Eagles bring back Derek Barnett on a two-year deal

The Philadelphia Eagles are bringing back defensive end Derek Barnett on a two-year deal, according to Adam Schefter.

Eagles are re-signing free-agent DE Derek Barnett to a two-year deal, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 24, 2022

Bringing back Barnett was one of the biggest surprises of this off-season. I thought for sure that with the addition of Haason Reddick, Barnett would be on his way out of Philadelphia.

Barnett is widely hated by Eagles fans for his obnoxious penalties, but depending on the contract, this could be a great move.

Derek Barnett since he got drafted:

• 21.5 sacks
• 28 penalties

Of those 28 penalties:

• 13 offside
• 6 unnecessary roughness
• 5 roughing the passer
• 3 neutral zone infraction
• 1 illegal use of hands

— Victor Williams (@ThePhillyPod) March 24, 2022

In 2021, Jonathan Gannon had him in a standup-edge role, something that he was clearly not comfortable with, and his performance showed it.

With the addition of Reddick, DB can now rotate as a regular defensive end and hopefully thrive in a backup role for the Eagles. During the 2021 season, he had just two sacks, the lowest in his career.

The Eagles’ defensive line now consists of Reddick, Josh Sweat, Javon Hargrave, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Barnett, and Milton Williams. That group is easily shaping up to be the deepest (and possibly the best) defensive line in football.

There are still a few former Eagles remaining in free agency, most notably Rodney McLeod and Steven Nelson. The addition of Barnett could point to the Eagles looking to replace those two through the draft instead of free agency.

Mandatory Credit: Getty Images