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Derek Barnett

Eagles DE Derek Barnett Gauging Trade Market

August 28th, 2023 at 11:28am CST by Rory Parks

Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett wants more playing time. The No. 14 overall pick of the 2017 draft, who is entering a contract year, is unlikely to get the number of reps that will lead to a significant payday if he remains in Philadelphia, which houses pass-rushing talent like Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat, Haason Reddick, and first-round rookie Nolan Smith. Barnett’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is therefore gauging the trade market for a better opportunity, as ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports.

Barnett, 27, accepted a pay cut just last month that actually increased his guaranteed money for 2023 while reducing the maximum he can earn. That transaction assured him of a spot on the Eagles’ roster, and Fowler confirms that the club wants to keep him. Nonetheless, if a team that has a bigger need in the edge rush department is willing to part with a useful asset in exchange for Barnett, it makes sense for Philadelphia to pull the trigger.

Last offseason, there were rumors that Barnett, who was set to hit the open market for the first time in his career, was going to sign with a different club in free agency. However, GM Howie Roseman opted to keep him in the fold via a two-year, $14MM commitment. Unfortunately, Barnett played in just one game in 2022 due to an ACL tear, which is one of the reasons why he was forced to take a pay cut for 2023.

The Tennessee product has never quite lived up to his draft status, though he has certainly been a useful piece of the Eagles’ pass rushing rotation, with three seasons of at least five sacks to his credit. While he posted only two sacks in his last full season in 2021, the leaguewide need for edge rush help explains why Fowler believes Roseman could extract some value for Barnett.

And, as Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com points out, the fact that the Eagles have allowed Barnett to seek a trade is an indication that Smith, who has been battling a shoulder ailment, will be available for Week 1.

NFC East Notes: Barnett, OL, Cowboys, Giants

July 28th, 2023 at 1:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

Derek Barnett is coming off a season that ended one game in due to an ACL tear. The Eagles also used a first-round pick on edge rusher Nolan Smith, crowding their depth chart. Barnett remains on the roster, but the team has since reached a pay-cut agreement with the former first-round pick. Barnett agreed to reduce his base salary from $7.5MM to $3.5MM, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets, noting that the $3.5MM figure will be guaranteed. That marks a bump in guarantees from Barnett’s previous locked-in number for this season ($1.5MM), but the max value of the new deal is $6MM — down $2.5MM from its previous number.

Barnett signed a two-year, $14MM deal to stay with the Eagles in 2022. Even though the team has since re-signed Brandon Graham and drafted Smith to join a group housing Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat, Barnett’s contract should give him a decent chance to stay on the team. Due to the void years the Eagles included in his deal, a release would lead to a $12.7MM dead-money charge. Should the 27-year-old defensive end indeed make the 53-man roster, this will be his seventh season in Philly.

Here is the latest from the NFC East:

  • In a bit of news that might prove relevant re: Joe Burrow, the Cowboys are going to be without one of their starting safeties for a stretch. Donovan Wilson suffered a calf strain that ESPN.com’s Todd Archer notes could sideline him for 4-6 weeks (Twitter link). Wilson, who re-signed with Dallas this offseason, still has a chance to return in time for the opener. After years with questions at safety, the Cowboys — when at full strength — have a nice setup with Wilson, Malik Hooker and Jayron Kearse.
  • The Cowboys did not use void years in Trevon Diggs‘ five-year, $97MM extension, and the cornerback’s cap number will vault from $5.8MM to $16.3MM from 2023 to 2024. Additionally, Archer notes Diggs’ 2025 base salary ($9MM) will become guaranteed in March of that year (Twitter link). Should this deal not pan out, that March trigger gives the Cowboys an escape hatch of sorts. They can cut bait for $12.8MM in dead money in 2025.
  • While the Eagles will provide Cam Jurgens with some competition — from third-round rookie Tyler Steen — Zach Berman of The Athletic notes the 2022 second-rounder is the frontrunner to replace Isaac Seumalo at right guard (subscription required). Jurgens is viewed as the Jason Kelce heir apparent, a title that briefly belonged to now-LG starter Landon Dickerson, but his 2023 place is at guard. Steen is attempting to convert from a college tackle, having started outside at Vanderbilt and Alabama. Jurgens played just 35 offensive snaps as a rookie, working behind the Dickerson-Seumalo-Kelce trio.
  • On the subject of positional frontrunners, it looks like the Giants‘ inside linebacker spot alongside Bobby Okereke is Darrian Beavers‘ to lose. Now that Jarrad Davis is on IR, the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy offers that Beavers is favored to win the job over fellow 2022 draftee Micah McFadden. Beavers was informed Tuesday he would have the first crack at the job, Dunleavy adds. Because Beavers suffered a torn ACL during the preseason last year, McFadden — a fifth-round pick — started seven games. A sixth-rounder, Beavers will have a chance to turn his offseason rehab into a starting role.
  • The Giants also recently worked out linebackers Nick Vigil and Sam Eguavoen, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Big Blue, which worked out Deion Jones this spring, also recently placed linebacker Elerson Smith on IR. Vigil is a seven-year veteran with 53 starts — for the Bengals, Chargers, Vikings and Cardinals — on his resume. Eguavoen spent the past four seasons with the Dolphins.
  • Offseason Giants signee Rakeem Nunez-Roches suffered a concussion in a car accident this week, Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets. The accident occurred when the veteran defensive lineman was leaving the team facility. No other injuries emerged from the crash. Nunez-Roches accompanied A’Shawn Robinson as veteran D-linemen to join the Giants in free agency.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/22

