The Eagles are signing veteran edge rusher Joshua Uche to a one-year deal, a league source confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report the agreement.
Uche, 26, was a second-round pick in 2020 out of Michigan and played the first four and a half years with the Patriots before being traded to the Chiefs for a sixth-round pick in October.
Uche has 20 1/2 career sacks and 34 quarterback hits in his five-year NFL career. His best season came in 2022, when he had 11 1/2 sacks with the Patriots.
After getting traded to the Chiefs in 2024, Uche barely played. He played just 87 defensive snaps in the regular season after the trade, 50 of which came in the regular season finale, and was inactive four times. Uche did not play for the Chiefs at all in the 2024 postseason and was inactive for Super Bowl LIX against the Eagles.
In his only career game against the Eagles in the 2023 season opener, Uche sacked Jalen Hurts. The Eagles got a close look at Uche during their joint practice against the Patriots in New England in August before the 2024 season. Uche was active and even got in a little scuffle that day.
In that impressive 2022 season, in addition to 11 1/2 sacks, Uche generated 49 pressures and had a career-best pressure rate of 18.5%. Even though his sack numbers dipped, Uche had a pressure rate of 15.3% in 2023 and was at 13.6% in New England last year before the trade to Kansas City. The Eagles will hope to get Uche back to playing at that level in Vic Fangio’s defense.
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Leading into free agency, ProFootballFocus identified Uche as an underrated free agent option:
“The Michigan product had a breakout season in 2022, when he earned an eighth-ranked 87.8 PFF pass-rushing grade (among 100 qualifying edge defenders that season) and recorded a second-ranked 21.1% pressure rate at the position.
“Even though Uche was a one-dimensional player who only contributed on pass plays, that made him a valuable piece who consistently manufactured pressure on third downs. But Uche’s career since then has taken a downturn, and even a mid-season trade to the Chiefs in 2024 didn’t help. Regardless, Uche is only 26 years old, and his previously displayed potential should encourage a team to bet on him.”
After losing Josh Sweat to the Cardinals in free agency earlier in the week, this is a move to bolster the Eagles’ edge rusher position. The Eagles also still have Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt and Bryce Huff on the roster. We’re still waiting to hear if Brandon Graham is going to retire or come back for one more season.
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