Thumbs up or down: Eagles beat writers weigh in on the Azeez Ojulari signing

Azeez Ojulari seemed an obvious target for the Eagles before free agency. Here was an edge rusher who consistently pressured quarterbacks in his first four seasons and had yet to turn 25. He had struggled to stay on the field in the last three years, however, and would likely have to sign a “prove-it” contract as a result. Howie Roseman has often tried to take advantage of depressed markets for players coming off injuries. And the Eagles clearly needed to address the edge rusher position with Josh Sweat’s departure for the Cardinals, Brandon Graham’s retirement, and Bryce Huff’s struggles.

Joshua Uche was signed first out of the gate, but it took about a week into free agency for Ojulari to sign a one-year, $4 million contract. He must have been holding out for more, but came to the realization that missing 22 games over the last three years was going to scare off a bunch of teams. This is an addition with more potential upside than Uche. Ojulari has been productive when active. He had 22 sacks and 37 quarterback hits in 46 games over his first four seasons. Five of those sacks came against the Eagles, although they highlighted his motor more than any moves that beat tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata. Ojulari has beaten his share of quality offensive linemen. But consistency has been an issue.

He’s not especially big at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds, but he has a long wingspan and can win with his hands. He could be more explosive off the snap, but assistant Jeremiah Washburn may be able to get more from him considering his decent athleticism. Ojulari’s going to have to do more than just rush, of course, especially if he’s to compete for a starting spot. He doesn’t overly impress as a run defender. He sometimes struggles to wrap up. But he can set the edge and should be able to transition into Vic Fangio’s five- and four-man fronts vs. the run. Of course, the same was projected by many for Huff a year ago, but he rarely lined up in a two-point stance with the New York Jets. There’s plenty of film of Ojulari standing up with the New York Giants and it shows that he can rush, run defend and drop into coverage from that stance. Was he great at the latter two disciplines? Not quite. But there’s plenty to work with there.

Ojulari should assimilate into the locker room quite easily. He’s now the seventh former Georgia Bulldog on the roster and said he has a close relationship with fellow Bulldog alum/outside linebacker Nolan Smith. He’ll also have a couple more familiar faces in former Giants teammates in Saquon Barkley and recently-signed cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. Ojulari’s long list of injuries is concerning — calf, ankle, quad, hamstring, and toe are at least the ones documented. But he hasn’t had what could be described as a “major” setback since playing in all 17 games as a rookie. And the Eagles, again, aren’t committing a lot of money to him. I still feel like Roseman has another edge rusher up his sleeve, one who may have a better shot of starting opposite Smith. But Ojulari will be in the mix and should have extra motivation on a one-year deal.

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What if the Eagles could replace Sweat’s production with a player making a fraction of what Sweat’s contract is worth?

That’s the allure of Ojulari, who pressures the quarterback at a similar rate that Sweat does (10.9% career pressure rate for Sweat, 10.3% for Ojulari). The problem with getting your hopes up for Ojulari is that it’s hard to get to the opposing quarterback when you’re inactive due to injury, which Ojulari has frequently been.

But there’s a lot to like about signing a player to a one-year, $4 million deal when there’s this kind of upside. Will Ojulari be as good as Sweat was in 2024? Probably not. Is it possible? Sure. Still, there will be a competition to start opposite Smith on the edge. Ojulari will have plenty of opportunity to win the battle in a group that includes Jalyx Hunt, Huff, and Uche. You might even make him the favorite.

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The market value for Ojulari based on his production was more than $7.5 million per year, according to Spotrac. That puts him in the category of being a potential steal, which would be critical for an Eagles team that needed to do a lot of work to shore up its edge room with Sweat on the move and Huff not living up to his contract.

There are a lot of ifs with Ojulari, but he’s the type of player that’s worth taking a chance on. It could pay off for the Eagles, and for Ojulari next offseason, when he’ll still be 25 going on 26.

The addition of Ojulari made so much sense that I named him as a fit for the Eagles ahead of free agency, which says less about my foresight and more about how blatantly clear-cut of a match the 24-year-old edge rusher was for the team.

This free agency has been characterized by the Eagles buying low on players with upside, unlike their signings of Barkley, Huff, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson last offseason. Ojulari fits the new mold. He has dealt with a number of injuries throughout his young career, only staying healthy for all 17 games in his rookie year. He has averaged less than 10 games per season in his last three years.

As a result, Ojulari lingered on the market until the sixth day of the new league year. But when he is healthy, Ojulari has shown why he was a second-round pick. In his rookie season, he ranked second among rookie edge rushers in sacks (8.5) and third in hurries (27), according to Pro Football Focus. Even last year, in just 11 games (five starts), Ojulari collected six sacks on just 189 pass-rush snaps. Only Aidan Hutchinson was more productive (7.5 sacks) with fewer pass-rush snaps (180).

Given his injury history, Ojulari makes more sense as a pass-rush specialist than an every-down edge rusher. It’s still a little unclear who the Eagles view as every-down options aside from Smith, who played 52% of the defensive snaps, trailing Sweat by roughly 7%. Uche also has the potential to become a situational edge rusher. Huff’s role on the Eagles is tenuous at best. Perhaps the Eagles view Hunt as being capable of taking a Nolan Smith-type leap in Year 2.

Signing Ojulari to a cost-effective one-year, $4 million deal makes as much sense for the Eagles as it does for the player. If Ojulari has a strong season in Philadelphia and proves he can stay healthy, he has the potential to reset his market and earn a lucrative, long-term deal this time next year. Aside from retaining Zack Baun, this is the early candidate for the best Eagles signing of the offseason.

I included Ojulari as one of the five defensive free agents who made sense for the Eagles going into free agency, although I predicted his market would have been more competitive than it turned out to be. The optimistic view would be the Eagles signed a player who should fit very well into their edge rusher rotation at a discounted price. The pessimistic view would be wondering why the league was so cold on Ojulari to begin with.

It could just come down to injuries; Ojulari last played a full 17-game season as a rookie in 2021 due to a litany of lower-body injuries. When he’s played, though, he’s been productive and shown some of the physical traits that made him a second-round pick in the first place. Ojulari is quick off the ball and around the edge and has even showcased an arsenal of pass-rush moves at his disposal, logging six sacks in 11 games last season. If he can stay on the field, that should bolster the Eagles’ defensive line with a player already familiar with the cornerstones of the group from their shared time back at Georgia.

There’s also a reasonable chance that Ojulari develops into a starting-caliber rusher with the Eagles. He’s 24 and hasn’t played many games due to the injuries, so there should be plenty of upside left to untap there, especially with him playing on a one-year, prove-it deal. It’s the same type of situation Baun and Mekhi Becton found themselves in last season, although it’s important to temper expectations some and point out Baun is a free-agency outlier that will not be so easily recreated.

Even with fully tempered expectations, this signing makes sense. Had the Eagles signed Ojulari to a multi-year contract with plenty of guaranteed money, the injury history would have loomed much larger than it does with him on a one-year, $4 million contract. Of the free-agency fliers Roseman has taken this offseason, Ojulari feels like the one with the most upside.