Eagles Make A Meaningful Move On the Edge

PHILADELPHIA - It didn’t take long for Eagles’ GM Howie Roseman to assess that he needed more on the edge of the Philadelphia defense.

A day after the team’s 24-20 season-opening win over Dallas, Philadelphia signed veteran edge rusher Za’Darius Smith.

Smith, 32, will be entering his 11th NFL season after splitting the 2024 season between Cleveland and Detroit while amassing 9 sacks. He signed a one-year deal that could be worth $8.25 million, per Pro Football Talk.

The base salary is $4.25M and the contract includes $2.5M in sack incentives, a $500K Pro Bowl bonus, and another $1M tied to the Eagles going back to the Super Bowl, per PFT.

Because the Eagles waited until after Week 1 to sign Smith, none of the money is fully guaranteed.

A three-time Pro-Bowl player and a second-team All-Pro in 2020, Smith has 69 career sacks and three double-digit sack seasons, the last coming in 2022 with Minnesota.

He steps foot in the NovaCare Complex as the most accomplished edge rusher the Eagles have by a wide margin.

The Eagles Are Unproven On The Edge

Eagles edge rusher Nolan Smith | John McMullen/Eagles SI

In Thursday night’s 24-20 win over Dallas, Philadelphia started third-year player Nolan Smith and ascending second-year player Jalyx Hunt, with Josh Uche and practice squad elevation Patrick Johnson mixing in.

Both Azeez Ojulari and Ogbo Okoronkwo were inactive for the game.

The Eagles didn’t record a sack against the Cowboys, but were credited with 19 pressures by Pro Football Focus, with Smith, Hunt, and Uche all credited with 4 hurries apiece.

Uche did it in only 19 defensive snaps, while Hunt played in 39 and Smith in 52 of the team’s 61 defensive snaps against the Cowboys.

In that limited time, Uche was graded out by PFF as the top defensive player of the night for the Eagles, while Smith was No. 7 and Hunt No. 9, with both generating above-average grades. Hunt, though, had below-average grades in the pass rush.

The Eagles have been in the market for pass rush help recently, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Philadelphia “made a strong play” for now Green Bay superstar Micah Parsons.

A Dallas source pushed back on that description to Eagles On SI last night, claiming the Cowboys never seriously considered trading Parsons inside the division.

What we can say is that the Eagles have long loved Parsons as a player and Rosmean checks in on all available options, so the interest, while strong, was one-sided in that the Cowboys were never going to send Parsons to their division rivals, who happen to be the reigning Super Bowl champions.

As for Smith, if he has anything left in the tank, there is a good opportunity for the veteran to quickly gain a meaningful role in Vic Fangio’s defense.

If all goes to plan, Nolan Smith and Za’Darius Smith will be the Eagles’ top two edge rushers with Hunt and Uche supplementing them.

To make room for Smith on the roster, the Eagles placed Ben VanSumeren on injured reserve after the fullback suffered a significant leg injury on the opening kickoff of Thursday’s game.

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