After the Philadelphia Eagles had to make up for several departures, they agreed on one-year contracts with two experienced defensive players. Linebacker Nicholas Morrow played for the Chicago Bears last season and started 17 games. He will be 28 this summer. Safety Justin Evans started four of the 15 games he played for the New Orleans Saints in 2022. He will be 28 years old in August. Our Eagles writers rate the supplements.
Berman: At this point in the free hand, Howie Roseman is looking for solid enough players in positions where he’s needed so he doesn’t go into the draft with a big hole in the depth chart. It worked with Kyzir White last season. At the same time, signing Anthony Harris didn’t work out. That is the nature of darts, although some are more invested in than others. The Eagles can hope Morrow fails like White. He brings starting experience (46 starts in his career, all 17 of them last season) and speed (4.52s on his pro day in 2017) to midfield. One of his better games last season was against the Eagles when he had 11 tackles (and one for a loss). This is his second consecutive one-year contract and it comes from his greatest season and production. He was a late bloomer from a small school that blossomed with the Raiders. Perhaps he can prove a strong addition in a defense with talent in front of him and the potential appearance of Nakobe Dean alongside him. Expectations should be kept in check, and Philadelphia has a dubious history of signing linebackers. Meanwhile, the Bears were clearly trying to upgrade Morrow (with a former Eagles linebacker). Still, this could be a dart throw that pays off.
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After the departures of CJ Gardner-Johnson and Isaac Seumalo, what’s next for the Eagles?
The Evans’ signing was a dart throw from even further afield. He’s a thoroughbred player (2017 second-round pick) who missed three seasons before returning to the Saints in 2022. To my knowledge, the Eagles aren’t safe, and Evans is profiling himself more as a deep signer who can contribute to special teams. This is not a replacement for CJ Gardner-Johnson or Marcus Epps. But he showed last year he can come back from injury and now the Eagles could be the beneficiaries with more time away from his lengthy absence.
Grade (on a scale of ice cream flavors): rum raisins. In that case, there are better options and you’re not going to the ice cream parlor specifically for rum raisins. But if the top flavors are sold out and this is what’s left, it could be just the ticket and just as good as you wanted it to be. But you must also be prepared to be disappointed.
Wulf: When allocating resources, you must come up short. Morrow was among the more capable linebackers not yet signed and will start alongside Dean, but there are no guarantees this will come to fruition. We all remember the experiences of Eric Wilson and Corey Nelson. As Zach wrote, the Bears’ eagerness to replace Morrow is probably telling, but he has more proven ability to start as a linebacker in the NFL than anyone on the list. A foot injury kept him out of the 2021 season entirely, but Morrow was otherwise long-lived, missing just two games in his other five seasons. Physically, Morrow is listed at 6 feet and 225 pounds, so he’s not exactly the pounding complement to Dean that one might expect. But compared to the other options available, it makes as much sense for a lottery ticket as any. One day the Eagles are going to hit the linebacker jackpot, right?
As for Evans, I think the most apt current comparison is probably Andrew Adams, who joined the Eagles after winning a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers, moonlit for a while with the starters during training camp, and finally during the was dismissed following recent cuts to the squad. Evans is on the list to keep the Eagles from reaching for a player in the draft and he won’t be sure of being on the list. But these are players worth cheering for and storylines worth pursuing. I’m still expecting the team to add another veteran security.
Grade (on a scale of ice cream flavors): Zach first suggested water ice flavors to celebrate the beginning of spring and then fielded NCAA tournament teams, but I’m pretty sure we’ve done that before. I’d say Morrow’s signature is low-fat mango or something like that. It’s not really what you expect from ice cream, but you’re trying to be aware of the bigger picture. The Evans Encore are frozen mint chocolate chips that will sit on the bottom of your freezer for a lot longer than you care to admit. It’s not what you want, but instead of other options, it’ll have to do.
(Photo by Nicholas Morrow: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)