The Eagles have a Derek Barnett dilemma

[Road to Victory]

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-have-derek-barnett-dilemma

The Eagles have a Derek Barnett dilemma REUBEN FRAN

by Rueben Frank

 

The Eagles have a Derek Barnett dilemma and they have two weeks to solve it.

And the pivotal question is this: How much better will Barnett get?

And it’s not an easy one to answer.

Barnett has never measured up to expectations for a defensive end drafted in the top half of the first round.

He has 19 1/2 sacks in four seasons with the Eagles, and that ranks 59th in the NFL during that span and 42nd among edge rushers.

He’s been hurt a lot. He played late in 2017 with a sports hernia. He missed 10 games in 2018 with a shoulder injury, two games in 2019 with an ankle injury and three games this past year with a knee injury.

He shows flashes where he looks like he can be a 12-sack type of guy. And he has stretches where you don’t even notice him for a few weeks.

Now it’s decision time.

The Eagles have to decide exactly what they have. And what he's worth.

Last spring, the Eagles exercised the fifth-year option in Barnett’s rookie contract, triggering a $10 million base salary for 2021. That money doesn’t become guaranteed until the first day of the league year, which is March 17 - two weeks from Wednesday.

Considering their cap issues and Barnett’s mediocre production, it’s impossible to imagine the Eagles are going to pay Barnett $10 million - it would make him the 16th-highest-paid defensive end in the league. More importantly than the cash, that tender would give Barnett an unwieldy $10 million cap hit.

They could trade him, but the $10 million guarantees before the trade window opens, which makes him far less tradeable, unless a new contract is part of the trade.

But there are really two realistic options: Sign him to a long-term, cap-friendly deal or release him.

But what's he worth?

Pass rushers make a lot of money. According to Spotrac, 26 defensive ends earn at least $6.8 million per year and 18 make more than $10 million per year.

Spotrac has a feature that examines contracts of similar players to determine a particular player’s worth. They compare Barnett to Trent Murphy, Henry Anderson, Alex Okafor and Jabaal Sheard.

Based on those comparisons, Barnett is worth about $7.5 million per year on the free agent market.

The Eagles could design a long-term deal where the big cap hits don’t start until 2022, when the Eagles should be out of cap trouble.

But do they want to make that kind of long-term commitment to Barnett?

They still have Brandon Graham under contract for one more year and he’s been more productive - and more durable - than Barnett. And Josh Sweat is still on his cheap rookie contract and has only two fewer sacks than Barnett over the last couple years despite about 500 fewer snaps.

And then there’s Barnett’s point of view. He’s only 24 and may feel like he can get more than what the Eagles are offering if he explores free agency.

There could very well be a team out there that’s not feeling cap pressure that sees a 24-year-old former first-round pick with potential and projects him as a consistent double-digit sack guy and is willing to give him a deal the Eagles can’t - or would prefer not to - compete with.

The Eagles have exclusive negotiating rights to Barnett for another two weeks.

Not always but usually, once a player hits free agency, he’s not going back to his former team.

Barnett’s a tricky one.

It’s genuinely difficult to gauge Barnett’s value. He’s going into his fifth year, but he’s younger for instance than Andre Dillard – drafted in the first round two years later than Barnett.

Maybe the Eagles believe that working with college football Hall of Famer Tracy Rocker, the Eagles’ new d-line coach, he can take that next step and be the type of player they anticipated when they drafted him at No. 14.

Whoever signs Barnett is going to be paying to a great extent for potential.

How much potential the Eagles and the rest of the NFL sees we're about to find out.

 

 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

I think they make him an offer. Lower than the $10M current cap hit but a decent offer. He may want to test FA and if he does then let him. He'll possibly get over paid and if he does then good for him. 

He's a good DE, he's shown flashes but he's been up and down and he's been hurt a lot. If they can bring him back for a decent price then fine go get him. If not then move on. Give Sweat more snaps (if he can handle it) and bring in a young guy through the draft or FA.

[PoconoDon]

Given the cap situation vs. his productivity, take the comp pick, not the cap hit.

[time2rock]

On 3/5/2021 at 3:40 AM, PoconoDon said:

Given the cap situation vs. his productivity, take the comp pick, not the cap hit.

