Eagles Predicted to Release ‘High End’ Free Agent Edge Rusher

In one of the few instances of the Philadelphia Eagles making an inarguably bad personnel move in recent years, trying to make a big splash with a free agent edge rusher before the 2024 season backfired after they signed Bryce Huff to a 3-year, $51.1 million contract.

For most teams, putting so much money into one player and having them become an out and out bust would have been a death sentence for their defense.

For the Eagles, it ended with a Super Bowl win as Huff watched from the sidelines most of the year as fellow edge rusher Josh Sweat not only led the team in sacks but was at his best in the postseason.

With Sweat now gone to the Arizona Cardinals on a 4-year, $76.4 million free agent contract and Huff mercifully traded to the San Francisco 49ers in the offseason, the Eagles seem to be taking a “by committee” approach at edge rusher.

That approach has already revealed the Eagles could have a tremendous amount of depth at the position — enough that Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport predicts they could very well cut a player who was supposed to make a big impact this season in free agent Azeez Ojulari.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this for Azeez Ojulari in Philadelphia,” Davenport wrote on August 15. “Over his four seasons with the New York Giants, he showed high-end per-snap production, including six sacks in less than 400 snaps last year. Durability was an issue, but if he could just stay healthy, he was headed for a career season in Philadelphia’s new-look defensive front. But things haven’t gone according to plan for Ojulari in the City of Brotherly Love.”

The Eagles signed Ojulari to a 1-year, $3 million contract on March 17 but he’s currently the fourth option at edge rusher behind Nolan Smith Jr., Josh Uche and Jalyx Hunt. That means there’s probably not enough snaps to go around for Ojulari to get any meaningful playing time.

Ojulari Seemed Like Smart Move in Free Agency

Signing Ojulari seemed like a pretty smart move by general manager Howie Roseman at the time, although training camp has revealed he may have lost a step — likely the result of injuries.

From ESPN on March 17: “Free agent pass rusher Azeez Ojulari is signing with the Philadelphia Eagles on a one-year, $4 million deal, a source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Monday. Ojulari had six sacks last season for the New York Giants in 11 games … Ojulari was a second-round pick of the Giants out of the University of Georgia in the 2021 NFL draft. He had eight sacks in 17 games during a promising rookie year but has struggled to stay healthy ever since.”

Injury Issues Take Toll On Ojuari’s Career

There was a point where Ojulari seemed on a path to possibly landing his own massive NFL payday in the near future. The injuries took care of that.

Ojulari played in 17 games as a rookie with 13 starts and 8.0 sacks — the only season of his pro career he’s played in every game. Since then, he’s been a study in unavailability by missing 22 games over the last 3 seasons, although Ojulari has 22.0 career sacks and 37 QB hits in 46 career games.