Eagles’ Two 20-Sack Signings Signal Trouble For $51 Million Edge Rusher

The Philadelphia Eagles may have lost some key members of their recent Super Bowl-winning team in cornerback, Darius Slay; and defensive linemen, Milton Williams and Josh Sweat.

However, they are far from resigning themselves to having a diminished roster going forward in 2025.

The Eagles gave All-Pro linebacker, Zack Baun, a three year extension, whilst the team kept All-Pro tackle, Lane Johnson, under contract through 2027.

And they have not been shy about adding some under-the-radar rotational pieces this offseason, including trading for former first round pick, guard Kenyon Green, in addition to adding fellow ex first rounder, Adoree’ Jackson, from the NFC East rivals, the New York Giants.

Perhaps more intriguingly, they have made some key signings to bolster their already strong edge rusher group with the signings of former New England Patriot, Josh Uche and most recently, ex-Giant, Azeez Ojulari.

Source: Pass rusher Azeez Ojulari is signing with the #Eagles on a one-year, $4M deal.

Ojulari, who had 6.0 sacks last year, stays in NFC East with the Super Bowl champion. pic.twitter.com/pF0fqVZt4R

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) March 17, 2025

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Eagles Sign Josh Uche And Azeez Ojulari

Uche and Ojulari are in similar boats at this point in their respective careers; both have had excellent seasons and not-so-good seasons, portions of which have been de-railed by injury.

At his peak, Uche looked like he could be the future for the Patriots after an 11.5-sack 2022 season. Meanwhile, Ojulari bought about similar production in his 8-sack rookie season in Big Blue, yet sadly has not managed to surpass that total in his subsequent three years with the Giants.

Neither player is coming in as an established, bona fide starting-caliber outside linebacker. However, both follow the recurring Eagles theme of “reclamation projects” that general manager, Howie Roseman, has had so much success with in recent years.

Both have demonstrated, in fits and spurts, the ability to be high-level players, and as such it stands to reason that a high-level organization like Philly can feel confident enough to take a swing on them, and bring them to a place that is known for maximizing talent.

Bryce Huff Could Be The Odd Man Out In 2025

These moves could spell not-great news for Eagles pass rusher, Bryce Huff; who despite signing a 3 year, $51 million contract with Philadelphia last offseason, managed just 2.5 sacks in 2024.

Despite his lofty price tag, Huff never managed to crack into the team’s starting lineup – despite the Eagles having no singular elite rusher off the edge in their 3-4 base defense.

He managed the fifth most snaps at the position over the course of the season, including being a healthy scratch in Super Bowl LIX.

A rare miss for Roseman, who has an almost immaculate track record in free agency over the last decade plus, Huff carries a dead cap hit of over $29 million hit were he to be cut this offseason – nearly $22 million more than his cap hit of around $7.5 million.

However, this would accelerate Huff’s void years in 2027-2030 into a dead cap hit in 2025 – perhaps a counter-intuitively intelligent move given the Eagles’ surprisingly large amount of cap space this season.

Irregardless, these two new signings do not seem to hint at Huff being a large part of the team’s plans moving forward, even if he does remain on the roster through 2025.