By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor
The Eagles made their first “splash” move of free agency Thursday morning by bringing in a veteran safety for some special teams and defensive back depth.
Not too much later, it was reported that defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway would be returning to the team for his third season.
Roster Move: #Eagles have agreed to terms with DT Hassan Ridgeway.@Toyota | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/nwDyJ7COG7
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) March 18, 2021
Ridgeway spent three seasons with the Colts before coming to the Eagles in exchange for a seventh-round pick.
Ridgeway has since become a major part of the Eagles defensive line rotation, a theme that the new defensive staff appears to be content on continuing with this re-signing.
Ridgeway has been effective, but has only been able to register 19 tackles and three sacks as he has only appeared as a rotational player in parts of 14 different games over the past two seasons due to injuries.
Had Ridgeway been able to stay healthy either season, the Eagles likely don’t bring him back as he has the talent to get paid good money from a non-cap-strapped team, but those injuries have made him more of a gamble, which once again allowed the team to bring back their top rotational defensive tackle.
This is the kind of signing fans should expect to see more of this offseason – players with high upside that are on low-cost deals due to other teams having concerns.