Philadelphia Eagles, Derek Barnett Both Needed to Turn The Page
PHILADELPHIA - The Derek Barnett era is over for the Philadelphia Eagles, who officially released the seventh-year veteran on Friday.
The No. 14 overall pick in the 2017 draft, Barnett, now 27, arrived in Philadelphia with high hopes and massive expectations with then-Eagles VP of player personnel Joe Douglas comparing his pass-rushing skills to Terrell Suggs after the Volunteer State native shattered Reggie White’s sack records at Tennessee.
Once getting a look at Barnett, All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson compared the rusher’s ability to bend around the edge to Von Miller.
None of that talk ever really panned out, however.
Barnett’s career did begin in a promising fashion as a rotational end on the 2017 Super Bowl team.
He finished his rookie season with five sacks, 16 quarterback hits, and 36 QB pressures and added a sack, two QB hits, and nine QB pressures in the playoffs, capping that with a fumble recovery on the Brandon Graham strip sack of Tom Brady that essentially sealed the first and only Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.
By Year 2, Barnett became a starter, although he was limited to just six games due to season-ending shoulder surgery. He returned in 2019 and finished with a career-high 6.5 sacks and remained a starter through the 2021 season.
Derek Barnett in happier days.
Ed Kracz/SI.com Eagles Today
Howie Roseman surprisingly re-signed Barnett to a two-year, $14 million contract before the 2022 season for a new role, as the fourth rotational end behind the star-studded trio of Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham. That plan had to be paused because Barnett tore his ACL in Week 1 at Detroit.
This season Barnett settled into the role on a restructured deal for $3.5M guaranteed but was ineffective, managing just three tackles and one QB pressure in eight games while playing in 99 snaps, just over 12 per game.
He was a healthy scratch for the first time against Dallas on Nov. 5 and after the bye week Barnett missed practice time and the game at Kansas City due to “personal reasons.”
The last time Barnett was seen at the NovaCare Complex was Nov. 17 when he entered the back of the NovaCare Complex auditorium during a coordinators press session. He was spotted bouncing a basketball and rolling it down the aisle before exiting.
An NFL source confirmed that Barnett hoped to be traded at the deadline and ultimately wanted to be released once he was benched.
To the fan base, Barnett was an undisciplined hothead with more penalties than sacks (26 accepted penalties and 29 overall vs. 21.5 sacks), a reputation that cost the team “every week, ” an easily disproven thesis given too much heft by coach Nick Sirianni’s ironically undisciplined reaction to an offsides penalty during his third game as a rookie head coach.
The moment Sirianni mouthed “It’s always him” on national television, Barnett’s story changed to outsiders even though the organization continued to value him as a player.
Ultimately, Barnett became a whipping boy and grew more distant over the years, morphing from an optimistic and engaging young player into an introverted veteran who shied away from any attention and was uncomfortable in the spotlight.
Through it all, though, the organization valued Barnett and even issued a statement after his release, a rare occurrence.
“The Eagles organization would like to thank Derek for his contributions to this team over the last seven seasons,” the statement said. “As a rookie, Derek made one of the most memorable plays in our Super Bowl victory over the Patriots. He has been a great teammate who always played with high energy and effort. We wish Derek nothing but the best.”
In what is a bottom-line business everyone has a shelf life and the negativity surrounding Barnett demanded a fresh start from both sides.
The ending shouldn’t change the story, though.
“He is a very genuine warm person,” his position coach Jeremiah Washburn said over the summer. “... Everybody in the building loves him just because he's very authentic.
"He's a wonderful person."
One who needed a second chance in a new environment.
