Former Eagles linebacker Zach Brown finds a new NFL home with Cardinals

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Less than three weeks after he was released by the Eagles, linebacker Zach Brown has found a new team. 

Brown, 30, on Friday signed with the Arizona Cardinals, his fifth team in five years. 

The Eagles signed Brown in March to a one-year, $3 million contract, but released him after just six games. In fact, Brown played 57 snaps against the Vikings the day before he was released. 

The next day, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz declined to get into the specific reasons of why Brown was cut, but said the Eagles needed more from their linebackers. 

It certainly seemed like there was more to it than that. 

Head coach Doug Pederson was asked about Brown’s release a couple days after it happened. 

“Well, as you guys know, we always do what we feel is in the best interest of the football team,” Pederson said. “I appreciate everything Zach did for us. I think Jim alluded to the fact that we need a little more production out of that group, and so we made a change.”

Was the move strictly for on-field reasons?

“Obviously, we're based on performance,” Pederson said. “I'm not going to get into a lot of the whys as to why we did it, but we need more production there and so we made a change.”

Without Brown and without Nigel Bradham, who is still recovering from an ankle injury, the Eagles have been getting by with a makeshift linebacker group. In the two games since Brown was cut, Nathan Gerry, Kamu Grugier-Hill and rookie T.J. Edwards have been the Eagles’ three base package linebackers. Bradham has already been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Bears. 

In Arizona, they’re collecting former Eagles linebackers. Brown joins a linebacker group that includes Jordan Hicks and Joe Walker. And they also have former Temple star Haason Reddick. 



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