As mentioned in trade rumors before roster-cutdown day in August and prior to last month’s trade deadline, Derek Barnett did not end up being moved. The Eagles have since changed their tune.
The Eagles are waiving the former first-round pick Friday, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports. The seventh-year defensive end, who re-signed with the Eagles in 2022, has not seen much playing time this season. But he profiles as a player expected to draw interest, per Schefter, now that he is unattached.
Barnett’s contract contains less than $500K in remaining base salary, which would not be much of an impediment toward a waiver claim. The trade deadline having passed makes all vested veterans subject to waivers. Barnett’s deal expires after this season, though passing through waivers unclaimed would lead to an early expiration.
On another deep Philadelphia defensive line, Barnett has played just 99 snaps. The former Tennessee standout has made just three tackles (one for loss) in eight games. The Eagles made Barnett a healthy scratch against the Cowboys earlier this month, and he missed the Chiefs matchup for personal reasons. But another healthy scratch may well have been in the cards for Barnett, who has been with the Eagles since going off the 2017 draft board 14th overall.
Philly allowed Barnett to gauge trade interest in August, and the defending NFC champions explored dealing him before the Oct. 31 trade deadline. Barnett, 27, remained an Eagle; he will now see if a bigger role is out there. Although the Eagles did not bring back Robert Quinn, the team still has a bevy of edge-rushing options. Brandon Graham re-signed, and Josh Sweat is signed to an extension. Philly has edge anchor Haason Reddick tied to a three-year, $45M deal he has outplayed, and the team used a first-round pick on Nolan Smith. Patrick Johnson, a 2021 seventh-round pick, also resides on the Eagles’ 53-man roster.
Barnett signed a two-year, $14M deal in 2022 but went down with an ACL tear in Week 1 of last season. The Eagles reduced his pay this offseason, though the redo upped Barnett’s 2023 guarantees to $3.5M. While Barnett was not a part of the Eagles team that ventured to Super Bowl LVII, he is best remembered for his fumble recovery — following Graham’s fourth-quarter sack of Tom Brady — that helped the team prevail in Super Bowl LII. Barnett recorded five sacks during that 2017 rookie season and registered 6.5 in 2019 and 5.5 in 2020. Not becoming an upper-echelon pass rusher with the Eagles, Barnett still started 45 games for the team.
With just about every team possessing inferior D-line depth to the Eagles, Barnett should find more playing time elsewhere. Ex-Eagles DCs reside in Arizona (Jonathan Gannon) and Cleveland (Jim Schwartz). A landing with a contender makes sense, but should a team potentially view Barnett as a multiyear option — via the exclusive negotiating rights that last until mid-March — a waiver claim to preempt a free agency situation would make sense.
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