It’s a double pleasure to take from a division rival.
That’s not quite as catchy as Machiavelli’s take on deception but it does describe the joy of many Eagles fans watching Saquon Barkley’s historic 2,504 rushing yards en route to a Super Bowl LIX championship.
And the extra kick of realizing the pain that it caused for many fans of the New York Giants, a divisional rival who spent six years without unlocking Barkley’s true difference-making ability.
There will be no grand slam this time around, but Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman was able to lure away two more Giants this season who could contribute to the Eagles, and the GM did it for less than $5 million.
Veteran cornerback Adoree’ Jackson and fifth-year edge rusher Azeez Ojulari both made the short trip down the New Jersey Turnpike in free agency to join the Eagles.
As usual with Philadelphia, there was prior interest in both players. The Eagles tried to sign Jackson in free agency before the 2021 season, but the Southern California product felt more comfortable choosing the Giants, who had more Trojans connections at the time.
“We had an interest in him before,” Roseman confirmed to reporters at The Breakers in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Big money wasn’t needed to secure Jackson this time, and the Eagles got him on a one-year deal for $1.75 million to serve as depth and the insurance policy for third-year player Kelee Ringo.
“Really a guy that is still extremely fast, extremely twitched-up, has play-making ability, and I don’t think it’s a secret, probably still hasn’t really played his best ball yet,” Roseman said. “He’s played well, and feeling like similar to some of the guys maybe that we lost from a skill set [Daris Saly and Isaiah Rodgers], and trying to replace that, always looking for speed in cover corners.”
Ojulari, who signed for $3M, was of interest in the 2021 NFL draft, a year before the Eagles went on their Georgia run of defenders. He’s got a real opportunity to compete with fellow free-agent signing Josh Uche and second-year player Jalyx Hunt for a role in Vic Fangio’s edge-rushing rotation.
“It’s apparent we spent a lot of time scouting SEC players and certainly Georgia defensive players,” said Roseman. “So this is a guy that we felt like we were very familiar with from college, competing against him in the NFC East. It’s a position that we obviously lost a couple of guys [Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham] that are hugely important to our success, and as free agency went on. We felt like it was a good opportunity for both parties.”
Don’t expect another Barkley-level performance from the 2025 Giants arrivals but getting more out of Jackson and Ojulari than New York did at a discount price will be another double pleasure for Eagles fans.