31 in October, and even at that age he would be the Eagles best linebacker by a pretty wide margin. Similar to that of Darron Lee, Barron has previous experience playing safety, something Jim Schwartz really values in his ever growing “position-less” defense.

Newly signed Javon Hargrave could vouch for Barron, and his multi-team experience would make his transition into the defense borderline seamless. The major holdup is how much money Barron could be asking for, seeing as the Eagles are looking to roll over as much cap as possible into 2021.

On top of that, the Philadelphia Eagles have been burned by older LBs in the past (Zach Brown), and Howie could simply be far more inclined to let the young guys have a crack at it first.

Jake Ryan (last played for Jacksonville)

Once a member of the often praised linebacker duo in Green Bay: “Jake and Blake“, Jake Ryan has seen his NFL playing career be seriously derailed due to injuries.

Graded as one of the more athletic linebackers coming into the 2015 draft, Ryan was selected in the fourth round by the Green Bay Packers. After seriously struggling in his rookie season due to issues with pass coverage, Ryan really evolved in his sophomore year after a productive offseason.

Forming a strong on-field chemistry with fellow starting LB Blake Martinez (now a New York Giant), the pair was one of the more exciting parts on a growing Green Bay defense. Ryan recorded 163 tackles across 22 starts during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and he finished the 2017 season as the 19th best linebacker in all of football (according to PFF).

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After having the best season of his career the year prior, Ryan would go on to miss the entirety of 2018 due to an ACL tear that he suffered during training camp.

Ryan signed with Jacksonville the following offseason, but would appear in just two games for the Jaguars defense. He logged 35 total snaps last year, with 34 of them coming on special teams.

The Jaguars declined Ryan’s team option this past offseason, and he was actually scooped up by Baltimore pretty early into the free agency process, as they looked to beef up their LB core. However, following the Ravens acquisition of two linebackers in the draft, Ryan was released with a non-football injury designation.

Ryan is your stereotypical interior LB, a guy who uses his strength and physicality to operate as a secure tackler in the run game. Weighing in at 240lbs, you’re rarely going to ask him to drop back into coverage or line up across a pass-catching tight end. The Eagles appear to already have their “MIKE” linebacker in TJ Edwards, but there’s a lot of question marks surrounding the young LB. He looked extremely promising in limited action last year, but he’s barely been on the field enough to consider him “starter” quality.

Even if Edwards does have a breakout sophomore season, it would be nice to have some level of insurance behind him. Ryan has been banged up quite a bit during his career, so it’s also entirely possible he could come into training camp and look considerably worse than Edwards. In that case, it’s an easy cut and release, no harm done. It’s your stereotypical “low-risk high-reward” scenario.

All in all, the Philadelphia Eagles really don’t value their LB position like other teams, and it shows. The team targeted versatile DBs like Will Parks and K’Von Wallace this offseason, guys who can play in the box and act as LB/DB hybrids. Even with the above mentioned names being available, Jim Schwartz and the Eagles may be more than happy to trot out six DBs on every play. In that case, expect the team to shy away from spending any more resources on your standard “linebacker”.