The Eagles made a slightly surprising move last week in bringing back former first-round pick Derek Barnett. After an option year that cost the team $9M ended in 2.5 sacks and a bucket of disappointment, many were keen to see what kind of money the Eagles would pay him. Now we know.
On the surface, $13M guaranteed is a lot of money, but Howie has done a Howie in somehow adding voidable years to a two-year contract. His cap hit across both seasons won’t actually be much at all. In fact, his cap hit in 2022 doesn’t even place him inside the top-100 EDGE rushers…which is very fair. The guaranteed money still exists, but it’s laden across the voidable years. There would be some dead-cap money if the Eagles were to cut or trade the Tennessee product, but realistically this is a very manageable contract and a way of once again, finessing the cap.
The Eagles have been able to retain Barnett on a huge discount and he is still a young pass-rusher with a lot of athletic upside. Unfortunately, that often comes at the expense of idiotic penalties and more spins than a beyblade arena.
Since being drafted, Barnett has 21.5 sacks and 28 penalties. It’s not great. But hey, Nick Sirianni did say earlier today that he has a high Football IQ!
Here’s to hoping that he can find somewhat of a career resurgence in 2022.
Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire
