Javon Hargrave, Eagles reportedly agree to three-year contract

The first day of legal tampering has been pretty quiet for the Philadelphia Eagles ... until now! The Eagles have agreed to terms on a three-year contract with former Pittsburgh Steelers nose tackle Javon Hargrave, according to a report from NFL insider Adam Schefter. The deal is reportedly worth $39 million with $26 million fully guaranteed.

This signing is ... unexpected! We know the Eagles like to invest resources in the defensive line but there wasn’t a whole lot of buzz about Hargrave being on their radar.

Hargrave, who turned 27 years old in February, was originally selected by the Steelers in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft (No. 89 overall). He logged 53 starts in 63 games (out of 64 possible) over the past four years and posted 168 total tackles, 22 tackles for loss, 22 quarterback hits, 14.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, two pass deflections, and one defensive touchdown in that span.

For what it’s worth, Hargrave graded out as the eighth best interior defensive lineman by Pro Football Focus in 2019. He was just behind Fletcher Cox, who was seventh.

Speaking of Cox, it’ll be interesting to see how Hargrave fits in on the Eagles’ defensive line. Cox is obviously one starter at defensive tackle. Malik Jackson figured to be the second starter after the Eagles signed him to a lucrative contract at this time last year. Are the Eagles merely going to heavily rotate at defensive tackle? Are we going to see more of Jackson at defensive end? The Eagles won’t be trading Jackson. (Or Cox, obviously.)

The Eagles are clearly banking on Hargrave to help improve their pass rush and take some burden off of Cox. He had to play a lot more snaps than he ideally should be playing the past two seasons after the Eagles were been decimated by defensive tackle injuries.

Hargrave also profiles as a long-term building block, relatively speaking. Note that Cox turns 30 in December while Jackson turned 30 in January.

To be determined if Hargrave is worth this significant allocation of resources. Philly sure has a lot of money tied to the interior defensive line.

Fletcher Cox — $17.1 million annually — 1st among 4-3 defensive tackles

Javon Hargrave — $13 million annually — 5th among 4-3 defensive tackles

Malik Jackson — $10 million annually — 7th among 4-3 defensive tackles

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