Getty Ex-Seahawks WR Josh Gordon will make his XFL debut with the Seattle Sea Dragons.
Pro Bowl defensive tackle Javon Hargrave is set to hit free agency, with “significant interest” in his services expected around the league. The expectation is the 6-foot-2, 305-pounder could garner up to $20.1 million annually in 2023 if the Philadelphia Eagles let him hit the open market.
Hargrave will likely be high on general manager Howie Roseman’s wish list this offseason, but his purse strings might be extra tight with 19 unrestricted free agents on the roster. He could look to replace Hargrave with rookie Jordan Davis and pair him alongside Milton Williams. That’s assuming the Eagles let free agent Fletcher Cox leave town. Philadelphia also owns two first-round picks in April’s draft if they wanted to get younger at the position.
The possibilities are endless which is why a majority of analysts are predicting Hargrave in a different area code next season. ESPN’s Matt Bowen recently put together a list of “Best Fits” for the top 50 free agents in the NFL.
In it, he has Hargrave heading to the Seattle Seahawks as a way for them to upgrade a putrid pass rush. Bowen noted the Seahawks’ win rate on quarterback pressures was only 33.5% which ranked No. 28 in the league in 2022.
“Coach Pete Carroll and the Seahawks can upgrade the defensive front with Hargrave, adding a disruptive tackle with pass-rush juice,” Bowen wrote. “This past season, Hargrave notched 11 sacks and 37 tackles, and his pass rush win rate of 17.2% when lined up on the interior ranked third overall in the NFL.”
Eagles Search for New Defensive Coordinator Rolls On
The search for a new defensive coordinator in Philly is in full swing with two more candidates joining the fray: Jesse Minter (Michigan) and Chris Shula (Rams). They join a list that reportedly already includes Vance Joseph, Jim Leonhard, Sean Desai, along with in-house candidates Dennard Wilson and Tracy Rocker.
Minter took over as Jim Harbaugh’s defensive coordinator at Michigan in 2022. Prior to that, the 39-year-old served a stint at Vanderbilt as well as a four-year run on John Harbaugh’s staff with the Baltimore Ravens. He was named a 2022 Broyles Award Finalist as one of the top assistant coaches in the country, per the Detroit Free Press.
Shula is the grandson of Hall of Fame coach Don Shula and has connections to Nick Sirianni from their days on the Chargers staff. The 37-year-old has been an assistant under Sean McVay in Los Angeles since 2017 where he most recently served as Rams defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator.
Lane Johnson Officially Goes Under the Knife
Right tackle Lane Johnson had been playing with a torn abductor throughout the playoffs and played 202 offensive snaps on his injured groin during a three-game stretch that included Super Bowl LVII. His pain tolerance was remarkable, nothing short of heroic. With the season offically over, Johnson announced he was undergoing surgery to repair it via a tongue-in-cheek Twitter post on February 16. He is expected to be fully recovered by the time Eagles’ training camp rolls around in July.