Joshua Uche looks to fulfill his potential as an edge rusher with the Eagles

For the past two seasons, Joshua Uche has considered the Eagles an opponent so common he might as well have been playing for a division rival.

As a member of the New England Patriots, Uche opened the 2023 season with a loss to the Eagles, registering a sack on Jalen Hurts. The following year, the outside linebacker played against the Eagles in what he described as a “gritty” training camp joint practice and an ensuing preseason game in Foxborough, Mass.

Most recently, Uche faced the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, the team that acquired him at the trade deadline. Uche was inactive for the Super Bowl, but he still prepared to face the Eagles in the lead-up that week.

“Yeah, I know them pretty well,” Uche said Monday with a smile.

Uche is about to get even more familiar with the team. The 26-year-old pass rusher signed a one-year, $1.92 million contract with the Eagles in free agency on Thursday, the second day of the new league year.

The Eagles weren’t the only team that courted Uche. He said there were a couple of other teams interested in signing him, but Uche noted that the Eagles were the “most passionate” among his suitors. The interest was mutual. He called the Eagles the “best fit” based on the potential he would have to make an impact.

“I view it as an opportunity to compete and help bolster a team that’s already had so much success,” Uche said. “To play for a coach like Coach [Nick] Sirianni and Coach [Vic] Fangio is an honor. Two great coaches in their own respects. Just getting an opportunity to continue to play this game and fulfill my potential.”

Uche has been striving to replicate the potential he displayed during the 2022 season, his most productive year in the league since the Patriots drafted him in the second round (No. 60 overall) in 2020 out of Michigan.

That season, the 6-foot-1, 240-pound outside linebacker racked up a career-best 11½ sacks in a span of eight weeks. Even though Uche hasn’t sniffed that number since, combining for five sacks in the last two seasons, he expressed a sense of confidence that he can get back to that level of production.

“Being 26 years old, I’ve got a lot left in the tank, man,” Uche said. “It just comes down to opportunity and getting on the field. Doing my job. Whenever I’m on the field, I’ve been effective. I’ve been efficient. So it’s all about getting on the field and doing my job.”

His confidence is rooted in his approach to the game. Before that eight-week tear in 2022, Uche said he was getting pressures, but he wasn’t taking the quarterback down. He stayed patient, a mentality that he has continued to harness throughout his career.

“The sacks weren’t falling, but you just continue to swing and eventually, they come in bunches,” Uche said. “So continuing to do your job even though you’re not getting the results you want. You can’t be a selfish player in this game. You’ve got to do your job and the stars will align and eventually, your time will come.”

All Uche has wanted since last year’s trade deadline was an opportunity. He didn’t find one in Kansas City, where he was inactive for four games and played just 22% of the snaps during the six regular-season games in which he was active. He did not appear in the playoffs.

Uche said he wasn’t “too sure from a schematic standpoint or a personnel standpoint where there was a disconnect,” but he didn’t get on the field much even though he did “whatever was asked” of him to help the Chiefs win.

Now, he could earn an opportunity as a situational contributor with the Eagles. Uche is joining an edge-rusher corps that has become increasingly young following the departure of Josh Sweat in free agency for the Arizona Cardinals and the undecided future of Brandon Graham, an unrestricted free agent.

He isn’t the only one. Three-and-a-half hours after Uche’s introductory press conference, the Eagles agreed to terms with Azeez Ojulari on a one-year deal worth up to $4 million, according to ESPN. Ojulari, 24, joins the Eagles after spending all four years of his NFL career to date with the New York Giants, the team that drafted him in the second round, No. 50 overall in the 2021 draft out of Georgia.

With Ojulari now in the mix, the average age of the Eagles edge rushers corps is just 25 years old. Uche is the second oldest of the group behind Bryce Huff, who will turn 27 next month.

The two youngest are Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt, the 24-year-old edge rushers who ascended throughout the 2024 season. Uche said he watched both of them in the Super Bowl, noting that they play with “reckless abandonment” just like he does.

“Obviously they’re coached up very well by Coach Wash [Jeremiah Washburn] and Coach Fangio,” Uche said. “That’s what you want to see, man. I saw it up close and personal being at the Super Bowl and I’m just excited to be a part of this group.”

» READ MORE: Joshua Uche wanted to ‘follow in his footsteps.’ Now, he might be Brandon Graham’s replacement.

Uche is familiar with Graham, too, as both edge rushers played for Michigan. Even though Uche is more than 10 years younger than Graham, they have become acquainted with each other from their interactions at Michigan’s pro day and their jersey swap after the 2023 season opener. Graham is a free agent, but Uche still reached out to him before signing with the Eagles through a direct message on Instagram.

“I told him that I’m going to be leaning on him for some questions or whatever I might have going on,” Uche said. “So he’s a legend, man. It’s just an honor to be here.”

Uche flashed his potential earlier in his career. With a full offseason of organized team activities and training camp ahead, a luxury he didn’t have in Kansas City, he eyes an opportunity with the Eagles to prove that it wasn’t a one-off.

“It’ll be beneficial,” Uche said. “To be able to get the playbook under your belt. Build that muscle memory. Build that camaraderie with your teammates. Get used to the environment around you. The locker room. The coaches. Everything.

“I think that’s going to play a major factor for me, personally. I look forward to it.”