While Derek Barnett has made 45 starts for the Philadelphia Eagles since entering the NFL as a first-round pick in the 2017 draft, he’s relatively low on the club’s pass-rushing depth chart. The Eagles have given Barnett and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, permission to find a trade partner before the league’s Tuesday cutdown deadline, as ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports.
Where are the best landing spots for Barnett? Let’s run through the top teams that could use another edge defender before Week 1.
Top Destinations for Eagles DE Derek Barnett
Barnett was a full-time starter for the Eagles until tearing his ACL in the first game of the 2022 season. He missed the entire year but wasn’t placed on an injured list to begin training camp and has been participating in the preseason.
Barnett inked a two-year extension before the 2022 campaign, but he agreed to a pay cut over the summer. Now, Barnett’s base salary — the only total an acquiring team would have to worry about — sits at just $1.125 million, per Over the Cap. Philadelphia would take on roughly $5 million in dead money over the next two years by trading Barnett.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars let Arden Key sign with the division-rival Tennessee Titans in free agency, and while they re-signed Dawuane Smoot, he’s still on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and is likely to remain there into the regular season. That would force Smoot to miss at least the first four games of the year.
Jacksonville still has Josh Allen, who led the club with 22 quarterback hits a year ago, and they’re hoping for a significant leap from Travon Walker, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft who projects to spend more time inside during his second NFL campaign.
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But the Jags need more help. They probably don’t want to rely on former first-rounder K’Lavon Chaisson, who hasn’t panned out through three seasons, while fifth-round rookie Yasir Abdullah might not be ready to contribute in his rookie year.
Enter Barnett, who could play a rotational role on the edge for Jacksonville. Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson held the same role in Philadelphia when the Eagles made the 14th overall selection in 2017, so there’s a level of familiarity there that could facilitate a trade.
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens made an extra addition to their pass-rushing unit earlier this month by agreeing to a one-year deal with Jadeveon Clowney, but Baltimore could still afford to add another option.
Even with Clowney in town, Baltimore doesn’t have enough reliable edge defenders. Clowney himself was disappointing with the Browns in 2022. Odafe Oweh is still developing his pass-rushing craft and has only eight sacks through two seasons. And David Ojabo played just 30 total snaps a year ago while working his way back from a torn Achilles.
Barnett isn’t a world-beater, but he’s an intelligent player with a high football IQ who should be able to pick up the Ravens’ scheme and contribute to a lacking pass-rush unit relatively early in his tenure.
Kansas City Chiefs
With Chris Jones holding out and Charles Omenihu suspended for the first six games of the year, the Chiefs are placing a lot of faith in George Karlaftis, Mike Danna, and rookie first-rounder Felix Anudike-Uzomah to create pressure up front.
Barnett could play the sort of veteran role that Melvin Ingram and Carlos Dunlap handled for Kansas City in recent seasons. He’d also be a much cheaper than a free agent addition — which is critically important for the Chiefs.
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Kansas City has just $750,000 in available cap space, second-least in the NFL. At the moment, they couldn’t even afford to bring in Barnett’s league-minimum salary.
Still, the Chiefs could make the money work by restructuring another veteran contract on their books (or working out an extension with Jones).