Agreed ... the only way I'd want to sign him is if we can do so at a deal that is extremely team friendly.  I do think another team will be willing to pay him much more than we should so I’d pass.

But for the record, what I think they are going to do is sign him to an extension.  I don't know if Howie's ego will allow him to admit failure on yet another 1st rd pick.  The last one that they hit on (that was more than just "moderately" successful) was Lane Johnson in 2013.  Since then Smith (huge miss), Agholor (in the moderately successful group), Wentz (all things considered, utter failure), Barnett (another in the moderately successful group), Dillard (so far not looking promising), and Reagor (too early to tell but we all know who should have been picked there ... Howie being Howie).  

[Miami]

Give his spot to Sweat who showed more as a pass rusher.  And then draft someone who can wreck the QB, what DB should have been.

 

[weko]

21 hours ago, PoconoDon said:

Given the cap situation vs. his productivity, take the comp pick, not the cap hit.

Would we get a comp pick?  He's under contract for 10 mil for the 2021 season, if we exercise that option in two weeks.  He won't be a free agent unless we cut him and no comp pick if that happens.  I'm not a cap expert but he isn't a free agent unless we cut him, right?  It's either a release without comp pick compensation, 10 mil for 2021 or a long tern deal to spread out the 10 mil.

[PoconoDon]

6 hours ago, weko said:

Would we get a comp pick?  He's under contract for 10 mil for the 2021 season, if we exercise that option in two weeks.  He won't be a free agent unless we cut him and no comp pick if that happens.  I'm not a cap expert but he isn't a free agent unless we cut him, right?  It's either a release without comp pick compensation, 10 mil for 2021 or a long tern deal to spread out the 10 mil.

I don't why I keep thinking he's a UFA now. Exercising the 5th year option threw me off I guess. Well, it really doesn't matter. Probably best to save the $10M and let him go before the 1st day of the league year without comp.

[birdman#12]

It's been one of the eagles biggest problems over the last few years......laying out big contract, but the player either underperforms or gets hurt a lot.

Brooks, Jeffrey, Malik Jackson, Desean, Hargrave, Wentz and even Peters.  Loads of cash, and a lot of missed games.

Barnett just may force their hand and get released......and try the market..... he'll get plenty of interest, but I doubt he'll get the money he's looking for.....

Under the current financial situation with the league salary cap and plenty of vets getting cut for cap reasons, he and his agent may be more willing to secure a 2 or 3 year deal that would be cap friendly for the eagles.  Worse thing he could do is overvalue himself in this market.

[weko]

10 hours ago, birdman#12 said:

It's been one of the eagles biggest problems over the last few years......laying out big contract, but the player either underperforms or gets hurt a lot.

Brooks, Jeffrey, Malik Jackson, Desean, Hargrave, Wentz and even Peters.  Loads of cash, and a lot of missed games.

Barnett just may force their hand and get released......and try the market..... he'll get plenty of interest, but I doubt he'll get the money he's looking for.....

Under the current financial situation with the league salary cap and plenty of vets getting cut for cap reasons, he and his agent may be more willing to secure a 2 or 3 year deal that would be cap friendly for the eagles.  Worse thing he could do is overvalue himself in this market.

Barnett has tremendous leverage over us even in a low cap environment.  Howie's drafts have been so miserable he can't afford to cut one of our few decent younger players.  The cap will rise a lot in the years to come and Wentz's money will be off the books.  I bet we extend him.

[eglz1]

On 3/5/2021 at 7:20 AM, time2rock said:

But for the record, what I think they are going to do is sign him to an extension.  I don't know if Howie's ego will allow him to admit failure on yet another 1st rd pick. 

That sounds about right. Wentz was a huge fail for Howie/Jeffrey and I doubt those egos are modest.

[time2rock]

50 minutes ago, eglz1 said:

That sounds about right. Wentz was a huge fail for Howie/Jeffrey and I doubt those egos are modest.

They didn't hit on the two first rd picks (Smith, Agholor) before those two, they didn't have a 1st rd pick in 2018, and while too early to tell for the last two, thus far isn't looking too good.