The Eagles are exercising the fifth-year option on defensive end Derek Barnett’s contract, an NFL source said.
The move was expected. Most teams pick up the option on their first-round draft picks, unless they are obvious busts. The Eagles exercised the options on their previous two first-rounders — receiver Nelson Agholor and quarterback Carson Wentz — in 2018 and 2019.
Barnett hasn’t been a slam dunk since the Eagles drafted him No. 14 overall in 2017. He had a promising rookie season, recording five sacks, including a strip sack in the NFC championship game. He also recovered the game-clinching fumble that Brandon Graham caused after he sacked Tom Brady in the Super Bowl.
He had an injury-marred 2018, though. First, there was core muscle surgery in February after the Super Bowl. Then he suffered a torn rotator cuff that ended his season after only six games.
Barnett missed two games last season to injury, and finished the year with 6½ sacks, 10 tackles for losses, and 22 quarterback hits.
Penalties have been a problem for him in his short career. He had 10 last season, including the playoffs, four of which were personal fouls.
Barnett is only 23, and Graham, his counterpart at end, is 32. The Eagles have some younger ends — Josh Sweat (23), Genard Avery (24), Daeshon Hall (24), and Shareef Miller (23) — but none projects as a starter. The Eagles also drafted Stanford end Casey Toohill.
Barnett, who is slated to earn $2,217,408 this season, will see his base salary exponentially increase in his fifth season. Players drafted in spots 11-32 receive the average of the third-highest-paid player to 25th-highest- paid player at their position in the fourth year of their contracts.
Last year, the cost for a defensive end in Barnett’s range was $9.451 million. The fifth-year salary doesn’t become fully guaranteed until the first day of the new league year, unless the player suffers an injury in his fourth year, in which case it would become fully guaranteed.
The deadline for exercising the fifth-year options on 2017 first-rounders is May 5.
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