NFL Analyst Offers Peek Into Eagles 'Prove It' Recruiting Pitch

PHILADELPHIA - To date, the Eagles have signed nine different "prove-it" players in free agency this offseason, the most recent being perhaps the crown jewel of the clearance aisle, a 24-year-ole edge rusher with upside in Azeez Ojulari.

Whole Ojulari disappointed after a nice rookie season with the New York Giants in 2021, missing 22 games over the past three years with an assortment of injuries that reads like the lyrics of the children's song "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" (quad, calf, hamstring, ankle, toe), NFL teams typically trip over themselves to pay edge rushers with even a modicum of potential.

Yet the Super Bowl champion Eagles got Ojulari for a reported $4 million on a one-year deal.

An NFL source confirmed to Philadelphia Eagles On SI that Ojulari had at least two offers higher than that, likely not demonstrably higher. However, any time a player leans into a contract for less money it's interesting.

With Ojulari specifically, the obvious reasons could be the six other ex-Georgia defenders Philadelphia has in-house, along with the cachet of being the Super Bowl LIX kingpins.

Before Ojulari agreed to terms with Philadelphia, Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Media's lead draft analyst and a former Eagles' scout, gave a window into Philadelphia's pitch to players -- specifically a pass rusher -- on his "Move The Sticks Podcast."

"I was talking to a coach about certain teams and organizations, the Eagles being one of them. And this was a great point that he brought up. If you're gonna go on one of these one-year prove it deals he was like, 'Do you want to go to a 1:00 Sunday team?'" Jeremiah explained. "I won't throw the team he mentioned under the bus but he mentioned one of those NFC South teams, and he was like, 'You wanna go threre? Play at 1:00 every Sunday'

"Or you can go to a team like the Eagles, be on the national stage, you're in the 4:00 window, you're playing Sunday night, Monday, big stages, big games, everybody's watching, everybody's paying attention. Your 7 sacks you get with the Philadelphia Eagles can end up being more valuable than the 7 sacks you might get in the NFC South is what he was mentioning. "

It's hard to imagine NFL teams are getting sucked into that kind of highlight-mentality evaluation of players in free agency and a Sunday afternoon game between also-rans isn't getting lost in the sauce with personnel departments around the league.

The pitch is designed to convince the players by pointing out that high-profile games can drive the narrative straight toward the bigger money.

"I don't know if a lot of people [in the league] think like that but I'm telling you that message is being sent to players to try to entice them on short-term deals," Jeremiah said.

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