Philadelphia Eagles: 3 players who desperately need to have a good year
By David Esser
The Philadelphia Eagles need big years from these three players.
Heading into the 2020 season, there are plenty of questions surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles roster. Who will the starting wide receivers be? Who is cornerback #2? What happens at linebacker if Nate Gerry gets hurt?
While a majority of these questions will hopefully be answered during the first few weeks of the season, there are some long-term scenarios that will likely take the entire year to play out. The Eagles are seriously pressed for money moving forward, so they have to start being cautious with who they invest their resources in to. With all that in mind, here are three players on the roster who desperately need to perform in 2020:
Derek Barnett, DE
This one is a no-brainer, as defensive end Derek Barnett is currently on the hook for around a $10 million salary in 2021. Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia front office opted to pick up his fifth-year option over the summer, however, they will have a chance to rescind it prior to the next season beginning.
Considering the Eagles are projected to be $70+ million dollars in the hole next year, paying Barnett as a premier edge rusher when he has yet to record a double-digit sack season seems quite silly. If he has a below-average statistical season in 2020, or suffers yet another injury, he would make a prime “cut candidate” considering how high his cap hit is currently expected to be.
Despite being the team’s first-round pick in 2017, Barnett has really struggled to evolve into the type of pass rusher the Eagles had hoped. He’s logged just 14 career sacks and has missed a handful of games due to injury. Barnett also had some issues last year with late hits and unnecessary roughness penalties.
If Barnett wants to get that $10 million paycheck in 2021, he’s going to have to have a career year this season. The Philadelphia Eagles have long made sure to take care of their own when it comes to second contracts, but after just recently getting burned by Nelson Agholor’s fifth-year option, Roseman is likely approaching the Barnett situation with a far greater level of cautiousness.