Eagles

Great Move: Eagles Sign 4x Pro Bowler Ryan Kerrigan on One-Year Deal

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: May 17th, 2021 · 10:41 AM EDT

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Love this move right here:

Roster Move: #Eagles have agreed to terms with DE Ryan Kerrigan on a one-year contract. pic.twitter.com/x8S0zGve8q

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 17, 2021

Kerrigan is 32 years old. So what? He’s a four-time Pro Bowler and Washington’s all-time sacks leader. Even last year, as a non-starter, he still logged 5.5 sacks.

This really feels like Chris Long 2.0. Veteran defensive end/edge rusher coming to town as a free agent. The Eagles currently have Derek Barnett, Brandon Graham, and Josh Sweat at DE, and now you throw Kerrigan into the mix with some of the rookies to spice it up. Barnett is out of contract after this year and BG isn’t getting any younger, so you’ll take all of the pass rushing help you can get.

The other thing about Kerrigan is that he was a massive pain in the ass over the years. Even though Washington wasn’t very good, he put up these career splits against the Birds:

• 18 games
• 13.5 sacks
• 62 tackles
• 15 tackles for loss
• 22 quarterback hits
• 1 interception
• 1 defensive touchdown
• 2 passes defended
• 6 forced fumbles
• 2 fumble recoveries

Fantastic stuff. And the reason he’s not with Washington any longer is because they’ve simply beefed up that defensive line and gotten a lot younger. Chase Young, Montez Sweat, etc. So Kerrigan decided to come here as a free agent. Schefter says the Steelers and Bengals also showed interest.

Good signing. Should help the defense during a transitional season.

Lane Johnson offers honest assessment of what it’s like going up against Ryan Kerrigan. “It sucks.” pic.twitter.com/nDR7VFwLUq

— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) September 2, 2019