The Eagles are reportedly letting some depth go.
On Friday, it was reported that the Eagles plan to release Derek Barnett, the team’s 2017 first-round pick.
Eagles are waiving DE Derek Barnett today, per sources. The 14th overall pick of the 2017 Draft is expected to draw interest and find a new home soon. pic.twitter.com/JMX9ciHJzd
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 24, 2023
While Barnett certainly didn’t live up to the comparisons he received during the draft to Reggie White, it would have been folly to hold that standard anyway.
Barnett hasn’t come up with the sack numbers at any point in his career, but he’s gotten solid pressure rates.
Of course, he’s also the one who recovered Tom Brady’s fumble in Super Bowl LII, so it’s a good thing the Eagles picked him up.
Recently, however, Barnett has been ceding snaps on a deep defensive line and was ultimately a surprise inactive last week for “personal reasons”.
While nothing has been made public, it wouldn’t be a surprise that the personal reasons were a lack of playing time, given he is looking to sign another contract this offseason as a free agent.
While Barnett has made some bonehead penalties, he shouldn’t be on the market for long after his release as there’s certainly a team out there who would be willing to offer a pretty good edge rusher some playing time down the stretch.
The move would also open up a roster spot for the Eagles. This could come into play if the team is looking to sign the recently released Shaq Leonard or if they are looking to return receiver Quez Watkins, who had his practice window opened earlier this week.
If this is indeed the end of Barnett’s career with the Eagles, he would have played in 73 games for the Birds, recording 21.5 sacks and 150 tackles (37 for loss) during that span.
