Reuben Frank and Dave Zangaro bring back Stay or Go in 2022, trying to figure out the futures of every Eagles player on the roster.
We already looked at receivers, cornerbacks, running backs, linebackers, defensive tackles, interior offensive line, specialists and offensive tackles.
Up today: Defensive ends.
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Derek Barnett
Roob: For five years we waited for that breakout season from the 14th pick in the 2017 draft. It just never happened. There were encouraging moments. A two-sack game early in his rookie year. Of course the fumble recovery in the Super Bowl. Then 5 ½ sacks in his first 10 games in 2020. You look back now and 21 ½ sacks in five seasons leaves Barnett squarely in the massive 1st-round disappointment category. Barnett earned about $22.9 million from the Eagles. That’s about a million a sack.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: It’s time for the Eagles to move on. They took Barnett with the 14th overall pick in the 2017 draft and he was so young when they drafted him that even after five years in the NFL, he’s still just 25 years old. Barnett isn’t a bad player but he has never lived up to his draft status. And sacks aren’t everything but he had just 2.0 in 16 games in 2021; that’s pretty awful. Barnett has some ability and I think someone will pay him a decent amount on the open market as a free agent. It just shouldn’t be the Eagles.
NFL
Verdict: Goes
Brandon Graham
Roob: There are two good reasons B.G. will be back in 2022. One is his salary cap figure of $9.41 million. The other is his potential dead money of $26.47 million if they move on. Everything is predicated on his health, but assuming the Eagles draft a Day 1 edge rusher, then the 33-year-old Graham can be that 3rd guy, playing maybe 35 to 40 snaps and bringing energy off the bench. At this point in his career and coming of an Achilles, that’s probably the best role for him.
Verdict: Stays
Dave: He’s 34 and coming off an Achilles injury, so expectations should be tempered for Graham in 2022. But he’s in the Eagles’ plans for this upcoming season because his contract dictates he needs to be here and because the Eagles still think he can play. Before the injury, Graham was their best edge rusher and made his first Pro Bowl team in 2020. Ideally, he’d become a rotational player behind Josh Sweat and an offseason addition. But either way, the Eagles are going to need Graham to come back strong in 2022.
Verdict: Stays
Tarron Jackson
Roob: For a kid who played as much as he did – 253 snaps – I didn’t see a whole lot of production from the rookie 6th-round pick. He falls into that category of young guys who I’m happy to keep around on the practice squad and try to develop him, but the Eagles have to upgrade at edge rusher, and Jackson hasn’t shown that he should be part of that rotation.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: The Eagles used a sixth-round pick on Jackson out of Coastal Carolina last year and he showed some juice. He had just 1 sacks all year but there were some flashes of his talent and there’s a reason he began to rip snaps away from Ryan Kerrigan as the year went on. Jackson might never be a starter but he can help the Eagles in a limited role, which is what I expect for him in Year 2.
Verdict: Stays
Ryan Kerrigan
Roob: What a disappointing season for the four-time Pro Bowler. I didn’t expect huge production but he was invisible during the regular season, registering three tackles and no sacks despite playing 20 snaps a game. He had a huge playoff game against a one-legged Tristan Wirfs but that’s definitely not enough to bring him back.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: I can’t believe I’m about to get rid of the Eagles’ best player from the playoff game. Kerrigan had 1 1/2 sacks, 3 tackles and 2 QB hits in the loss to the Bucs but that was really his only production all season. In 16 regular season games, Kerrigan managed just three tackles, which seems almost impossible. The 33-year-old just didn’t have anything left after a decade in Washington. The Eagles thought he did and they were wrong. Time to move on.
Verdict: Goes
Matt Leo
Roob: Gotta give Leo credit. He was working as a plumber in Australia before coming to the U.S. to play college football and has stuck around on the Eagles’ practice squad the last couple years. But he’s going to be 30 this spring. He’s literally one of the Eagles’ oldest players, and the chances of him ever making the leap from the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program to the playing field are nil.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: The 29-year-old former Australian plumber has been with the Eagles for a couple years as a member of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program, which basically allows the Eagles to have an extra practice squad space for Leo. He can be here with that exemption as long as the Eagles want to keep him around. But was telling they didn’t even bring him up for that Dallas game in Week 18. He might be back on the practice squad — why not? — but he doesn’t have a shot at making the roster.
Verdict: Goes
Cameron Malveaux
Roob: The Eagles were desperate for edge rush help when they brought Malveaux in late in the season, and he’s got the kind of story that makes you root for him – he’s been released 11 times by six teams. But good stories don’t pressure the quarterback, and the Eagles need to be better than Cameron Malveaux next year.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: Malveaux didn’t join the Eagles’ practice squad until the end of September and he ended up playing in three games in the regular season and also played in the playoff game too. A former UDFA out of Houston in 2017, Malveaux has some NFL experience — he’s played in 18 career games — but the Eagles need to improve this position overall and that includes moving on from Malveaux and wishing him the best.
Verdict: Goes
Josh Sweat
Roob: The second half of the season we finally saw the Josh Sweat we’ve been waiting for – 6.0 sacks in the final nine games. Now he’s a Pro Bowler with a huge contract and he’s got to make the jump from having a good second half to generating consistent pressure throughout the season and becoming the double-digit sack guy Barnett never could be. He’s got the ability, he’s just got to do it.
Verdict: Stays
Dave: Sweat came on really strong late in 2021, finishing with a career-high 7.5 sacks. But unfortunately he missed the playoff game with a serious medical issue. But Sweat was eventually named to the Pro Bowl roster as an injury replacement, making him the most recent defensive draft pick to be a Pro Bowler, supplanting Fletcher Cox, who was drafted in 2012. Sweat is still just 24 and the Eagles rewarded him with a multi-year contract extension during the 2021 season. They hope he’s still an ascending player. He’ll be a starter in 2022.
Verdict: Stays