Philadelphia Eagles: Re-signing Derek Barnett is certainly a choice

Just when you thought the Philadelphia Eagles‘ offseason couldn’t get any more polarizing, Howie Roseman swooped in and re-signed a defensive player to a two-year contract.

But who was it? Did Steven Nelson do enough in 2021 to earn some securing moving forward? Or how about Rodney McLeod? After hitting free agency in earnest for the first time since 2016, has he decided to close out his career in the City of Brotherly Love? It can’t be Alex Singleton or Hassan Ridgeway, as they already signed with the Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers respectively.

No, this new deal belongs to none other than Derek Barnett, the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2017 first-round pick who played out the 2021 season on the fifth-year-option.

That’s… underwhelming.

The Philadelphia Eagles aren’t going to earn high marks for this signing.

A lot has been said, written, and discussed about Derek Barnett and how the first half-decade of his NFL career had gone, so for the sake of brevity, let’s keep it short. If you’re reading this, you surely already know that Barnett has never recorded more than 6.5 sacks in a season, has more penalties over his career than sacks, and at this point is more of an early downs run base defensive end than a three-down rusher – let alone a third-down rusher – so why bother piling on the former first-rounder out of Tennessee… even if that’s sort of what I just did…

Anyway, the decision to re-sign Barnett is rather unusual, not because he isn’t a star player or as good as players drafted after him like T.J. Watt, Marlon Humphrey, or Jonathan Allen. No, bringing back Barnett is a bit head-scratching because 1. Philadelphia already addressed their pass rush with the addition of Haason Reddick – who was drafted one pick before Barnett in 2017 – and 2. They have more pressing needs across the rest of their roster that need to be addressed.

While we don’t quite know how much money Barnett is going to make on this new contract, it’s hard to argue that the sum wouldn’t have been better spent on a similarly mid-level player at a more pressing position of need, someone like Anthony Barr, Eric Ebron, Kareem Jackson, or even Patrick Peterson, who reportedly likes some of the things the Eagles do on defense.

So what gives? Why did the Eagles make this move? Is there any rationale for the decision-making?

If Brandon Graham can’t go come Week 1, then maybe the decision to bring back Barnett makes some sense. Similarly, fans are very aware of the Eagles’ reported interest in Michigan defensive end David Ojabo, who tore his Achilles at his Pro Day. If he was healthy, maybe the Eagles would have felt confident enough that at least one solid defensive end would still be on the board at 15 overall but with Ojabo’s draft stock surely set to take a tumble, having a player like Barnett is better than nothing.

Factor in the reality that Reddick is going to spend most of his time in base packages playing off-ball instead of as an in-line rusher, and the thought process behind bringing in another defensive end makes sense, even if some will quibble with Barnett being the player in question.

Who knows, maybe this will be the year Derek Barnett puts it all together. He won’t turn 26 until just before the 2022 NFL season, has averaged 1.18 QB hits per game as a pro, and could theoretically have a long and healthy career with the Philadelphia Eagles if he can put it all together. Will that happen? I mean, probably not, but hey, why not at least try to be positive?