Philadelphia Eagles: What, you don’t know Renell Wren?

While free agency is still a little over two weeks away, NFL teams are slowly but surely starting to make moves.

The Baltimore Ravens just re-signed Tony Jefferson, who spent a single game on their active roster after joining the practice squad in December, the Kansas City Chiefs released one-time Cowboy Anthony Hitchens, and, despite an epic collapse versus the Chiefs in the playoffs, the Buffalo Bills have handed special teams ace Siran Neal a new three year deal.

So naturally, Howie Roseman had to get in on the action, right? I mean, we’re talking about one of the premier wheelers and dealers the NFL had to offer; why wouldn’t he make a “pre-agency” move too?

Well, the Philadelphia Eagles did just that, signing ex-Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Renell Wren to a new contract.

What, you don’t know Renell Wren? Well, my friend, you are about to get a crash course.

Renell Wren is a new name to know in the Philadelphia Eagles’ trenches.

Renell Wren has played 12 games at the NFL level, 11 in 2019 – with two starts – and one more in 2021.

Is that ideal production for a former fourth round pick? No, not particularly, but when you consider that none of the Cincinnati Bengals’ three fourth round picks from the 2019 NFL Draft – Wren, Ryan Finley, Michael Jordan – are still with the team, it’s sort of par for the course. Of that turbulent trio, Wren lasted the longest but was arguably the least impactful player of the three, with Finley appearing in four games with eight starts as a backup quarterback, and Jordan starting 19 of the 29 games he appeared in for Cincinnati before landing in Carolina last year.

And as for Wren, well, he picked up exactly nine tackles, no sacks, and no forced fumbles in his 244 total snaps, 196 on defense and 48 more on special teams, and never quite rebounded from a late 2019 leg injury that landed him on IR, then Pup, then IR again for the entire 2020 season.

Is Wren finally fully healthy? Yes, his lone appearance of the 2021 season came in Week 18, where he played 62 percent of the Bengals’ snaps. Does that mean he can finally break into an NFL team’s rotation full time, especially one as deep as the Eagles?

It’s possible, but probably not.

No, coming out of college, Wren was dubbed a project by NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein. Sure, he had the physical tools to be a solid defensive tackle, the 6-foot-4, 301-pound frame, the 5.01 40 time, the 118-inch broad jump, and the 30 rep bench press, but his game wasn’t quite there yet to be a “sure thing” at the NFL level.

Fast forward almost four years into the future, and Wren’s status as a project hasn’t changed. If anything, the 26-year-old’s advanced age limited the chances that he’ll ever put it together or become more than a rotational player.

Still, if there was ever a pair of players to learn from, it would be Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave, as the duo has formed one of the better two-man attacks in the NFC. If Wren can learn what it means to be an NFL lineman from those two both on and off the field, it could go far in pushing his career forward in a positive way.

Very rarely do teams sign impact players in the month of February, which technically is still last season in the eyes of the NFL. Players signed this time of year were either 1. Released by another team early 2. Formerly retired players who reinstated themselves or 3. Younger players who weren’t signed to a futures deal by their former team. Renell Wren firmly falls into the last category, and while his addition is a fine get for the time of year, don’t pencil him into the rotation, let alone the 53-man roster just yet.