The Eagles are bringing back rotational defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway on a one-year contract, the team announced on Monday morning.
Ridgeway, 25, was a productive player for the Eagles in 2019 before he went down with an ankle injury in October.
The deal between the Eagles and Ridgeway was reached before the NFL’s negotiating period began. So the Eagles locked up Ridgeway before he was able to negotiate with other teams. Terms of the one-year deal were not immediately known, but the contract won't be an expensive one.
The idea to bring Ridgeway back makes plenty of sense. He’s a young, rotational player with upside. The Eagles traded a 2019 seventh-round pick to the Colts during last year’s draft to bring Ridgeway in.
Ridgeway will be the Eagles’ third defensive tackle, a rotational piece behind Fletcher Cox and Malik Jackson. This might also mean the end of Tim Jernigan’s time in Philadelphia as he’s set to become a free agent in a couple days.
In addition to Cox, Jackson and Ridgeway, the Eagles also have Bruce Hector, Anthony Rush and Albert Huggins as DTs on the roster.
In seven games with the Eagles in 2019, Ridgeway started 5, had 8 tackles, 2 sacks and 4 QB hits. He took over as a starter after Jackson and then Jernigan went down. He started against the Lions, Packers, Jets, Vikings and Cowboys and played well before he suffered an injury of his own.
NFL
Ridgeway was originally a 2016 fourth-round pick of the Colts out of Texas. In three years, with the Colts, he played in 34 games with six starts and had 4 1/2 sacks.
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