Philadelphia Eagles: Nate Herbig lands with an old friend

Welp, that didn’t take long.

After being waived by the Philadelphia Eagles to avoid paying his restricted free agent tender of $2.43 million, Nate Herbig has found a new home just up I-95, and the best part? He won’t even have to internalize a new color scheme, as he’ll be wearing green for at least one more season.

That’s right, even after attacking the offensive line in the 2022 NFL Draft with the addition of Max Mitchell, the New York Jets put in a claim for and were ultimately awarded the services of Herbig, who will now compete with Laken Tomlinson and Alijah Vera-Tucker for a spot on the team’s starting lineup.

Hmm… who is the Jets’ general manager again? Oh yeah, that’d be Joe Douglas, who left the Philadelphia Eagles the same year Nate Herbig was signed as an undrafted free agent. In a way, it all makes sense.

Hopefully the Jets appreciate Nate Herbig more than the Philadelphia Eagles did.

Whether you like Nate Herbig, hate Nate Herbig, or fall somewhere in-between, it’s hard to argue that any team that has him coming off the bench is inherently better off without him.

With 17 starts over the last two seasons alone and experience playing in Stanford’s power system and the zone blocking scheme that Jeff Stoutland has mastered with the Philadelphia Eagles, Herbig is a very well versed interior lineman with the versatility to play on the left side, the right side, or at center in a pinch, even if his shotgun snapping could use some work.

Now granted, is investing more than $2 million in a backup interior lineman who might not even dress on game days? I personally wouldn’t mind it, but I can see why Roseman, who might need to free up money for a player like James Bradberry, would feel that’s an unnecessary luxury, as Stoutland has had incredible luck squeezing quality play out of UDFAs and waiver wire claims like Sua Otepa, Jack Anderson, and Brett Toth.

The Jets, by contrast, haven’t been quite so lucky as of late with developing interior talent. Of the nine interior linemen on the Jets’ depth chart – at least according to ESPN – only two of them, Isaiah Williams and Alijah Vera-Tucker, began their careers in New York. The rest of the roster spots are filled out with high priced free agents like Connor McGovern and Laken Tomlinson and journeymen like Dan Feeney and Dru Samia.

If Nate Herbig can stick it out and beat out players like fellow former Philadelphia Eagles lineman Ross Pierschbacher, he might just have a new long-term home in

New Jersey

New York. And if not? Well, I’m sure some other team will take a shot on the 23-year-old, as he’s got one heck of a pedigree so early in his NFL career.