Thumbs up or down: Eagles beat writers weigh in on the Joshua Uche signing

With Josh Sweat off to the Cardinals and Brandon Graham headed to retirement, edge rusher may be the position the Eagles have to address the most this offseason. Nolan Smith will start at one edge, but Sweat’s spot is likely still open. Maybe Bryce Huff gets a shot or Jalyx Hunt makes the jump in his sophomore season, but the Eagles probably don’t feel comfortable penciling either into the first team at this point. Joshua Uche doesn’t exactly project as a starter either. He has regressed since 2022 when he recorded a career-high 11½ sacks, and even then he was mostly a situational pass rusher.

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So the guess here is that the Eagles saw an opportunity to add passing-down depth with potential upside. (Azeez Ojulari, who signed a one-year, $4 million deal, is a better candidate to start.) Uche, meanwhile, signed a one-year contract for $1.92 million with $1.25 million guaranteed. If he ends up the third or fourth rotational guy who can give defensive coordinator Vic Fangio consistent snaps, then the minor gamble might pay off. But Uche’s stock really dropped based on his performance for the Patriots and Chiefs last season. In New England, his playing time decreased before he got dealt to Kansas City ahead of the trade deadline. The Chiefs were looking just for another edge rusher to add to their group, but after five games he was benched. It got so bad that in the meaningless season finale the Chiefs gave him a look-see at off-ball linebacker.

Maybe Fangio saw something from his limited snaps there and envisions moving him to inside linebacker like he did Zack Baun last year. But Uche had never played there previously. He’s also about 20 pounds heavier than Baun. I think he’s strictly an edge rusher. I just wonder if he still has the explosiveness he showed three years ago. His film from last season was very spotty. Uche is only 26, though. The Eagles may think he can recapture his form playing in Fangio’s scheme and for position coach Jeremiah Washburn. But I wouldn’t bank on it.

» READ MORE: Joshua Uche looks to fulfill his potential as an edge rusher with the Eagles

If this was publishing in the middle of the day Monday, it would be getting a thumbs down due to Uche’s regression.

Uche says he has a lot left in the tank — what else would a 26-year-old say? — but the recent results are a bit concerning if the Eagles were expecting Uche to be in the mix for a substantial amount of playing time.

The signing Monday of Ojulari, though, makes this move a little more sensible. Smith is a lock to start and play a lot of snaps at one edge, and Ojulari will compete with Hunt, Huff, and Uche for the second spot.

» READ MORE: Eagles film review: Azeez Ojulari has the upside to boost Birds’ edge-rusher rotation, but can he reach it?

Framed that way, sure, the Eagles have a guy making less than $2 million who has draft pedigree and is only two years removed from a season with nearly a dozen sacks in 15 games. But Uche was unimpressive after a deadline trade to Kansas City and didn’t see the field in the playoffs.

There is one stat that jumps out that makes it seem like this could work out in a big way: Uche, according to Pro Football Focus, has the sixth-best pressure rate (16.7%) among edge rushers since 2022. He has also played a lot more in coverage than Sweat (15% compared to 2.6%).

The Eagles might see some versatility and a player who could produce with a change of scenery under a different coaching staff. Declining performance certainly, but reason to think there could be upside. It’s a shrug for now.

On Monday, Uche expressed a sense of confidence that he can rediscover his 2022 form with a fresh start in Philadelphia. That season, he notched 11½ sacks in a span of eight weeks.

That seems like a lofty goal given the reality of Uche’s last two seasons. The 26-year-old combined for five sacks in 2023 and 2024, the latter of the two seasons split between the Patriots and the Chiefs. The Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX opponent traded for Uche, making him a healthy scratch for four regular-season games. He did not appear in the playoffs.

Uche will be motivated to get back to past form, as he is only on a one-year deal in Philadelphia. But if he doesn’t pan out for the Eagles, it isn’t a major concern, unlike their current situation with Huff. Uche is due $1.92 million in cash in 2025, with a cap hit of $1.32 million in 2024, according to Over the Cap.

Plus, there are other players in the room with higher ceilings poised for more prominent roles. Smith ascended in Year 2, and Hunt flashed in the second half of his rookie season. Ojulari, who signed with the Eagles on Monday, has more upside than Uche as a younger, more productive player in the league. It also seems highly likely that the Eagles will take an edge rusher early in the draft given the attrition at the position with the departure of Sweat to the Cardinals in free agency and the retirement of Graham.

If Uche is the fourth or fifth edge rusher in the rotation, the Eagles are in a decent spot. It’s yet another low-risk, potentially high-reward signing, just like many others Howie Roseman has made this offseason.

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It’s hard to know exactly what the Eagles are getting in Uche, which makes this signing a difficult one to evaluate.

On the spectrum of free-agent fliers, will Uche fall into the Zack Baun/Mekhi Becton category or more into the Terrell Edmunds/Greedy Williams camp? Uche’s past production, if you’re willing to go all the way back to his 2022 tape when he managed 11.5 sacks mostly thanks to a torrid six-week stretch with the Patriots, may give reason for hope. His 2024 season, which ended with him being inactive for the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX despite joining them midway through the year via trade, gives plenty of reason for concern.

The rationale behind the shrug is mostly because it’s not bad process for the Eagles to take some chances on the back half of an edge rusher rotation that needed rebuilding anyway. The further toward that back half the Eagles can place Uche, the better this signing will look, though. Agreeing to terms with Ojulari a few days after doing so with Uche has already eased the stakes riding on the 26-year-old finding his footing. If the team adds another edge rusher through the draft or via trade, Uche’s additions would suddenly look like good value rather than a question mark toward the top of the depth chart.

In short, I’d give this an “incomplete” grade until we see how the position shakes out. A rotation of Smith, Hunt, Huff, Ojulari and Uche wants for some every-down dependability, but as Roseman would likely point out, this team isn’t playing a game anytime soon.