The Eagles have signed linebacker Zach Brown to a one-year deal, the team announced on Friday.
Brown has played 94 games in the NFL with 74 starts, and has shown he can play at a high level. Brown totaled 12 starts for the Washington Redskins last season, finishing with 96 tackles, one pass deflection and one sack. Brown dropped back into coverage 347 times last season, allowing 27 catches and 0 touchdowns, per Sports Info Solutions. He was also very strong against the run.
Signing Brown could allow the Eagles to move Nigel Bradham back to the outside, his natural position and the one he played when Jordan Hicks was still here. Or, if the Eagles keep Bradham in the middle, the Eagles could slide Brown to the outside. Either way, this move gives the Eagles plenty of flexibility at the linebacker spot.
The Eagles' need at linebacker has been overblown by many, as the team still has plenty of faith in Kamu Grugier-Hill and believe L.J. Fort can play a fairly significant role on the defense this season. Still, the Eagles' linebackers behind Bradham do lack experience, and that is one area where Brown will help.
While there will be competition in training camp at linebacker, it is possible that Bradham and Brown will be the top-two linebackers next season and the only two to see significant time on the field. Last season the Eagles had a whopping 500 different combinations of 11 players on defense during the regular season. That will happen when there are plenty of injuries in the secondary and you shuffle your defensive linemen in-and-out of the game. Of their top 10 combinations, six included two linebackers. None included three. In fact, you have to go all the way down to their 25th most common used lineup to find a group that included three linebackers.
So with Brown now on the roster, the top two linebackers on the roster might now be set.
Here three more takeaways from the signing:
*** Veteran: As mentioned above, Brown brings experience to the Eagles' linebacking room they didn't have before the move. As excited as the team might be about Grugier-Hill and Fort, both players are still a bit of a question mark -- although their ceilings might be higher. Brown gives the Eagles more of a sure-thing at linebacker and a player they can count on heading into next season.
*** Win-now: The decision to bring in Brown, 29-years old, is yet another win-now move by the Eagles. There aren't many players on the Eagles' roster that are there to be developed for the future -- tackle Andre Dillard might be the only one. Outside of that, the Eagles have spent all offseason bringing in players that can help them right now, even if they are on the older side. Brown makes the defense. The Eagles are all-in for 2019 and that is how they should approach this offseason, as the roster is good enough to compete for a Super Bowl.
*** Draft fallout: Considering the timing of the signing, this feels like a move that might signal the Eagles wanted to use one of their late-round picks on a linebacker, but it didn't happen. The Eagles weren't going to use one of their first three picks on a linebacker, but it is possible they could have used one of their final two on a player they felt could come in and give them something close to what Brown will. After not drafting a linebacker at all, however, ending up with Brown is far from a bad consolation prize.
You can follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
