Eagles add a couple veteran linebackers with starting experience
Eagles add a couple veteran linebackers with starting experience originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles have finally added some more help at linebacker, agreeing to terms with veterans Myles Jack and Zach Cunningham on Sunday.
Before this move, the Eagles were down to just five off-ball linebackers on the roster and one of them was injured.
Linebacker was an obvious weakness for the Eagles in training camp this summer through six practices and they’ve finally addressed it.
Jack, 27, was a second-round pick out of UCLA back in 2016 and has been in the NFL for seven seasons with 103 games and 95 starts under his belt. Jack has had 100+ tackles in four of his seven NFL seasons.
Jack began his career with the Jaguars, spending six seasons in Jacksonville before playing the 2022 season with the Steelers. In 2022, Jack played in 15 games with 13 starts and had 104 tackles. He ranked 65th out of 81 linebackers last season, according to ProFootballFocus.
Cunningham, 28, was a second-round pick in the 2017 draft and also has extensive starting experience. In his career, Cunningham has played in 82 games with 76 starts.
Cunningham began his career with the Houston Texans, spending the first 4 1/2 seasons with them. He was released by the Texans during the 2021 season and was claimed by the Titans. They released him in February. Last season, Cunningham played in just six games.
In his career, Cunningham has had at least 100 tackles in three of his seasons and had 164 tackles in 2020.
We’ll have to see how these new pieces fit into Sean Desai’s defense but they should be fighting for starting gigs. The Eagles practice Sunday night at the Linc but will have three straight days of practices during the week, Tuesday-Thursday at the NovaCare Complex.
The Eagles had been using Nakobe Dean and mostly some combination of Nicholas Morrow and Christian Elliss at linebacker. Dean is day-to-day with an ankle injury.
