Eagles Sign Javon Hargrave

Here's more on the big free agent deal general manager Howie Roseman handed out to the former Pittsburgh Steelers DT

Javon Hargrave was signed by the Eagles as a free agent Monday night, giving the former Pittsburgh Steelers nose tackle a three-year deal with $39 million, with $26 million guaranteed.

Here’s what you need to know about Hargrave:

• He is 27 and a former third-round pick in 2016 by the Steelers out of South Carolina State, the 89 player taken overall, which is the same school that produced Colts linebacker Darius Leonard, who was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2018.

• Hargrave is 6-2, 305 and had four sacks last year. He has 14.5 in his four seasons, including 6.5 in 2018.

• He has played in every game but one since entering the league, making 52 starts, and has 160 tackles in four seasons, including 60 in 2019.

• His nickname is Gravedigger.

My thoughts

• Any time you can sign a player from an organization as consistently successful, especially one in his prime who has had plenty of production, it has to be considered a strong move.

• The Eagles needed to bolster their defensive line, which was ravaged by injury last year. Signing Hargrave gives defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz a rotation that will include Fletcher Cox, Malik Jackson, and Hassan Ridgeway, who the Eagles didn’t let hit free agency when they signed him to a one-year contract an hour before free agency began.

The team would like to back off Cox's snaps a bit, and the same with Jackson. Adding Hargrave allows them to be able to do that without missing a beat.

• At 27, the Eagles will have Hargrave until he is 30, and that is good news considering Jackson is 30 and Cox 29. Also, nobody knows how Jackson will return after missing all season when he suffered LisFranc injury in the season opener and had to have surgery.

• This was a rather under-the-radar move by general manager Howie Roseman after the weeks leading up to free agency were consumed with reports that the team would go all-in on Dallas free agent cornerback Byron Jones. Jones ended up in Miami and is earning $16.5 million per year for five years with $57 million guaranteed.

• Hargrave’s contract is steep, but, again, Roseman is always going to invest in defensive and offensive lines.