The Eagles sent a pair of third-round picks to the Vikings on Friday night in exchange for Jonathan Greenard, but they were not the only team to pursue the star edge rusher.
Multiple teams looked into trading for Greenard and signing him to the extension he was looking for, per The Athletic’s Alec Lewis. However, some were turned off by his financial demands, though his eventual $25MM AAV deal is reasonable when considered in the context of the edge rusher market. Those clubs’ hesitation is still understandable given that Greenard is coming off a down year, underwent shoulder surgery in December, and will turn 30 years old next month.
The Commanders and the Buccaneers were two of the teams to pursue Greenard this offseason, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, though obviously, neither was willing to match the Eagles’ investment in terms of draft capital and a new contract.
Greenard’s new contract is worth $100MM over four years, the same value as the deal Odafe Oweh signed with Washington this offseason. Fowler indicates that the Commanders looked into Greenard in March; perhaps they looked at the comparable price tags and decided to go with the younger player who would not cost them multiple Day 2 picks. They also added K’Lavon Chaisson, Charles Omenihu, and Deatrich Wise to their stable of edge rushers in free agency, giving them plenty of depth though not another high-end talent.
The Buccaneers, meanwhile, saw Haason Reddick hit free agency and replaced him with Al-Quadin Muhammad on a one-year, $4MM deal. That is an exceptional value for a player coming off career-highs in sacks (11.0) and tackles for loss (nine) – significantly better production than Greenard put up last year. Still, they could have stood to add a high-octane veteran opposite YaYa Diaby. However, Tampa Bay is also budgeting for multiple pricey extensions to key players, so Greenard’s $25MM per year deal could have been an obstacle to completing a deal.
He’ll only be 29 next month. Born on 5/25/97