Eagles
NFL Free Agency: Eagles Oren Burks Headed To Cincinnati
Penn State Great Valley MBA, Penn State Berks Undergrad, Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor, IT Service Manager. I joined Sports Talk Philly in 2017 and root for all the Philly teams (as well as their minor league counter parts).
All posts by Paul BowmanPublished10 Mar 2025
The Eagles defense is losing almost every notable free agent they had left after extending Zack Baun.
That includes top backup linebacker Oren Burks, who started in place of Nakobe Dean in the playoffs.
It remains to be seen what will happen elsewhere at the position in the future, but Baun has the starting job and Dean would figure to be in play for the other role once he’s healthy again. In the meantime, Jerimiah Trotter Jr. is the next man up on the depth chart.
Burks will get a chance to start, though it’d seem like he’d have a shot to do the same had he stayed here.
That said, the Bengals are handing him a two-year deal and it has a $5 million value, so probably not a contract the Eagles would match for a player they are hoping would be a backup for most of that stretch (and a depth backup if Trotter develops as they hope).
The $2.5 million AAV would be on the cutoff of compensatory picks for last year’s free agency, so it may depend on how other teams fair in their own calculations how that shakes out for the Eagles. It could put them in line for a fourth comp pick and, should someone like Becton sign a larger deal elsewhere, it could give them some leverage to spend a bit more on a few lower-tier free agents they like without forfeiting their other picks.
Burks would be the fifth defender from the 2024 season to reportedly sign a deal elsewhere within less than half a day of negotiations.
No deal for pending free agents can be finalized until Wednesday.
Offseason Recap:
Extended:
Acquired:
QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (Trade)
Released:
Traded:
Eagles Free Agents Signing Elsewhere:
