Eagles sign linebacker off Saints practice squad ahead of New Orleans game

The Philadelphia Eagles officially signed linebacker Joe Bachie off the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad on Monday evening.

Now the Eagles have inside insight on the Saints ahead of this Sunday’s game. Boom! Easy win upcoming.

Bachie, 22, originally signed with the Saints as a rookie free agent following the 2020 NFL Draft. He had a productive college career at Michigan State with 285 total tackles, seven sacks, five interceptions, and four forced fumbles.

Bachie is on the smaller side at 6’1”, 230 pounds but he posted good testing numbers.

College highlights:

More background on Bachie via this Canal Street Chronicles profile:

I think a lot of the things mentioned above — good instincts, ability to read and react, high football IQ, ability to flow to the football and not often get washed out my blocks, etc., are all things that are going to transfer over and impress Sean Payton, Dennis Allen and the rest of the staff. He’s also going to always give 100 percent effort. Some of these things we talked about are the kind of intangible traits that should be coveted in rookies, as they often aren’t things that can be coached. Of course, Bachie has a lot to learn and much to improve upon at the NFL level if he plans to not only make a roster, but eventually make an impact, which I’ll get more into below. However, I like his fit in New Orleans’ 4-3 defensive scheme. Bachie likely isn’t a player who offers a lot of positional versatility — that is to say he’s probably not going to be making the transition to WILL or SAM on the outside any time soon. So he should be shooting for a backup or third-string MIKE linebacker role in the Saints’ 4-3 alignment, and that is where he will thrive. I think he has a good shot of making the team and can earn his keep as a special teams ace, while eventually working his way toward more playing time. For more on Bachie’s college accolades and NFL outlook, you can read his pre-draft profile from April.

Expectations should be kept low but it’s nice to see the Eagles adding a player with theoretical upside as opposed to a dead-end veteran.

With Davion Taylor expected to “miss some time” with a knee injury, the Eagles had a need for more linebacker depth. Alex Singleton, Duke RIley, T.J. Edwards, Shaun Bradley, and Bachie makes five linebackers on the 53-man roster if Taylor goes to injured reserve.