The state of the Eagles defensive line after acquiring Seahawks DE Michael Bennett
7 March 2018 Eagles News
A blockbuster in the NFL just happened and yet again, the Philadelphia Eagles are involved. The Eagles traded wide receiver Marcus Johnson and a 5th round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for defensive end Michael Bennett and a 7th round pick. No one saw this move coming and for the Eagles, they added an all-pro pass rusher to their already scary defensive line. Here is how this move will shack up the unit.
Let’s first address the elephant in the room, the Eagles are likely to release or trade defensive end Vinny Curry now and this move might happen sooner rather than later. He was already expected to be a casualty and now with Bennett, it is a lock, he will be gone.
With all that being said, the Eagles are going to be tied up with Bennett for a while. He is contracted until 2020, but his cap hit is not too high. But, with the price, you get production. Bennett had 8.5 sacks last season and for the last six season, he is averaging eight sacks a year. He has done one thing very well during that stretch in his career and that’s getting to the quarterback and causing havoc.
Bennett can play on both the end and on the inside, so expect the Eagles to move him around a lot. Being that he turns 33 this year, the Eagles might not start him over Derek Barnett, so just imagine being able to have a player of Bennett’s caliber substitute in, now that is a scary thought. Regardless, the Eagles depth on the defensive line is what makes their defense very good and replacing Curry with an all-pro will send a big message to the rest of the league, the Eagles want to repeat.
The Eagles can line up in a couple of different ways.
LE DT DT RE
Brandon Graham Fletcher Cox Timmy Jernigan Michael Bennett
Chris Long Elijah Qualls Destiny Vaeao Derek Barnett
Like forth noted, we do not know who will start Bennett or Barnett just yet, but, regardless look at the depth. The Eagles can also use Brandon Graham and Bennett on the inside and move Fletcher Cox around too. This line is not going to be one to mess with.
Photo Credit: AP
Ryan Neal Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Fletcher Cox, Michael Bennett, Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, Vinny Curry