September 13th, 2022 at 9:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Hand suffered a torn quad in the Titans’ opener, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). He is undergoing surgery and is expected to miss the rest of the season. A former fourth-round Lions draftee back in 2018, Hand has been with the Titans since last year. He played two defensive snaps Sunday.

Montgomery had battled a knee injury during the run-up to the regular season, but the veteran passing-down back played in the Patriots’ Week 1 contest. Montgomery caught three passes for 15 yards in New England’s loss. The Pats signed Humphrey, a former Saints wideout, midway through the offseason.

Eagles DE Derek Barnett Suffers Torn ACL

September 12th, 2022 at 1:35pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Eagles held on for a victory over the Lions yesterday, but lost a key defender for the season in the process. Defensive end Derek Barnett tore his ACL, and will miss the remainder of the campaign (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). 

The 26-year-old has been with the Eagles for his entire career since joining them as a first-round pick in 2017. He became a starter in his second year, and set a career high in 2019 with 6.5 sacks. That figure had fallen to just two by 2021, though, leading to the belief that his time in Philadelphia would be coming to an end.

Instead, Barnett re-signed on a two-year deal in March. That kept him in the fold after the Eagles made a sizable investment in free agent Haason Reddick, and re-upped Josh Sweat the previous offseason. While Barnett therefore faced plenty of competition for snaps from those two (along with fellow veteran Brandon Graham), he was likely to at least occupy a rotational role amongst the team’s edge rushers.

Barnett is due to carry a cap hit of just over $4MM next season. The presence of $1.5MM in guaranteed money in his deal, along with several void years, would make a release untenable from a financial standpoint, however. The Eagles will need to hope he can recover back to full health and try to regain his form of 2019 and ’20 to provide an effective return on their investment.

In Barnett’s absence, the Eagles may lean on sixth-rounders Tarron Jackson and Kyron Johnson, who were added in the 2021 and 2022 drafts, respectively, as rotational rushers. With nearly $11MM in cap space, Philadelphia could also be active on the remaining free agent market to add a more experienced option.

Contract Details: Armstead, MVS, Douglas, Peterson, Peppers, Butler, Barnett, Harris

March 31st, 2022 at 5:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the latest details from contracts recently agreed to around the NFL:

