Eagles

Eagles Waive Derek Barnett, Leaving them Thin in the 15-Yard Penalty Department

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Nov 24th, 2023 · 12:43 PM EST

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Eagles Black Friday news dump:

Eagles are waiving DE Derek Barnett today, per sources. The 14th overall pick of the 2017 Draft is expected to draw interest and find a new home soon. pic.twitter.com/JMX9ciHJzd

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 24, 2023

Should have never brought him back in the first place.

Let me copy and paste what I wrote three months ago after the report that Barnett and agent Drew Rosenhaus were looking to get him out of Philly:

“Barnett will make another team better. Better in the unsportsmanlike conduct department. If any team analytics department said, “hey you know what? we need more personal fouls,” then Barnett is the perfect addition. He’ll lose his temper, hit a guy late, or clobber someone 50 yards away from the play. He’s a dirty player and always has been.”

Barnett only played 99 snaps this season, which amounts to 15.02%. He’s played 47 special teams snaps (about 19%) but hasn’t been able to break into an edge-rushing rotation of Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham. Reddick and Sweat have played more than 80% of the snaps in the last two games, and the Birds have mostly been rolling a three-person crew there.

In eight games this year, Barnett has three tackles and one TFL. In his seven-year Eagles career, which is really only six because of last year’s injury, he logged 73 games, 45 starts, 150 tackles, 21.5 sacks, 37 TFL, and 76 QB hits. We’ll always be grateful for the fumble recovery that sealed the Super Bowl win, but some fans and media throw the “bust” label on him because he was a top-15 pick. Not entirely sure “bust” is appropriate, but looking back at 2017 now, that’s it for the Eagles’ draft class. Barnett is gone, along with Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas, Mack Hollins, Donnel Pumphrey, Shelton Gibson, Elijah Qualls, and Nathan “Whitesnake” Gerry.

Derek Barnett ended up with more accepted penalties (26) than sacks (21.5) with the #Eagles.

— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrCBS) November 24, 2023