March 02, 2015
The Eagles signed former Packers ILB Brad Jones today to a two-year contract. He was a seventh round pick of the Packers in 2009. Jones began the 2014 season in Green Bay as a starter at ILB, but after he had a "poor performance" in the Packers' season opener against Seattle, he didn't start another game and got just 141 snaps the rest of the regular season, according to Pro Football Focus. The Packers released Jones, who turns 29 in April, on February 20th.
A season ago, the Eagles lost starting ILB DeMeco Ryans and their first ILB off the bench, Najee Goode, to season ending injuries. As a result, their lack of quality depth at the position was exposed. Jones has played in 76 games in his career, and has started 36. He has 10 career sacks, no INTs, and just two forced fumbles.
It's too early to call this move a replacement for DeMeco Ryans, who is a salary cap casualty candidate that we identified a few weeks ago:
DeMeco Ryans, ILB: $6.9 million cap figure in 2015, savings of $6.9 million if cut.
The Eagles are severely lacking for ILB depth, so they need DeMeco Ryans and will likely play "wait and see" with him. If Ryans can come back from his torn Achilles and be something close to the player he was in 2014, then overpaying him a bit is a necessary evil. However, when the Eagles get to training camp, if they determine that his Achilles causing him to decline further, he could be a player the Eagles cut to make room for their 2016 free agents, which could be a costly bunch.
Jones' signing is more likely a move to add depth to the ILB position, as opposed to a starting-caliber replacement for Ryans.
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