As the roster stands before the new league year begins, the Eagles have five “active” defensive ends on the team: Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Genard Avery, Shareef Miller, and Josh Sweat.
Daeshon Hall and Joe Ostman are factors as well, but they are each recovering from ACL injuries of their own.
It’s hard to deem a position with five players as one of need, but there are a lot of question marks there. Can Derek Barnett take another step forward and stay healthy?
Is Genard Avery more than a situational player? Can Josh Sweat and Shareef Miller continue to develop? What we do know is this: Graham is as steady as they come, he likely won’t hit 10 sacks, but he is a high motor guy who will give it his all every time he’s out there.
That’s really the only constant on the defensive line outside of Fletcher Cox.
For his defense to work best, Jim Schwartz believes getting after the quarterback with four pass-rushers is best. Though he’s been willing to send a fifth and sixth player if necessary, a base pass rush of four is preferred.
With that being said, a former first-round pick, All-Pro, and Pro Bowler recently hit the open market in Vic Beasley. Beasley, a former Falcon, has ties with new defensive backs coach Marquand Manuel, who held the same position with the Falcons when Beasley had his best season as a pro.
Beasley was the NFL sacks leader with 15.5 in 2016, but in his four other seasons, he has 22 for a total of 37.5 career sacks. Though some would call the player a flop or a bust, others view him as a miscast.
Vic Beasley was miscast, misused & poorly developed in Atlanta. We’ll see if his next team knows how to use him better and gets more out of him.
— Aaron Freeman (@falcfans) February 3, 2020
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Beasley is an intriguing option as his 8 sacks last season would have been .5 less than sack leader Brandon Graham. A new city, a new scheme could do the man well. Beasley was the premier pass rusher of his draft class, though he hasn’t quite lived up to his best season, I believe the potential is there. At his best, he’s shown to be the best pass rusher in the league, at his worst he’s replacement level.
If I’m the Eagles and Howie Roseman I would gamble on a bounce-back year coming off a mediocre performance (8 sacks in 2019) after two sub-par performances (5 sacks in 2017 and 2018). Much like the one-year prove-it deal, Alshon Jeffery signed in the Super Bowl year, the Eagles could use their estimated 42 million dollars in cap space to give Beasley a more expensive one-year deal to prove he can be the best in the league.
At 27 years old he’s still in the prime of his career, a one year deal worth north of $12 million dollars would put him around the tenth highest at his position.
On paper, the defensive end is likely far from the highest priority this offseason, but the Eagles have always placed an emphasis on shoring up the trenches. Given the opportunity to add a player of Beasley’s caliber should be a no brainer. Plus think of the NASCAR package of Beasley-Graham-Cox-Barnett. That would be terrifying for opposing offensive lines.
At the very least a conversation needs to be had.