  • Terron Armstead, T (Dolphins): Five years, $75MM. In addition to a $12MM signing bonus, Armstead’s $43.37MM guarantee includes his 2022 and ’23 base salaries ($1.1MM, $9MM), Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets. Armstead’s $13.25MM 2024 base salary is guaranteed for injury at signing. The deal includes $2.5MM-per-year incentives for playing time and Pro Bowl accolades, Wilson adds (on Twitter).
  • Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR (Chiefs): Three years, $30MM. Valdes-Scantling’s $18MM guaranteed includes a $6MM signing bonus and a fully guaranteed 2022 base salary ($2.56MM), Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes. The Chiefs have some flexibility in 2023. MVS has $6.4MM of his $8.6MM 2023 salary guaranteed for injury at signing; that shifts to a full guarantee if the wideout is on Kansas City’s roster on Day 3 of the 2023 league year. Valdes-Scantling’s $11.6MM 2024 base is nonguaranteed.
  • Rasul Douglas, CB (Packers): Three years, $21MM. The Packers gave Douglas a $5.3MM signing bonus and have him tied to base salaries of $1.1MM, $2.25MM and $6.25MM, Wilson tweets. Douglas will collect a $2MM roster bonus if he is on Green Bay’s roster on Day 3 of the 2023 league year.
  • Derek Barnett, DE (Eagles): Two years, $13.2MM. Barnett will see $7MM fully guaranteed, which includes $5.5MM in Year 1 and $1.5MM in Year 2, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes (Twitter links). The Eagles guaranteed $1.5MM of Barnett’s 2023 salary and will guarantee $2MM more of that $7.5MM figure if he is on their roster on Day 3 of the 2023 league year. There are $9MM in incentives available, Wilson tweets.
  • Malcolm Butler, CB (Patriots): Two years, $9MM. The Patriots only guaranteed the recently unretired cornerback $750K, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe tweets. That comes via a $500K signing bonus and a $250K guarantee of Butler’s 2022 base salary. Butler’s cap numbers check in at $2.22MM and $2.75MM.
  • Patrick Peterson, CB (Vikings): One year, $4MM. In addition to the $3.5MM guaranteed Peterson will collect, Wilson notes the Vikings included $1MM in playing-time and playoff incentives (Twitter link). The team tacked a void year onto the deal.
  • Anthony Harris, S (Eagles): One year, $2.5MM. The Eagles are guaranteeing $1MM of Harris’ $2MM base salary, Wilson tweets.
  • Jabrill Peppers, S (Patriots): One year, $2MM. The Patriots are giving Peppers a $300K signing bonus and guaranteeing his $1.1MM base salary, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The deal includes $3MM in playing-time incentives.

Eagles To Re-Sign DE Derek Barnett

March 24th, 2022 at 3:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

Derek Barnett is staying in Philly. The Eagles reached a two-year agreement to retain the veteran defensive end Thursday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The team has since announced the move.

This will ensure the Eagles again have a deep stable of edge rushers. The team extended Josh Sweat last year and signed Haason Reddick last week. Brandon Graham remains under contract as well.

Howie Roseman said at the Combine he would be “surprised” if the Eagles did not devote offseason assets to addressing their defensive end position, but a previous report indicated Barnett was likely on the way out. While Barnett’s contract will certainly check in below Reddick’s on the payroll, the former first-round pick’s return will bolster a Philadelphia edge corps that played shorthanded last season.

Graham is coming off an Achilles tear and will turn 34 next week. Barnett will be 26 when the Eagles begin the 2022 season. He joins Sweat as a homegrown D-end given a second contract. The Eagles signed Sweat to a three-year, $40MM extension and gave Reddick a three-year, $45MM pact. Graham is attached to a $9.25MM-per-year deal. Barnett’s contract gives the Eagles four veteran deals at defensive end, making for a rather unusual setup.

While Barnett has not delivered on the promise he came with as the 2017 No. 14 overall pick, the Tennessee alum represents a complementary piece. Barnett has 21.5 career sacks, with 12 of those coming between the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Barnett posted 22 QB hits during the 2019 campaign. However, he slumped during his contract year, which ended with just two sacks. The 6-foot-3 edge plays the run effectively and does have the biggest fumble recovery in Eagles history on his resume, having pounced on Graham’s sack-strip of Tom Brady late in the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII win.

Latest On FA Pass Rushers

March 6th, 2022 at 12:02pm CST by Rory Parks

In the estimation of Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link), the quality and depth of this year’s collegiate class of pass rushers could negatively impact their professional counterparts seeking new contracts. Some of the most notable names in that latter category include the Cardinals‘ Chandler Jones and the Rams‘ Von Miller.

Rapoport believes that Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill genuinely wants to retain Jones (as we heard last month), but the franchise tag value for the four-time Pro Bowler would be roughly $25MM, so that option is not feasible for the Cards. As such, Jones will hit the open market, and given that there has been something of a strained relationship between player and team for several years, he could be playing elsewhere in 2022.

Meanwhile, Rapoport expects the Rams to do everything they can to retain Miller, who is, like Jones, prepared to test the open market. Of course, the reigning Super Bowl champs also have new contracts for Matthew Stafford and Aaron Donald on their radar, so GM Les Snead will have his work cut out for him when trying to re-up his prized trade acquisition.

A less heralded (but much younger) option for clubs in need of pass rush help could be Chargers OLB Uchenna Nwosu. As Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network reports, the Bolts and Nwosu have mutual interest in a new contract, but despite Nwosu’s desire to remain with his hometown team, the money will need to be right. Wilson suggests that the 25-year-old is targeting a contract with an average annual value between $10MM-$13MM, which would seem to be a fair price for an ascending player who put together a strong 2021 campaign — five sacks, eight TFL, 17 QB hits, and an interception — despite playing through a serious labrum injury.

