Derek Barnett Is Claimed After The Eagles Waive Him Last Week

Former Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett will continue his NFL career with an up-and-coming AFC team for the remainder of 2023.

After the Eagles waived the former first-round pick late last week, Barnett was claimed by the Houston Texans, ESPN and NFL Network reported.

Barnett, the No. 14 pick in the 2017 draft, is just 27 years old. But his time in Philly is up after being inactive for the last two games. It was clear Barnett wasn’t happy with his role in the Eagles’ defensive end rotation.

He will join a Houston Texans team that is 6-5 and fighting for a playoff spot in DeMeco Ryans’ first year as head coach and CJ Stroud’s rookie season. The Texans’ defensive coordinator is Matt Burke, who spent 2019 and 2020 with the Eagles.

The Eagles released the following statement following Barnett’s release last week:

“The Eagles organization would like to thank Derek for his contributions to this team over the past seven seasons. As a rookie, Derek made one of the most memorable plays in our Super Bowl victory over the Patriots. He was always a great teammate.” played with a lot of energy and commitment. We wish Derek nothing but the best.”

This statement was worth mentioning as most players won’t receive one upon release. It underscores the disconnect between what many fans thought of Barnett during his seven seasons with the franchise and what the team thought of him.

Barnett had just 21 1/2 sacks in 73 career games with the Eagles, but was actually productive early in his career. Barnett had 5.0 sacks as a rookie and had a strong run in the postseason with a strip sack in the NFC Championship Game and the recovery of Brandon Graham’s huge strip sack in Super Bowl LII.

Even in the 2020 season, Barnett was somewhat productive and showed promise as a rotation player. But then he only had two sacks in 2021 and the Eagles still decided to bring him back on a two-year deal as a rotation player. Barnett lasted just one game in 2022 before suffering a torn ACL and was buried on the depth chart in 2023.

But Barnett didn’t make much use of his limited opportunities either. In eight games and 99 snaps in 2023, Barnett failed to record a sack or a quarterback hit.

Without Barnett, the Eagles’ edge rusher rotation is slightly shorter. Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat are the starters and play the majority of the snaps. After that, 35-year-old Brandon Graham steps in and rookie Nolan Smith plays limited snaps. The only other edge rusher on the active roster is Patrick Johnson.

Through 12 weeks, Sweat has played 77% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps and Reddick has played 76%.