The Eagles brought a familiar face back into the locker room Monday when they signed defensive end Vinny Curry to a one-year deal.
Originally drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft, the Neptune, New Jersey native has spent all but one season of his career in Philadelphia.
After spending the one season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Curry returned to the Eagles in 2019 and recorded five sacks while playing in all 16 regular season games.
He joins a defensive end rotation that features starters Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett, as well as Genard Avery, Josh Sweat, Shareef Miller, Joe Ostman, and Casey Toohill.
What does the move mean?
• Curry provides the Eagles inside and outside flexibility with the ability to line up at both end and tackle.
• Outside of Fletcher Cox, the top five defensive linemen in terms of snaps played in 2019 were all ends. Curry is insurance which allows the Eagles to spread out the reps to potentially give starters Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett more rest.
• According to Pro Football Focus, Curry generated pressure at a rate of 16.9 percent of his snaps, tied for fourth best in the league, in 2019.
• The Eagles would still love to see Josh Sweat continue to develop. Sweat was productive as the fourth end in 2019 with four sacks and 29 QB pressures and hits in 34 percent of the snaps. Same goes for Genard Avery, who was acquired in the middle of the 2019 season, but only played 33 snaps on defense.
• Who will be impacted at the bottom of the depth chart? Is this a situation where the lack of an offseason will hurt someone like second-year defensive end Shareef Miller or Joe Ostman coming back from an injury or rookie seventh-round pick Casey Toohill?
More notes on Curry
• Posted five sacks and 34 QB pressures and hits, while playing 38 percent of the snaps in 2019.
• The five sacks marked the second-highest total of his career.
• Curry played in all 17 regular-season and playoff games in 2019.
• As an Eagle, Curry has accounted for 27 sacks and 32.5 tackles for loss.
• He has played in exactly 100 regular-season games as an Eagle, with 18 starts.
• In 2017, Curry was a full-time starter for the first year of his career. He responded with career highs in tackles (48), tackles for loss (13), and QB pressures and hits (41).
