Barnett headed for surgery, done for season
PHILADELPHIA >> Add another position to the Eagles’ needs as they search for help before the Oct. 30 trade deadline.
Starting defensive end Derek Barnett, the centerpiece of the 2017 draft, will miss the rest of the season as he’s scheduled for shoulder surgery, according to an ESPN report. The Eagles would neither confirm nor deny the report that broke Tuesday afternoon. Perhaps head coach Doug Pederson addresses it Wednesday.
With 2½ sacks in six games, Barnett (63, 259) wasn’t headed for the Pro Bowl. But he was a valuable snaps-eater, enabling the Eagles to keep their fleet of over-30 defensive ends fresher. Two of those veterans, Brandon Graham (30) and Michael Bennett, who’s a couple of weeks shy of his 33rd birthday, also were taking snaps on passing downs at defensive tackle, where the Birds are shorthanded.
The Barnett news broke minutes after Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz addressed the media Tuesday. Schwartz, nonetheless, isn’t ready to panic. He thinks the Eagles will get back to their roots as a takeaway team. The Eagles have just four interceptions and two fumble recoveries this season. They’ve turned the ball over 10 times for a minus-4 giveaway-takeaway ratio.
“There are two things we can do as a defense,” Schwartz said. “One is hold the score down, and No. 2 is put our offense in position to score, or score ourselves. And that’s a thing that was a common theme for us last year that we haven’t really been able to get our feet under us this year in creating those game-changing plays.”
In addition to defensive end, the Eagles could use a field-stretching deep threat, a shutdown cornerback, a running back, a defensive tackle and another veteran safety. Other than that, everything’s A-OK, right?
What front office bosses Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas must decide is whether the Eagles are what their 3-4 record suggests they are, or whether it’s worth using assets to chase outside help in an effort to defend their Super Bowl title.
The Eagles have eight picks in the upcoming draft, including two secondrounders. They’ll likely have 11 picks overall, as compensatory choices loom for defensive linemen Vinny Curry and Beau Allen, who signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and tight end Trey Burton, who is having a huge season with the Chicago Bears.
Khalil Mack isn’t on the market, much less affordable for the Eagles. The serviceable defensive ends are mostly on teams in teardown modes. Some have had off-the-field issues. The short list could be topped by Dante Fowler (6-3, 255), the sixth-overall pick in the 2015 draft who hasn’t lived up to his hype after missing his rookie season in Jacksonville with a torn ACL.
Fowler got eight sacks last year basically because quarterbacks were running away from Calais Campbell, who had 14½ sacks. Campbell’s impetus earned the Jaguars their distinction as Sacksonville.
Fowler has just two sacks in six games this season, which didn’t exactly get off on the right foot when he was suspended for a week in training camp after getting violent with a teammate. The trade dynamic should add to the Eagles-Jaguars game atmosphere Sunday in London, England.
Another name on trade lists is Shane Ray (6-3, 245), who has one sack and one forced fumble with the Denver Broncos. Ray had eight sacks in the 2016 season, the Broncos’ last winning campaign. Ray reportedly has survived a marijuana citation and a game-day brawl in his short career.
Then there is Bruce Irvin (6-3, 250), who has three sacks and one forced fumble for the Oakland Raiders. He signed with the Raiders after the 2015 season. He’d be reunited with Michael Bennett, his teammate with the Seattle Seahawks. Irvin, 30, was a first-round pick out of West Virginia in 2012.