Ryan Kerrigan adds proven depth to Eagles pass rush
A 10-year veteran and a member of the 2020 NFC East champions, Ryan Kerrigan joins a longtime division rival, the Eagles, who finished in the basement this past season.
He’s been a pretty reliable player since entering the league a decade ago. But the times were a changin’ in old D.C. and his future was no longer with the Washington Football Team. But edge rusher Ryan Kerrigan won’t be going far as the unrestricted free agent has latched on to the Philadelphia Eagles (via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport) courtesy of a one-year contract.
He started all 16 games in each of his first eight seasons but was limited to a dozen contests and starts in 2019. This past season, he once again did not miss a game. But he was in the opening just once as Ron Rivera’s club relied on recent first-round picks such as Chase Young and Montez Sweat to harass opposing quarterbacks.
The four-time Pro Bowler ends his stint with the club with 95.5 sacks and 26 forced fumbles. But he managed career lows in this area (5.5) in each of the past two seasons.
The former Purdue Boilermaker took to social media on Monday morning (via NFL.com’s Kevin Patra) to bid adieu to a loyal fan base as well as an organization that made him the 16th overall pick back in 2011.
"I’ll never be able to sum up what these past 10 years have meant to me in an Instagram post, but what I can say is that they have been some of the best of my life. I hope you had as much fun watching me as I did playing for you. Thank you, Washington, for everything."
And via ESPN’s John Keim, the 10-year pro isn’t looking to get back at a team that opted not to re-sign him this offseason. “No, not at all. I’m not like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to get revenge.’ Get revenge on Washington? The place has been so good to me. No, that wasn’t a thought at all.”
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As for the Eagles and new head coach Nick Sirianni, the team is looking to bounce back from a 4-11=1 showing as well as a year in which the team finished 19th in the league in total yards allowed (23rd in rushing) while giving up 47 offensive touchdowns. And despite coming up with 49 sacks (2 more than Washington), the Birds forced only 19 takeaways. Perhaps this is an area that Kerrigan can help with the most this fall.