5 Pending Free Agents the Eagles Must Re-Sign This Offseason
5. Shaq Leonard, LB
The Eagles' linebacker room was quite a mess this season. Nicholas Morrow, Zach Cunningham, and Nakobe Dean all missed time throughout the year, resulting in Philadelphia bringing in veteran LB Shaq Leonard following his release from the Indianapolis Colts in November.
Even though he wasn't as dominant as in past years, Eagles fans were thrilled that Leonard arrived as a reinforcement. After all, the former 2018 Defensive Rookie of the Year is a three-time Pro-Bowler and four-time All-Pro defender.
Leonard's time fluctuated upon joining the Eagles, playing anywhere between 17% and 86% of defensive snaps. He wound up tallying 11 solo tackles with a sack across five games and looked much better than he did with the Colts (outside of tackling), proven by the PFF grades below.
Team | Defense | Run Defense | Tackling | Pass Rush | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eagles | 66.6 | 69.2 | 51.8 | 78.2 | 57.2 |
Colts | 60.3 | 64.3 | 69.4 | 49.2 | 56.4 |
With Cunningham and Morrow (as well as Shaun Bradley) hitting free agency, the Eagles can't afford to lose Leonard. I don't think re-signing him will cost that much money given that 1) he's no longer as elite as he once was and 2) has a good connection with head coach Nick Sirianni from their time in Indianapolis together.
After looking solid across the five games that he did suit up in, I'm curious to see how Leonard would look during a full season with the Eagles.
In other Eagles news:
feed