The Colts, Packers, Bills, and Jets are all teams that could have interest in Nwosu, per Wilson. There is a good chance that Green Bay releases Za’Darius Smith, so Nwosu could serve as a Smith replacement in Wisconsin. In a separate piece, Wilson reports that the Jets, like the Chiefs, would be in on Smith should he indeed become a Packers cap casualty.

Eagles GM Howie Roseman is certainly monitoring both collegiate pass rushers as well as the free agent market. When discussing how he is prioritizing his team’s pass rush, Roseman recently said, “I’d be surprised if we didn’t do something there” (Twitter link via Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com). Zach Berman and Bo Wulf of The Athletic (subscription required) believe there is a good chance Philadelphia grabs an edge rusher with at least one of its three first-round picks, especially since they expect Roseman to let DE Derek Barnett depart in free agency.

ESPN.com’s Jordan Reid, Matt Miller, and Todd McShay provide a detailed breakdown of the strong performance put on by the 2022 draft class of front seven players at this year’s scouting combine (subscription required).

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 1/1/22

January 1st, 2022 at 4:46pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are the New Year’s Day activations from and placements on the reserve/COVID-19 lists:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: G Oli Udoh

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Bryce Hall

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Eagles DT Fletcher Cox Drawing Trade Interest

October 31st, 2021 at 11:13am CST by Rory Parks

Teams have called the Eagles to inquire about the possibility of trading for DT Fletcher Cox, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. Those clubs are attempting to acquire Cox for a mid- to late-round selection, but Rapoport says GM Howie Roseman would require a “high” pick to pull the trigger.

Philadelphia selected Cox, who will turn 31 in December, with the No. 12 overall pick of the 2012 draft. He is well-established as a franchise icon, having earned six consecutive Pro Bowl nods from 2015-20, one First Team All-Pro selection (2018), and, of course, a Super Bowl ring. The club furnished him with a six-year, $103MM contract in 2016, but his best days seem to be behind him.

Cox is mired in something of a down year, and he has publicly complained about the scheme that defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is running. With the 2-5 Eagles unlikely to make a postseason run in 2021, it stands to reason that Roseman would at least entertain calls from contenders looking to fill a hole on the interior of their defensive lines.

However, the Eagles did restructure Cox’s contract earlier this year, which could make him virtually untradeable. Although the restructure bought Philadelphia a fair amount of cap relief this season, it pushed a great deal of guaranteed money into future seasons, and a trade would leave a considerable dead cap charge on the Eagles’ books. And if Roseman is going to absorb that type of hit, he is only going to do it for a Day 2 selection, which other clubs might view as a prohibitive cost in light of Cox’s disappointing 2021 effort.

The Eagles might also consider trading DE Derek Barnett, as Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com tweets. Barnett, a 2017 first-rounder, has yet to record a sack in 2021, but teams are always in search of edge help, and as Barnett is eligible for free agency this offseason, Roseman may be willing to swing a deal.

Jets Exploring Trade For Pass Rush Help

August 22nd, 2021 at 12:27pm CST by Rory Parks

In the wake of Carl Lawson‘s season-ending Achilles tear, the Jets are on the lookout for pass rushing help, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The club will surely scour the free agent market, which will continue to grow as cuts are made throughout the league, and New York is also exploring trade possibilities.

The loss of Lawson is a significant one for the Jets. The former Bengal inked a three-year, $45MM deal ($30MM guaranteed) in March, and he had performed well in training camp. He notched a modest 5.5 sacks in 2020, but his 32 QB hits were bested only by T.J. Watt, and he appeared primed for a big season in head coach Robert Saleh‘s 4-3 scheme.

Veterans Vinny Curry and Ronald Blair could help fill the void, but Blair has not played since Week 9 of the 2019 season due to an ACL tear and subsequent complications. He is now dealing with a hamstring ailment, as Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets, while Curry is entering his age-33 season and has been primarily utilized as a rotational piece throughout his career.

Behind Curry and Blair, there is very little by way of proven edge talent, and the Jets failed to generate much pass rush against the Packers’ backup O-line in last night’s preseason victory. So it’s little wonder that the team is taking a look at outside options.

In terms of free agents, players like Everson Griffen and Olivier Vernon are still available, though Vernon’s own health is very much up in the air. The Jets and Eagles will hold joint practices this week, and Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com suggests that two Philadelphia edge defenders, Derek Barnett and Josh Sweat — both of whom are entering their walk years — could be targets for Jets GM and former Eagles VP of player personnel Joe Douglas.

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