Chris Long wants the Philadelphia Eagles to sign Will Compton

Chris Long hasn’t been a member of the Philadelphia Eagles since January of 2019. He’s never been teammates with Darius Slay, let alone Jalen Hurts, and is probably more associated with the formerly St. Louis Rams than the Eagles now that his playing days are done.

With that being said, playing for Philly clearly left a lasting impression on the eldest son of Howie, as he’s remained a fan and fervent supporter of the Birds well into retirement.

But maybe fandom isn’t all Long wants from his former employer. Maybe he wants a job with the team, specifically as a scout.

Need proof? Well, look no further than his Twitter account, as the two-time Super Bowl champion has suggested that his former team should go out and sign Will Compton in the leadup to their Week 19 bout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But should the Philadelphia Eagles bite?

Could Will Compton close out the season with the Philadelphia Eagles?

Will Compton has had a weird 2021 NFL season.

An undrafted free agent linebacker out of Nebraska who initially broke into the NFL with Washington in 2012, Compton spent most of the current NFL season at home, waiting for an opportunity to play, before being signed then cut, then signed and then cut again by the Las Vegas Raiders between December 11th and January 11th.

Ultimately, Compton appeared in two games with no starts for the Raiders and was on the field for 32 total snaps, zero of which came at linebacker.

Ideal? Hardly, but considering Compton was paid roughly $47,000 for his efforts according to Over The Cap, it’s not a bad way to spend a month either.

Now fully free to sign whatever he’d like, what could Compton bring to the table for the Eagles in this their first playoff game since Chris Long was a member of the team?

Well, for one thing, Compton is a linebacker-sized linebacker who plays linebacker. While T.J. Edwards has proven himself to be a solid thumper in the middle of Jonathan Gannon’s defense, the team has had to play linebacker by committee since Davion Taylor went down back in Week 11, with Genard Avery and Alex Singleton each taking on more expansive roles over the past five games.

Is Compton the sort of coverage specialist who could come in on basically no notice and blanket Rob Gronkowski in coverage? No. Compton has a career coverage rating in the 50s according to PFF and he’s more of a 3-4 thumper than a modern-day coverage specialist.

Okay, okay, that’s a bummer, but not a deal breaker. Is Compton at least better than either Avery or Singleton? No, probably not.

So what gives? Why does Long want the Eagles to sign Compton and get him on the field in less than a week in a scheme he doesn’t know? Easy, they are friends.

I know, talk about a real anticlimactic ending to a story but it’s true, Long and Compton follow each other on social media and appear to be good friends. While Long’s theory that the Birds should further fortify their linebacking corps with one or more of the roster spots freed up by playing three players on IR is sound, Compton probably isn’t the man for the job.

So what’s the takeaway from this story? Is it that Will Compton’s 2021 season has been weird? Or that Howie Roseman still needs to fill to roster spots after placing Tyree Jackson, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and Brett Toth on IR and only signing Jason Huntley to take their place? Personally, I think the best lesson learned from this ordeal is that Chris Long loved being a member of the Philadelphia Eagles so much that he’s actively trying to parlay his social media following to make the team better, even if it helps one of his friends in the process.