Redskins Sign Former Eagles First-Round Pick

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

If you wanted something more interesting that the Eagles pushing for a playoff spot against a Redskins roster that recently released their best player in the secondary, you may have justyou’re your wish.

The Redskins made the game even more interesting to Eagles fans by signing former Eagles first-round pick Marcus Smith ahead of their match-up with the Birds.

#Redskins sign DE Marcus Smith and DB Alex Carter. In corresponding moves, place QB Colt McCoy and TE Jordan Reed on injured reserve:https://t.co/DR6EkLBtmc

— Washington Redskins (@Redskins) December 27, 2018

Smith was originally drafted in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Eagles. He was going to be a huge contributor to a defensive front seven that already featured Brandon Graham (at outside linebacker), Fletcher Cox, Beau Allen and Vinny Curry. Needless to say that did not happen.

The Eagles did not pick up the first-round pick’s fifth-year option and waived him last season. He played for Seattle last year as a rotational player and was replaced in Philadelphia by Chris Long. No one is arguing that that wasn’t a good move.

In his four seasons with the Eagles, Smith managed just four sacks and 18 tackles. He played in 37 games to earn those stats.

With the Seahawks last year, he managed two forced fumbles, a defensed pass, two and a half sacks and 15 tackles across 14 games. He was re-signed by the Seahawks for training camp, but was released. He has worked out for many teams this season (like the Jets, Colts and Bills), but he has not been signed by anyone until now.

The Redskins may be hoping that Smith has a “revenge game” against the Eagles and allow the veteran who has been entirely out of the league since August, to play in a new system without practice because their season is over. In his revenge game against the Eagles last season, his only meaningful statistic was one quarterback hit.