He split time with another Eagles free agent Cedric Thornton, who appears will likely become an unrestricted free agent this spring.
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The five-year deal will pay Curry $47.25 million through 2020, CSNPhilly.com reported, citing an unidentified league source.
Philadelphia Eagles DE Vinny Curry stands over New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning after an intentional grounding. The problem is that he’s a natural 4-3 defensive end forced to play in Chip Kelly’s 3-4 scheme the last couple of years. If the salary cap goes up to $153 million, as most project, that gives the Eagles a 2016 cap number of $160 million. The former Lions head coach will implement a 4-3 front that features aggressive pass-rushing techniques for his linemen, and in his last three seasons as a defensive coordinator – in 2014 with the Buffalo Bills and 2008 and 2007 with the Tennessee Titans – his teams ranked first, fifth and seventh in sacks, respectively.
The Eagles later confirmed the deal. The pass rusher struggled with his outside linebacker responsibilities so he ended up being a situational pass rusher this year.
The Eagles scheduled a press conference for Wednesday at noon.
“We obviously want Fletcher Cox here, he’s a tremendous player, a tremendous person”, Roseman said.
Yet the decision to throw all that money at him was a no-brainer, according to executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman.
Already brought onto stage for bows, whistles, hoots and hollers in recent were Brent Celek, Zach Ertz and Lane Johnson. He will be able to come off the corner on the right side most of the time and put pressure on the quarterback. If you let a guy like that go, how are you replacing him? “It’s hard to find”. But he was a below average pass rusher his entire career before even making the switch to the 3-4.
If playing in the Linc was so vital to Ertz’s existential contentment, the Eagles should have charged him to get in, made him snake through metal detectors, insisted he buy a license. “Obviously, there’s a limitation to how much you can do, the totality of it, but we do have room and we do still have flexibility”.
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“I’m pretty sure they’ll get that done”, Curry said. “That doesn’t mean there won’t be opportunities in free agency or in the trade market”.
