The Philadelphia Eagles keep losing, even when they're not playing. This time, they've lost one of their few reliable pass-rushers, as veteran defensive end Za'Darius Smith shockingly announced his retirement from football on Monday.
While Smith played a season-low 17 snaps in the loss to the New York Giants, and there were some doubts about his role with the team, he was still the best the Eagles could do right now. With that in mind, Vic Fangio should get veteran free agent DeMarcus Walker on the phone to help fix this mess.
The Eagles Should Make a Run at DeMarcus Walker
Walker is still a free agent, and he's pretty familiar with Fangio, who was his head coach with the Denver Broncos in 2019 and 2020. With Fangio at the helm, Walker made 23 appearances (five starts) and logged 40 total tackles (22 solo), ten QB hits, eight tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, one pass defensed, and one forced fumble.
While he failed to keep his foot on the gas after his career-best season of seven sacks and ten tackles for loss a couple of years ago, he was still a starter last season. He played and started all 17 games for Matt Eberflus and the Chicago Bears, logging 47 total tackles, a career-best-tying 16 QB hits, and 3.5 sacks.
Granted, his sack totals as a 17-game starter were underwhelming, but beggars can't be choosers, and the Eagles aren't in a position to look the other way when there's a veteran who's logged 26.5 sacks in eight years still up for grabs.
With Smith off the radar, Philadelphia's pass-rushing department will be perhaps the weakest in its struggling defense. Even when Nolan Smith returns from Injured Reserve, the team will still be left with an underwhelming EDGE rusher corps consisting of Jalyx Hunt, Patrick Johnson, Azeez Ojulari, and Joshua Uche to make up for the lost production from Smith. Through six weeks, those players have combined for one sack.
The Eagles' issues may run even deeper than this right now. Perhaps their seemingly dysfunctional locker room was enough to push Smith out the door, and it will take much more than just a personnel change to make things right again. While reports suggest it had nothing to do with Smith's decision, there is no way of knowing whether that is 100% truthful or not.
Then again, they can't afford to rest on their laurels, and with Smith riding into the sunset, GM Howie Roseman will be wise to make a move. Walker looks like an obvious choice, and his familiarity with Fangio's system should make him a plug-and-play type of guy.