The Eagles have signed linebacker Rashad Jeanty to a one-year contract. Jeanty, 6-2, 243, last played with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2009, where he accumulated 32 starts in four seasons as an outside linebacker. The 27-year-old's best season came in 2008 when he started 15 games, recorded a career-high 97 tackles and earned the team's Ed Block Courage Award.

Jeanty (pronounced JENN-tee) sat out the 2010 season while rehabbing from a fractured fibula suffered in the Bengals' playoff loss to the New York Jets. Jeanty suffered the injury on special teams, where he is a standout and led the Bengals with 14 tackles in 2009.

Jeanty began his professional career in the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Eskimos as a defensive end. Jeanty went undrafted in 2002 after a prroductive career at Central Florida, where he was a teammate of Eagles Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel.

Jeanty joins Jamar Chaney, Moise Fokou and Keenan Clayton as linebackers signed with the Eagles for the 2011 season. Stewart Bradley, Omar Gaither, Ernie Sims and Akeem Jordan are all scheduled to be free agents.

When Jeanty entered the 2010 offseason as a free agent, before he found out he needed ankle surgery, ProFootballFocus called Jeanty a "diamond in the rough."

"He didn't see much action in '09 before taking over for the injured Rey Maualuga, but he saw significant playing time in 2008 when he showed tremendous potential as a two-down backer," wrote Khaled Elsayed. "His work in run defense was excellent, as highlighted by a strong performance against Baltimore in Week 13 when he notched up nine tackles (eight of which were stops) and was a real sideline-to-sideline force. The drawback to Jeanty is his work in coverage, where he wasn't the first linebacker to be exposed by Peyton Manning ... If the Bengals don't retain Jeanty, he has the upside to start for a team and is at worst a guy who will provide good competition on the strong side."

*-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 11:16 a.m., February 20 *